Which M

[erl]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Sure. As long as you are going to use film, then you should make it as painful and as inconvenient as possible by messing with the stupid take-up spool. Maybe Leica should bring that feature back in a new model line with the moniker "M Minus".

 

Don't forget to order the optional goat-hair shirt.

.

 

Pico, sometimes you amuse me, sometimes you amaze me.

Often I realize you like to 'stir the possum'. That's fine.

 

Reading this as I have just returned from shooting a 111f, using the 'stupid take-up spool' I had to smile. It's a bit like whenever I see my old Austin 7 (1927 vintage) 'matchbox' car down the street, I wish I had the guts to steal it back from the current owner. I know it doesn't drive nearly as well as my 1989 Saab Aero but I just enjoy the fact that I can drive it, despite all it's idiosyncrasies.

 

The A7 basically has the goat-hair shirt built into the driver's seat, so it is not necessary as an optional extra.

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[pico]

Pico, sometimes you amuse me, sometimes you amaze me.

 

I wish I could amaze me. I am looking forward to the near future when I must look at my ID upon awakening, when everything is new every minute.

 

Reading this as I have just returned from shooting a 111f, using the 'stupid take-up spool'

 

I started with an M2. My housemate has an IIIF, so I understand, but the OP seemed to be considering later cameras.

 

Where am I? What am I doing here? Why is the air so clear? Why am I still deaf? Oh. It is the pub thing. G'nite.

[jdlaing]

I wish I could amaze me. I am looking forward to the near future when I must look at my ID upon awakening, when everything is new every minute.

 

 

 

I started with an M2. My housemate has an IIIF, so I understand, but the OP seemed to be considering later cameras.

 

Where am I? What am I doing here? Why is the air so clear? Why am I still deaf? Oh. It is the pub thing. G'nite.

 

They have medication for that.

[jdlaing]

Sure. As long as you are going to use film, then you should make it as painful and as inconvenient as possible by messing with the stupid take-up spool. Maybe Leica should bring that feature back in a new model line with the moniker "M Minus".

 

Don't forget to order the optional goat-hair shirt.

.

 

And I was just getting to like film again after after a 34 year hiatus.

[pico]

And I was just getting to like film again after after a 34 year hiatus.

 

Enjoy. If you are not under the pressure of professional outcomes, it is all good.

 

Please enjoy.

[sblitz]

it is the process or the outcome which drives your choice? professionals working for clients, process demands digital. professionals and the rest of us when shooting for ourselves? depends. if what you really want is a film outcome, get an M7 set to AE and shoot like digital with a film outcome. if it is the process you love, well do you want the meter in the camera, a half-step from the M7, or do you want to go the full step with the meter separate and have a totally manual non-electric camera (M4, my favorite, other choices as well). these are process questions. and then there is the last process question -- wet prints or scan? process or outcome?

[Paul Verrips]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I asked Solms for some extra on a MP A LA CARTE. But that will be too expensive for the extra addition........

 

I don't get it why this cost so much extra.

 

 

Question:

Is there a possibility when i order a black paint MP "Leica á la carte" to have:

 

1. Engraving of my name (configurator says no, but i have seen examples not the internet that are engraved);

2. Have a black hotshot;

3. Have a black number counter?

How long it takes to receive the camera (or pick it up in Solms) after ordering?

 

Answer:

yes, it's possible to have the camera with a black hot shoe and a black counter.

Price is +35% on price of a MP a la carte with engraving in the configurator.

 

Engraving of your name is possible with the black chrome finish.

 

We need 4 weeks notice to build your camera and you pick it up in our store in Solms.

 

Please send me a detailed configuration made on our website, to this we would add the black hot shoe and counter manually.

[philipus]

+35% for black counter disc and hot shoe is extortionate.

[rcoles]

Like you I use the m9 and wanted to get a film Leica. I looked at all the options and initially decided the M6 (so called Classic) was the right camera, but after more research I selected the M3. My thinking was if I liked going back to film I could always get the M6, but if I did not like doing film or used it very little I still had a camera that is an important piece of Leica history that I wanted to own anyway.

Bob

[kasti]

M2! elegant and clean VF!

[ma9ical]

I cannot recommend enough the MP. I think I prefer it over my newly acquired M240 !

[sblitz]

M4 .... true perfection .... or M6 classic if you want the meter on the inside (esp useful if you like to use filters) ....

[Nick_S]

I asked Solms for some extra on a MP A LA CARTE. But that will be too expensive for the extra addition........

