schattenundlicht Posted April 5, 2018 Share #121 Posted April 5, 2018 Advertisement (gone after registration) Technically: M7 In use: M7 In love: MP To be different: M5 Buena Vista Club: M3 Fundamentalist: M-A Fundamentalist feeling flush with cash: M4 Extremist: MD How many of them do you manage to dangle around your neck simultaneously? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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plaidshirts Posted April 5, 2018 Share #122 Posted April 5, 2018 Technically: M7 In use: M7 In love: MP To be different: M5 Buena Vista Club: M3 Fundamentalist: M-A Fundamentalist feeling flush with cash: M4 Extremist: MD All solid choices. I've owned versions of M2, M3, M4, M4-P, M5, and M6 over the years. The stable has been trimmed to a SS M3 and a button rewind M2 with no timer. If I had to choose one right now, it's the M2 for its simplicity and beauty. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted April 5, 2018 Share #123 Posted April 5, 2018 By the amount of film I put through various cameras, my M7 heads the bunch. The Swiss Army Knife of manual focus rangefinders - it can do everything. I just wish they had built the motor drive within the body like Contax and Konica managed, instead of the rather large lump on the bottom of the camera that I have. My right thumb no longer likes lever winds so a motor drive is close to an essential. I have even put a Mooly on my older Leicas and looking for a Mooly-C for my 1g and IIIg. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsj Posted April 6, 2018 Share #124 Posted April 6, 2018 For me personally: Without meter: M4 With meter: MP Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktmrider2 Posted June 23, 2018 Share #125 Posted June 23, 2018 I don't think I have posted on this thread. I have been using Leicas since purchasing a CL back in 1974. I have owned all of them except the recent M7, MP and MA. Honestly, there is no correct answer as they are all good. Some are just a bit better then others depending on your personal perspective. Over the years since purchasing the CL, there has always been a Leica in my camera collection. I keep coming back to the M2 as I think its viewfinder is the best. Note that I really like the 35mm lens field of view and have never gotten along with the M3 and except for the viewfinders, the M2 and M3 are almost identical. Now I also find film loading in the M2/M3 to be a pain so M4 and newer gets the nod there. And having a meter in the camera is really, really useful. I came of age in photography when TTL metering was just appearing back in the late 1960's or early 1970's. And it is nice to have. But I do not care for the cluttered viewfinders since the M4-P. Having said all of the above, I had never owned a M5 until two years ago and I find it the best shooter of the lot. It was the last M film camera made before Leica changed its manufacturing philosophy with the M4-2, it has a great TTL meter (and for me one similar to other cameras with a moving needle), and the viewfinder shows more clutter then the M2 but less then the M6. It has modern film loading, the shutter dial works great for adjusting without removing the camera from your eye, and I find the ergonomics just WORKS for me. Now, I know the objections as it is not a classical Leica or that it is too big or too ugly (have an MP240 and M5 is not that much heavier). Again, beauty is in the mind of the beholder. If you have not tried one, do yourself a favor and do not wait 41 years since acquiring your first M until you try one like I did. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted June 23, 2018 Share #126 Posted June 23, 2018 [...] beauty is in the mind of the beholder [..] Of course there remains the evaluation of the mind of the beholder. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
semi-ambivalent Posted June 23, 2018 Share #127 Posted June 23, 2018 Advertisement (gone after registration) After a couple days wandering Colorado's eastern edge it occurred that if Leica made an M-A that felt and sounded like my M3 I'd be in serious trouble. Might be anyway. It would sound pretty nice in sixty years, for somebody. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktmrider2 Posted June 23, 2018 Share #128 Posted June 23, 2018 And I may be in trouble because I have never owned a LTM Leica and thinking about it. But I just sold a R6.2 (and a few R lenses) and a beautiful M2. I thought I was trying to reduce the number of film cameras in the cabinet. Oh well! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamSinger Posted July 6, 2018 Share #129 Posted July 6, 2018 I have M1 2 3 4 5 6 A, had a 7 didn't like it, but getting rid of the M7 left room for a sock or two in the draw. For me it would be a good nic' M2 , use the cash saved from not buying an MA to get the M2 thoroughly serviced, and the rest on another lens. For light measuring use the mylightmeter app for android or IoS on your phone. More than accurate enough. Seriously the M2 is the all time best, but the MA is great and the MR meter works well on it should you want it, oh and the most convenient is the M6 in various flavors ......... but the hippest Leica CRF is the M5, the last real hand made M, but the M3 is the most aristocratic and the best for the races at Ascot if you have the right hat as a lens shade .... .. The Minolta CLE always trumps an M7 ....OK that list won't have helped at all , ignore it and do the right thing get a Henry Scherer restored Contax 11a, or Darth Vader's favorite camera the Nikon SP the cooooooooolest rangefinder evah. So cool its on a Bob Dylan's Highway 61 revisited LP cover no Leica ever managed that. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikau Posted July 6, 2018 Share #130 Posted July 6, 2018 M2-R! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted July 6, 2018 Share #131 Posted July 6, 2018 (edited) M4 followed with the amazing M7. Edited July 6, 2018 by pico 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Lord Posted July 7, 2018 Share #132 Posted July 7, 2018 I cannot fault my beloved M3. Interestingly, I never really got on with my from-new MP and sold it. Weird considering is it really pretty much a modern remake but with meter and a worse viewfinder. I found the MP a swine to load film without it getting torn to shreds. