wofsy Posted October 3, 2013 Share #1 Posted October 3, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) At my teacher's advice I am going to buy a Leica M film camera and have been searching on line. There are many options for M3,M2, M4's but I have no idea how to judge the condition and quality of the cameras listed or what price to pay. I have zero interest in collector's value but just want an M that I can rely on. Any advice? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 3, 2013 Posted October 3, 2013 Hi wofsy, Take a look here How to Buy a Film Leica M. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
marcg Posted October 3, 2013 Share #2 Posted October 3, 2013 Post your question in this forum - http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m7-mp-film-m/ They will have all of the answers for you and I am sure that they will be very pleased to offer you support. Trying a film camera is a very good idea and I am sure that you will find it very satisfying if you have the patience - and it will give you a much better grounding for using digital cameras - something which many people do not have nowadays Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
}{B Posted October 3, 2013 Share #3 Posted October 3, 2013 As you have found there is a wide choice online. Buy one from a dealer who offers some form of guarantee even if it is only a few months that way you are covered if it has existing problems. An idea of your budget and whether you already have one or more M fit lenses would help in recommending an M type as you may favour just one focal length. If that was 50mm for example you may find the M3 a good choice. Are you happy to have an M without a built in light meter? If you are the choice of cameras is greatly extended but they will be older models. If not you may wish to look at the M6. As for condition I would avoid any camera that had a dent in it. If we assume that mint examples can be ruled out on price then examples that dealers describe as 'users' often provide good value. Very often these will have wear marks above the strap lugs and various scuffs and possibly light scratches on the body and top plate. Providing the internals are in working order then the outward appearance of the camera has no effect on the photos it takes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted October 3, 2013 Share #4 Posted October 3, 2013 Welcome to the Forum !!! NONE of us will tell you that buying a film M is an error.... If not interested in collectibles , my advice is for a M6 of the '80s : they aren't rare, they aren't too costly, have TTL metering : depending on your taste, get with it a 50 or 35mm Leica lens, better if a Summicron... ... but if you have a problem of budget, even an Elmar 50 (or a Summaron 35) are right choices. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Rawcs Posted October 3, 2013 Share #5 Posted October 3, 2013 Welcome to the Forum !!! NONE of us will tell you that buying a film M is an error.... If not interested in collectibles , my advice is for a M6 of the '80s : they aren't rare, they aren't too costly, have TTL metering : depending on your taste, get with it a 50 or 35mm Leica lens, better if a Summicron... ... but if you have a problem of budget, even an Elmar 50 (or a Summaron 35) are right choices. +1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
enboe Posted October 4, 2013 Share #6 Posted October 4, 2013 A couple of thoughts: There are on-line places where you can rent M film gear. Maybe give it a try first. Also, if you list what city you are near, a member might speak up about local camera clubs or maybe the possibility of meeting up for a shoot where you could borrow a camera, under a watchful eye, of course. Budget $1000-1200 for an M2/M3/M4-2 plus a 50/3.5 or 35/3.5, and you'll be set, maybe for life. Eric P.S. There's a cool, free IOS app called PocketLightMeter that turns an iPhone or iPod touch into a decent light meter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
james.liam Posted October 6, 2013 Share #7 Posted October 6, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) Welcome to the Forum !!! NONE of us will tell you that buying a film M is an error.... If not interested in collectibles , my advice is for a M6 of the '80s : they aren't rare, they aren't too costly, have TTL metering : depending on your taste, get with it a 50 or 35mm Leica lens, better if a Summicron... ... but if you have a problem of budget, even an Elmar 50 (or a Summaron 35) are right choices. Exactly what I did. Except that to the nifty 35 Summicron ASPH + M6, I subsequently added a 50 Summicron in mint condition at a great price....and then some time later saw a Zeiss 35/2.8 C to fill in the gap for landscapes and at an irresistible price....and there was the slick looking 12504 lens hood for the 'corn 35 at a decent price that I really had to 'have'....beware of the expensive pitfalls upon venturing down this path. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dionisius Posted October 6, 2013 Share #8 Posted October 6, 2013 +1 +1. IMHO. If you want to get good pictures don't bue Zeiss, only Leica. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
james.liam Posted October 6, 2013 Share #9 Posted October 6, 2013 +1. IMHO. If you want to get good pictures don't bue Zeiss, only Leica. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted October 6, 2013 Share #10 Posted October 6, 2013 +1. IMHO. If you want to get good pictures don't bue Zeiss, only Leica. What bollocks!! If you can't take 'good pictures' with almost any camera/lens it's because you're a 'bad photographer'. