New Leica User seeks advice

[Nick De Marco]

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Hello

 

I am about to join the privileged Leica community. I have an old IIIc at home I have used and a Leica R I have not yet, but finally today I realised my dream and bought TWO (by accident) used M cameras: the M3 double stroke (which I bought by accident leaving a low bid for it having succesfully bid for another on ebay and sure someone would outbid £255 for a working M3) and the M4 P black body. Both are purportedly in dood working condition. I have just purchased a 50mm f2 Summicron M fit to go with them (can't afford 2 M lenses after buying 2 M bodies!).

 

The nearest I think I have got to an M camera is the Voigtlander Bessa R2 - a camera I recently aquired and have falled madly in love with - especially with the Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f1.4 lens - a lens I plan to use on my M camera.

 

I'd love some advice from Leica users. What should I look out for. What are the main differences between a Leica M and the Voigtlander. Why is the Leica so much better and what in particular will I appreciate more about my Leica. I have a classic leica meter for the M3 so I am not worried about that.

 

Please do share some wisdom with me. I am so excited to have these M cameras as I have coverted them for ages. I want to make sure I use them to their best potential.

 

Thank you

 

Nick

 

You can see a recent B&W reportage gallery of shots in Phnom Penh taken with my Voigtlander at Cambodian Light Children's Association - Black & White film reportage Photo Gallery by Nick De Marco at pbase.com if you are interested

[dkCambridgeshire]

Hello

 

... . What are the main differences between a Leica M and the Voigtlander. Why is the Leica so much better and what in particular will I appreciate more about my Leica.

 

Longevity ...

 

Dunk

[andybarton]

Welcome and congratulations!

 

Dunk's right,

 

You probably wouldn't pay that money for a 45 year old Voigt

 

 

Service comes to mind. Leica (and many others) can still service Leica cameras going back to the year dot.

 

Take your time with it, is my advice. Check the meter against one you trust.

 

I got into Leica via an M2/50 Summicron route about 4 years ago. I now have a shelf-full... I managed to resist a mint IIIg only this lunchtime

 

Be prepared - you are in it for a long, expensive, but ultimately satisfying haul now...

 

That is a terrific portfolio on pbase, there. You are going to love using your M(s)

[Nick De Marco]

Many thanks for your advice. I can't wait toi start using them.

 

But apart from the logetivity and the fact they can be mended (and of course the fact that they are beautiful precision instruments to hold and look at), can I assume there is no other significant benefit over my Bessa R2? If so, I am more interested in the lens, a Summicron 50mm f2 black M fit. Is this a good lens and what is good about it?

 

Thanks again and soory to the Leica experts who feel I am asking the obvious.

[wizard]

I am more interested in the lens, a Summicron 50mm f2 black M fit. Is this a good lens and what is good about it?

 

Well, if it is the current version of the Summicron 50 lens, which is quite likely, as Leica are making the current model for 28 years now , it simply is the best 50mm f2 lens you will find. Everything about it is good, mechanical precision, contrast, sharpness, rendering of colors, and to enjoy all that you don't even have to stop down, this lens is good right from the very beginning, that is with the aperture fully opened up. Try that with other lenses and you will see where the differences are.

 

Enjoy your new Leica gear! Oh, and btw, you can use that Summicron on your Bessa R2, too.

 

Cheers,

 

Andy

[Nick De Marco]

Thanks Andy

 

According to the ebay ad it's a version 3 - eBay.co.uk: Boxed MINT Leitz Leica 50mm Summicron + keeper (item 270102651206 end time 01-Apr-07 20:19:29 BST) - looks like its made in the last 28 years. Is that it?

 

I hope so. I really liek the idea of good contrats and working well at f2 - that would be great for the type of photography I do. I may well put it on my Bessa R2 as well, the thing is, is it heretical to put the voigtlander 35mm Ultron f1.4 on a Leica M? I love this lens too and am thinking of buying one of the superwide lenses they make (12mm).

[wizard]

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Nick,

 

no, that's in fact not the current version, it is (in regard to optical computation) the one before the current lens. Also, it is a little older than 28 years, I'd say it was built around 1970 or so (can't say exactly without my books). No problem, however, this lens was and is almost as good as the current one, you will like it.

 

I am putting Leica lenses on my Bessa bodies if this is what I need, and I also put Voigtlaender lenses (15mm and 21mm) on my Leica bodies, don't worry, it is the result that counts.

 

Cheers,

 

Andy

[wizard]

As a follow up, I checked lens production tables yesterday at home. Your lens is from 1969, so my guess wasn't far off.

 

Andy

[Nick De Marco]

Thanks for your advice and information Andy.

 

Do you think the price I paid for it was a good one (£321 - about $640 US). I don't kno what it is like elsewhere, but in the UK it is very difficult to get good quality eica M lenses at an affordable price. As this lens is meant to be mint I think it is a reasonable price but I am not ceratin. One thing I know is that (provided it works) the M£ double stroke I piked up on ebay for £255 (about $500 US) is a steal. I didn't even mean to buy it, having jsut bought the M4-P, but I did not believe £255 would be the winning bid - they usually go for £350-£500.

 

Having done some further research I think the Summicron lens I would really like to buy eventually is the 35mm f2 version 4 - sounds like a bauty. But I am finding it hard to find second hand and where it has poped up on ebay it looks like going for more than £500.

 

Glad to hear you like and use the Voigtlanders. I think I will buy the 12m lens soon for architecture - I wnat to go back to Angkor this summer and take some more photos, but something a bit different. Extreme wide andgle black and white on my new Leica is one idea.

 

Thanks again for all the pointers

 

Nick

[wizard]

Do you think the price I paid for it was a good one (£321 - about $640 US).

I think the price you paid is ok, though not great, but the lens sure looks mint. I don't know much about the market in England, but here in Germany mint examples of the current version sell for 600 - 700 € (roughly 400 - 450 £).

 

Having done some further research I think the Summicron lens I would really like to buy eventually is the 35mm f2 version 4 - sounds like a bauty. But I am finding it hard to find second hand and where it has poped up on ebay it looks like going for more than £500.

 

Yes, this is one fine lens (I have and use one frequently, bought it second hand, too). Recently, prices seem to go up for this lens, good samples usually fetch 800 € and more on ebay.

 

Andy

[luigi bertolotti]

Many thanks for your advice. I can't wait toi start using them.

 

But apart from the logetivity and the fact they can be mended (and of course the fact that they are beautiful precision instruments to hold and look at), can I assume there is no other significant benefit over my Bessa R2? If so, I am more interested in the lens, a Summicron 50mm f2 black M fit. Is this a good lens and what is good about it?

 

Thanks again and soory to the Leica experts who feel I am asking the obvious.

 

Eh eh, apart the facts you quote... the benefit is that it's a Leica M3 an not a Bessa R2, hon. to La Palice..., want to go a little further ? I have never used Bessa R, but suppose that its shutter is more noisy than M3's ... everyone agrees that M3 was in absolute the most silent camera, and this can help sometimes...

Or let us close the question observing that pictures are "made" by lens+film ... supposing the shutter simply works right, focusing is correct, the camera box is not so important...