The "M Typ blabla" fiasco

[NB23]

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So let's get this straight.

 

All this "typ" (please note it is TYP and not TYPE, because it is very important for the Leica forae to sound german. It has to do with snobbery).

 

Am I right in thinking that the M-typ-blabla was only a M9.2, after all?

 

M9.2 sounds much better, as well.

[LocalHero1953]

This sounds like a one person pub fight at the end of the evening. Can anyone join in?

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[LocalHero1953]

And another thing.

What's with the M4.2, huh? I mean, huh?

[IkarusJohn]

So, you mean the M that came between the M9 and the M10?  The one with live view and a whole host of changes from the M9? And the one which is the same as the one which came between the M9 and the M10, but didn't have video?  Or the one which didn't have an LCD? Or perhaps the one which only took black and white, but which is otherwise the same as the one which came between the M9 and the M10?

 

Yes, that would be a lot clearer if it was the M9.2.  Maybe call the others M9.2.1, M9.2.2, M9.2.3 & M9.2.4.  Not sure what we do about the M camera which came between the M9 and the M10, but which didn't have live view because it still had a CCD sensor, but those are just details.

 

PS - I forgot to agree on the snobbery point.  From now one my Audi (which is just a dressed up VW) will be referred to as the People's Car, snob's version, and BWMs will now be referred to as BMC, for Bavarian Motor Car.  And Pajero drivers ...

Edited July 23, 2017 by IkarusJohn

[LocalHero1953]

And the M3 is actually the M1.

And vice versa.

[Guest]

And another thing.

What's with the M4.2, huh? I mean, huh?

Good idea this forum has several subforums, so we know what you're talking about, Ned though you never looked at digi-Leicas before.

 

@ the M4-2? It was technically nothing new...

(Hasselblad built the same camera for 20-25 years, I wonder how many people worked in Goteborg R&D) ...except that for the M4-2 Leica introduced zinc top plates to make Ned happy. But without the M4-2 there would be no more M in the second half of the seventies, so no cameras from Solms anymore in the eighties.

[Peter Kilmister]

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The M240 and its variants are beautifully crafted cameras. Well done to German engineering, whoever's electronics, and the ability to fit the finest Corning glass (made in England). Like most things these days it is made from components sourced either from the cheapest, or from the best. I prefer the best. Maybe you like cheap? Its your choice.

[NB23]

So, you mean the M that came between the M9 and the M10? The one with live view and a whole host of changes from the M9? And the one which is the same as the one which came between the M9 and the M10, but didn't have video? Or the one which didn't have an LCD? Or perhaps the one which only took black and white, but which is otherwise the same as the one which came between the M9 and the M10?

 

Yes, that would be a lot clearer if it was the M9.2. Maybe call the others M9.2.1, M9.2.2, M9.2.3 & M9.2.4. Not sure what we do about the M camera which came between the M9 and the M10, but which didn't have live view because it still had a CCD sensor, but those are just details.

 

PS - I forgot to agree on the snobbery point. From now one my Audi (which is just a dressed up VW) will be referred to as the People's Car, snob's version, and BWMs will now be referred to as BMC, for Bavarian Motor Car. And Pajero drivers ...

We're probably at M17 but we still don't know it.

 

And between M240 or M923, there's no difference.

[erl]

I just hang any old body on the back of my glass,

unless it already has some wine in it! (then I hang my body on it!)

[euston]

So let's get this straight.

 

All this "typ" (please note it is TYP and not TYPE, because it is very important for the Leica forae to sound german. It has to do with snobbery).

 

 

Nenad, your photography is great. Don’t waste your energy trying to get into the corporate mind of Leica Camera AG or of this site. But if you do, make sure you don’t fall foul of the same kind of linguistic pretentiousness that you think Leica is guilty of [of which you think Leica is guilty for the purist grammar police].

 

In English the generally accepted plural of forum is forums. In Latin it is fora. I can only imagine that you thought forae might add a touch of class to an otherwise ordinary little word.