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dionisius Posted October 6, 2013 Share #11 Posted October 6, 2013 What bollocks!! If you can't take 'good pictures' with almost any camera/lens it's because you're a 'bad photographer'. Yes, I'm 'bad photographer' (thanks), so what? We are talking about lenses. So, there is no sense to bue Zeiss. Match the pictures made with Zeiss and Leica and all quastions will disaaapear. Second, the most famouse fotografers use Leica, thirdly - you can bue summicron 35 mm 2-nd or 3-d version about 1000 dollars - it is much better than biogon 35/2 with its dead sharpness ("The more you know about photography, the more you know that lens sharpness doesn't matter" Ken Rockwell. See his description), at last it is LEICA FORUM, not Zeiss)!.Or bue 50 mm summicron 3-d version for 600-700 dollars - great lens with great sharpness (аlive! not dead like Zeiss)! These lens have 39 mm filters, are more lighter and smaller than Zeiss, with great Leica drawing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted October 7, 2013 Share #12 Posted October 7, 2013 Buy a camera from a Leica dealer and it will come with a warranty and hopefully be serviced and at least clean. It could work out cheaper than trusting to luck (which sometimes works) by buying from Ebay and getting something that needs a service. As regards a lens for it, well, buy the best you can get. But keep in mind that if your photograph only relies on how a lens 'draws' it's already a failure, so CV or Zeiss are valid cheaper options, and some are very good lenses if you do your research. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcg Posted October 7, 2013 Share #13 Posted October 7, 2013 This site - CameraQuest Home Page is an excellent source of information on cameras and lenses and is well worth bookmarking and spending a lot of hours reading up on many rangefinders and their lenses. Excellent guide here - http://www.cameraquest.com/rfbuy.htm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philipus Posted October 11, 2013 Share #14 Posted October 11, 2013 It would be appropriate to moderate this thread by merging it into the one just above with a similar title and identical first post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kivis Posted December 12, 2013 Share #15 Posted December 12, 2013 +1. IMHO. If you want to get good pictures don't bue Zeiss, only Leica. Sorry a really ignorant statement. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
payasam Posted December 12, 2013 Share #16 Posted December 12, 2013 You're best off if you buy a body that has been overhauled ("CLA") in the last couple of years by a good technician. A shutter that works perfectly when you buy the body may give trouble a few months later. The other route to peace of mind is to buy one of the cheapest you can find and have it overhauled immediately. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
friedeye Posted December 17, 2013 Share #17 Posted December 17, 2013 There's a lot of good advice in this thread. The M6 is an excellent camera for the money. I also think there are nice deals to be had on eBay for non-metered Leicas like the M2,3, or 4. But what you must assume, is that they will need a CLA (unless advertised as just having had one). Look for a body with no dents and just moderate wear - chipped vulcanite is almost a given - plan on recovering. A burned curtain will drastically lower the price and is easy to replace when doing the CLA. Shutter speeds will always need adjusting. View finders will need cleaning. In other words, look for a slightly crippled camera that hasn't been dropped or otherwise abused. I recently bought an M3 for $375. Then… immediately send it off for a full CLA. I hear DAG has a backlog and it could take awhile. I sent my camera to Youxin Ye and he did an amazing job, very quickly (2.5 weeks door-to-door). New shutter curtain, full CLA, complete shutter overhaul and a new cover for around $360. My camera operates as if new, and looks amazing. $735. You can find M3s in that price range that are very clean and might not need to go in. But I have the peace of mind of knowing that my camera has just been serviced. I recommend going this way and recommend Youxin highly. I happen to be a big fan of Zeiss lenses and use them all on my M3 and M9 (28,35,50) - The 28 is the only lens that challenges the M3's 50mm frame line , and not that much. I do, however, think a great and classic first lens for this camera would be the V2 50 fixed cron -- about the same as a new Zeiss Planar. Do not be scared away from buying CV lenses. They are great values. I shoot a 40 Nokton 1.4 and love it. Old screw mounts also work well with adapters. I have a tiny Canon 35 f/2 that performs brilliantly, as does a Jupiter 3 that I bought for $250. There are many, many options without breaking the bank. Good luck and good shooting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJH Posted December 17, 2013 Share #18 Posted December 17, 2013 There is one very good and justifiable reason for not buying the Zeiss lenses and its to do with the often odd filter sizes. I have the 28 elmarit ASPH, Zeiss 50 Planar and CV APO Lanthar 90 f3.5 (really superb little lens). The Zeiss is 43mm filter thread so I am seriously considering trading it out next year so I can keep to 39mm filters across my lens set. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
friedeye Posted December 20, 2013 Share #19 Posted December 20, 2013 There is one very good and justifiable reason for not buying the Zeiss lenses and its to do with the often odd filter sizes. I have the 28 elmarit ASPH, Zeiss 50 Planar and CV APO Lanthar 90 f3.5 (really superb little lens). The Zeiss is 43mm filter thread so I am seriously considering trading it out next year so I can keep to 39mm filters across my lens set. Absolutely. If you use a lot of filters (I don't), you should look to keeping them the same size. That means it's difficult mixing Zeiss and Leica lenses, and why most of my lenses are Zeiss. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJH Posted December 21, 2013 Share #20 Posted December 21, 2013 Another point that doesn't get mentioned enough is the difference in colour rendition, the Zeiss has really bright saturated amped up colour in comparison. I used to like that sort of thing but don't so much any more as I find it a bit unnatural, well on my M8 at least. Its only when swapping between my 50 planar and the 28 elmarit ASPH that its really noticeable as it tends to be the first thing I notice on the screen. In isolation I guess its not so noticeable. Another point again is differences in focus action, tab v nubbing etc. and very different feel. Taken all together I don't think its a great idea mixing things up across a set, I did it but will be looking to get to a 3 lens set in the future at 28/50/90 which have similar feel and characteristics to the 28 elmarit ASPH. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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