 

"yes, it's possible to have the camera with a black hot shoe and a black counter.

Price is +35% on price of a MP a la carte with engraving in the configurator."

 

What is a black counter ? -- even my black chrome M6 with its black hot shoe has a chrome exposure counter inside.

 

Nick

[CalArts 99]

What is a black counter ? -- even my black chrome M6 with its black hot shoe has a chrome exposure counter inside.

 

Here is one....

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Ruhayat]

Within the last 4 years, I have greedily owned every M model between the MDa and the M8 (except for the M4-2, which I avoided due to the documented issues with it). Here're my thoughts about the M cameras I have owned. I dunno, it might be useful to the OP, it might not, but bandwidth is cheap and ignore is just a click away.

 

The first one for me was the M6TTL in silver chrome. Found one in 2010, sitting on a dealer's shelf, still brand new. I was using a Digilux 2 at the time, so I wondered what using a "real" Leica would be like. I went away, came back after 2 weeks, and it was still there. So I bought it. I was never entirely happy with it, as I was not yet used to such a heavy camera (made worse because at the time the only Leica lens I could afford was a cheap 90mm pre-ASPH Summicron). But I liked the large shutter dial that turned the way of the red arrows, and the images it made were so superb, even non-photographer friends commented on them. I used the M6TTL + 90 Cron exclusively for about 2 years.

 

Next was a black chrome M7, which I loved for its AE mode. Travel photos were so much easier to do 'cos you could grab shots faster. Paired with the 28mm Elmarit (was using the R version at the time, hyperfocused) it was the perfect snapshot camera. But that was also why I eventually got bored of it after a year, alas.

 

Then I found a black chrome M4-P. I really loved this camera because it was so basic, light and felt smaller in my hand, somehow. The unit I bought was a beater so I was happy to bring it everywhere, whereas the M6TTL always felt precious (since I bought it brand new), and the M7 felt like a brick compared to the M4-P. Used it mainly with a 50mm 1.5 Summarit, which was a good fit because of the M4-P's bigger framelines for the 50. But I wasn't completely happy with the M4-P because it lacked a meter and while that was fun, it also meant I couldn't use it as my sole camera every time.

 

After I had 3 Leica Ms I got guilty so decided to sell off the M6TTL. It wasn't long before I got an M8, though. Once I got the M8, I got rid of the M7 because I felt it was a duplication of the AE camera I need. Bad mistake: I never got on with the M8: too fat, didn't feel like a Leica in my hand, didn't *sound* like a Leica, either. Mated to a 35mm 1.2 Nokton I felt I had a great digital Noctilux wannabe set up. But while it made distinctive images, the size and weight of the combo made me think I might as well just carry my Pentax K5 with 50mm 1.4 Zeiss Planar, which made a more pleasing shutter sound to boot. I sold the M8 and Nokton after just 2 months.

 

After the M8 I swore I would never buy a digital M again until Leica could fit one into the original film body. Which is why the X Vario puts me in such a conundrum - it's similar enough in the hand to a film M.

 

Anyway. As luck would have it, I came across an MD-a, the "blind" Leica. What genius! The most basic M of all - no meter, no viewfinder, no rangefinder. Lighter than the M4-P but made of brass (it's based on the M4 chassis). I weighed the two options and decided to sell the M4-P to a friend and keep the MD-a.

 

But having a blind Leica is a bit limiting, so when a beater M6 came up for peanuts, I pondered for a couple of weeks. When I saw it was still up for sale, I thought it must be destiny somehow and bought it. I enjoy it more than I did my M6TTL: it feels lighter, the skin makes it look more handsome (even though the top is already bubbling), it's black chrome, and it's in user condition so like the M4-P I didn't feel worried about taking it everywhere.

 

To date I still own the MDa and the M6. But right now I'm about to decide whether I should sell off the M6 + 75mm Summarit I am using it with, to fund an MP for use with a 35mm Summilux. Which I hope would be the last ever Leica I would need for the next 20 years. But looking at my hopeless track record, I somehow doubt it - after all, I have been yearning for a brassed M4 for ages.

[k_g_wolf ✝]

Great story, Ruhayat, thx for sharing! I´am most interested to learn how it continues ...

Just change the cameratypes a bit and you arrive at a perfect description of

what many blokes round here went through in the past. You could easily

add a chapter called >>lenses<<.

 

You are NOT alone.

