What to buy M6 or M7?

[thebarnman]

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12 hours ago, TomB_tx said:

I've used both Leica M and SLRs since the 1960s, and find them good companions with different strengths. I find the RF much faster and easier with 28-50 lenses and especially in dim light. I find my R8 best at longer lenses or macro. I have M6, M7, & M10, adding the M7 most recently. Using the M7 & M10 is identical as I use them, and I'm now lazy enough to use aperture priority most of the time. On M6 & earlier I was the opposite: start with an appropriate shutter speed for the lighting then adjust the aperture. M10 advantage is high ISO and convenience of not waiting to use a full roll of film - just pop the card and pull off the few shots I want.

That's very interesting.  Thanks for your incite on how you use shutter priority with the M6 and earlier... Never thought of it that way since I've mostly always used aperture priority. 

For reasons I don't know why, the M6 seems to be more popular than the M7.  Besides the fact M7 can be set for aperture priority, if you don't mind me asking, except for the fact one has aperture priority with the other being shutter priority, what do you prefer to use if you wanted to pick from the M6 and the M7 and why.  

Thanks! 

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[TomB_tx]

A lot more M6 were made than M7 (which was introduced later) so it's more available. I find them equal in use, except the M7 has an on-of switch around the shutter button, and the M7 speed dial is larger and reversed direction from the M6 - same as the M10. Since I've used film Ms since the 1960s the shutter dial doesn't bother me. If you prefer aperture priority you may like the M7 better, and if you have both M7 & 10 they match well.

I just added the M7 to my collection a year ago - I had the Zeiss Ikon ZM which has similar features first and like it also (great viewfinder), but I like the M7 controls better - especially being able to lock exposure (shutter speed) by holding a half-press of the shutter button while shifting view after measuring exposure.