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sblitz Posted July 9, 2018 Share #133 Posted July 9, 2018 M4 and MA (brighter viewfinder and they upgraded the focus mechanics a few years back). Considering the film loading of the M3 and M2, they old no appeal for me. The M4 is a tank, no batteries, no flare (why the M6 is not an M4 with a meter), well balanced in my hands, and a great sounding shutter click ... my favorite by far. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B Posted July 9, 2018 Share #134 Posted July 9, 2018 M4 and MA (brighter viewfinder and they upgraded the focus mechanics a few years back). Considering the film loading of the M3 and M2, they old no appeal for me. The M4 is a tank, no batteries, no flare (why the M6 is not an M4 with a meter), well balanced in my hands, and a great sounding shutter click ... my favorite by far. Yes, I can see this even I don't have a M4...I got used to the film loading with my M3, but I admit that it would be much more cumbersome to do it when on travel or when quick loading is required. And yes, the M6 could be really considered one of Leica's best if this stupid patch flare didn't exist in this camera. I mentioned it in other posts before, but I think Leica should have done a recall of M6 models in the past since it is so obvious. And I am certainly not spending $250 to get it fixed. I learned to live with it - for me a sign of the time when started Leica compromising quality for lower manufacturing cost. The M7 on the other hand suffers fortunately much less from this issue. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nowhereman Posted July 9, 2018 Share #135 Posted July 9, 2018 (edited) I found the M6 flare extremely annoying in bright, tropical light. I had the original viewfinder replaced with a 0.85x MP viewfinder: the flare was gone and I prefer this to the original 0.72x; but still like my M3 better. _______________ Alone in Bangkok essay on BURN Magazine Nowhereman Instagram Edited July 9, 2018 by Nowhereman Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted July 9, 2018 Share #136 Posted July 9, 2018 My M4-P had considerable VF flare as well, more than my M4 and a lot more than my M7. I have improved it a lot with a Leicagoodies SHADE, a piece of self-adhesive polarising plastic which fits over the prismatic window of the frame illumination. Whereas I like both my M4’s, I like my M7 more. Wilson 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B Posted July 9, 2018 Share #137 Posted July 9, 2018 My M4-P had considerable VF flare as well, more than my M4 and a lot more than my M7. I have improved it a lot with a Leicagoodies SHADE, a piece of self-adhesive polarising plastic which fits over the prismatic window of the frame illumination. Whereas I like both my M4’s, I like my M7 more. Wilson This works - I did something similar cutting a plastic piece of 3D glasses which uses polarizing foil and putting it over the frame illumination window. It reduced the patch flare > 50%. Not perfect, but for free Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sblitz Posted July 9, 2018 Share #138 Posted July 9, 2018 Yes, I can see this even I don't have a M4...I got used to the film loading with my M3, but I admit that it would be much more cumbersome to do it when on travel or when quick loading is required. And yes, the M6 could be really considered one of Leica's best if this stupid patch flare didn't exist in this camera. I mentioned it in other posts before, but I think Leica should have done a recall of M6 models in the past since it is so obvious. And I am certainly not spending $250 to get it fixed. I learned to live with it - for me a sign of the time when started Leica compromising quality for lower manufacturing cost. The M7 on the other hand suffers fortunately much less from this issue. And the MA doesn't flare at all. Leica went with a different (cheaper?) condenser with the M4-P and it continued until the M7. The MA is, in my view, a modern M4 in terms of the light coming into the viewfinder (held them next to each other and the difference was very obvious) and the focus mechanism. Yes you can get same with MP and M7 (those that are left on the shelf), but I like the no-battery approach of the MA. I prefer the rewind crank of the M4, much faster than the knob. Anyone know where I can get the fast-wind gizmo that goes over the rewind knob? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B Posted July 9, 2018 Share #139 Posted July 9, 2018 And the MA doesn't flare at all. Leica went with a different (cheaper?) condenser with the M4-P and it continued until the M7. The MA is, in my view, a modern M4 in terms of the light coming into the viewfinder (held them next to each other and the difference was very obvious) and the focus mechanism. Yes you can get same with MP and M7 (those that are left on the shelf), but I like the no-battery approach of the MA. I prefer the rewind crank of the M4, much faster than the knob. Anyone know where I can get the fast-wind gizmo that goes over the rewind knob? My used M3 came with this fast-wind gizmo over the rewind knob. I never figured out where it was originally obtained from, but it is very helpful for sure! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
a.noctilux Posted July 9, 2018 Share #140 Posted July 9, 2018 And the MA doesn't flare at all. Leica went with a different (cheaper?) condenser with the M4-P and it continued until the M7. The MA is, in my view, a modern M4 in terms of the light coming into the viewfinder (held them next to each other and the difference was very obvious) and the focus mechanism. Yes you can get same with MP and M7 (those that are left on the shelf), but I like the no-battery approach of the MA. I prefer the rewind crank of the M4, much faster than the knob. Anyone know where I can get the fast-wind gizmo that goes over the rewind knob? Some ideas here: https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/269928-mp-rewind-crank/ I don't know if there is some updates for rewind crank. I use one Leica "for MP" 14438. The small "grip-lift-up-then turn" hurts my digits . M4/M6 crank is more comfortable in use than this add-on crank. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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