 

 

Best

GEORG

[MarkP]

Within the last 4 years, I have greedily owned every M model between the MDa and the M8 (except for the M4-2, which I avoided due to the documented issues with it). Here're my thoughts about the M cameras I have owned. I dunno, it might be useful to the OP, it might not, but bandwidth is cheap and ignore is just a click away.

 

The first one for me was the M6TTL in silver chrome. Found one in 2010, sitting on a dealer's shelf, still brand new. I was using a Digilux 2 at the time, so I wondered what using a "real" Leica would be like. I went away, came back after 2 weeks, and it was still there. So I bought it. I was never entirely happy with it, as I was not yet used to such a heavy camera (made worse because at the time the only Leica lens I could afford was a cheap 90mm pre-ASPH Summicron). But I liked the large shutter dial that turned the way of the red arrows, and the images it made were so superb, even non-photographer friends commented on them. I used the M6TTL + 90 Cron exclusively for about 2 years.

 

Next was a black chrome M7, which I loved for its AE mode. Travel photos were so much easier to do 'cos you could grab shots faster. Paired with the 28mm Elmarit (was using the R version at the time, hyperfocused) it was the perfect snapshot camera. But that was also why I eventually got bored of it after a year, alas.

 

Then I found a black chrome M4-P. I really loved this camera because it was so basic, light and felt smaller in my hand, somehow. The unit I bought was a beater so I was happy to bring it everywhere, whereas the M6TTL always felt precious (since I bought it brand new), and the M7 felt like a brick compared to the M4-P. Used it mainly with a 50mm 1.5 Summarit, which was a good fit because of the M4-P's bigger framelines for the 50. But I wasn't completely happy with the M4-P because it lacked a meter and while that was fun, it also meant I couldn't use it as my sole camera every time.

 

After I had 3 Leica Ms I got guilty so decided to sell off the M6TTL. It wasn't long before I got an M8, though. Once I got the M8, I got rid of the M7 because I felt it was a duplication of the AE camera I need. Bad mistake: I never got on with the M8: too fat, didn't feel like a Leica in my hand, didn't *sound* like a Leica, either. Mated to a 35mm 1.2 Nokton I felt I had a great digital Noctilux wannabe set up. But while it made distinctive images, the size and weight of the combo made me think I might as well just carry my Pentax K5 with 50mm 1.4 Zeiss Planar, which made a more pleasing shutter sound to boot. I sold the M8 and Nokton after just 2 months.

 

After the M8 I swore I would never buy a digital M again until Leica could fit one into the original film body. Which is why the X Vario puts me in such a conundrum - it's similar enough in the hand to a film M.

 

Anyway. As luck would have it, I came across an MD-a, the "blind" Leica. What genius! The most basic M of all - no meter, no viewfinder, no rangefinder. Lighter than the M4-P but made of brass (it's based on the M4 chassis). I weighed the two options and decided to sell the M4-P to a friend and keep the MD-a.

 

But having a blind Leica is a bit limiting, so when a beater M6 came up for peanuts, I pondered for a couple of weeks. When I saw it was still up for sale, I thought it must be destiny somehow and bought it. I enjoy it more than I did my M6TTL: it feels lighter, the skin makes it look more handsome (even though the top is already bubbling), it's black chrome, and it's in user condition so like the M4-P I didn't feel worried about taking it everywhere.

 

To date I still own the MDa and the M6. But right now I'm about to decide whether I should sell off the M6 + 75mm Summarit I am using it with, to fund an MP for use with a 35mm Summilux. Which I hope would be the last ever Leica I would need for the next 20 years. But looking at my hopeless track record, I somehow doubt it - after all, I have been yearning for a brassed M4 for ages.

 

 

I'm exhausted just reading this

[froyd]

Great story, Ruhayat!

 

I'm bought a ZM to replace my M4, but months later, I'm still unable to let go of the M$ because I know sooner or later I'll want to get back to it.

 

Yours was a bit of a circular journey, but it sure seems like you had fun along the way, and that's what it's all about, unless photography is what puts food on your plate.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[gberger]

I agree on the Zeiss Ikon (ZM). I have an M7 that I use with a 35mm lens, but prefer to use the Zeiss because of the viewfinder and ease of loading. The 50, 35 and 28 frame lines are excellent, and the shutter release is precise. It's a "shooting" camera.

 

Pros: Viewfinder and focusing

Ease of loading

Shutter release

 

Cons: Flash sync

No red dot

[bruniroquai]

I've owned every single model in just three years... finally got the Mechanical Perfection, never looked back. (Leica MP BP)