 

It doesn't matter a jot in the great scheme of things but, just like you, I like to see these things done right.

[250swb]

I well remember the response from a 'devoted fan' section of the forum to criticism of the M240 name, essentially it was 'how dare you criticise Leica, they know best'. Of course criticism was based on concern that the vast majority non-Leica photographers, and the general public who may want to buy a Leica, were baffled by the change of nomenclature. Of course the Typ numbering system appealed to similar types that know the individual part numbers for an Austin Allegro. But it's taken us to the point that the M240 was really the M10, and the M10 is really the M11, but confusion is a staple diet of the pedant who is just itching to say 'but you can't say that', yet it's the poor public wanting to buy a camera who still suffer.

[jaapv]

So let's get this straight.

 

All this "typ" (please note it is TYP and not TYPE, because it is very important for the Leica forae to sound german. It has to do with snobbery).

 

Am I right in thinking that the M-typ-blabla was only a M9.2, after all?

 

M9.2 sounds much better, as well.

A Rose by any other name... A parent names his child, a company names its product, what difference does it make? 

Although I am convinced that Leica named the M10 to mess up all posts and forums, that insisted on calling the M(Typ 240) M10, in Google.

[anickpick]

Nenad, your photography is great. Don’t waste your energy trying to get into the corporate mind of Leica Camera AG or of this site. But if you do, make sure you don’t fall foul of the same kind of linguistic pretentiousness that you think Leica is guilty of [of which you think Leica is guilty for the purist grammar police].

 

In English the generally accepted plural of forum is forums. In Latin it is fora. I can only imagine that you thought forae might add a touch of class to an otherwise ordinary little word.

 

It doesn't matter a jot in the great scheme of things but, just like you, I like to see these things done right.

 

 

A snobby proposal to simplify things:

 

Latin declination singular old: forum, fori, foro, forum, forum, foro

Latin declination singular new: forum1.1, forum1.2, forum1.3, forum1.4, forum1.5, forum1.6

 

Latin declination plural old: fora, fororum, foris, fora, fora, foris

Latin declination plural new: forum2.1, forum2.2, forum2.3, forum2.4, forum2.5, forum2.6

Edited July 24, 2017 by anickpick

[lct]

Indeed that M typ (or type who cares) thing reaches summits of stupidity. After the M9 i expected M10 and the result is M10 never existed... oops sorry i forgot the M10 which should have been called M11 . 

Edited July 24, 2017 by lct

[Stealth3kpl]

As I remember it, Leica named the model following the M9 simply the "M" (as Ned seems to be advocating). It was the forums' members who started calling it the M240 following the confusion this naming policy was causing. It seems Leica have given up on that policy and have gone back to something customers find easier to follow.

[jdlaing]

As I remember it, Leica named the model following the M9 simply the "M" (as Ned seems to be advocating). It was the forums' members who started calling it the M240 following the confusion this naming policy was causing. It seems Leica have given up on that policy and have gone back to something customers find easier to follow.

It was Leica that named it M Typ 240.

 

https://us.leica-camera.com/Photography/Leica-M/Leica-M-240-Typ-240

[Michael Geschlecht]

And the M3 is actually the M1.

And vice versa.

 

Hello Paul,

 

Actually the M3 is the M3 & the M1 is the M1.

 

This is because the "M" means that the camera takes bayonet mount range/viewfinder coupled lenses.

 

And the "3" is the level of add to options & the like that are included in that model camera.

 

The M1 had the least amount of of add to options provided at the time that it was introduced.

 

An M2 was in between the M3 & M1 in terms of add to options included.

 

And the M4-2 was the second version of the M4 camera.

 

And so on.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

Edited July 24, 2017 by Michael Geschlecht

[Stealth3kpl]

It was Leica that named it M Typ 240.

 

https://us.leica-camera.com/Photography/Leica-M/Leica-M-240-Typ-240

 I think they named it that in the prototype stage then gradually came around to accepting it as the name later because everyone was using that nomenclature - that's why that link says "Leica M" then underneath is added "Typ 240", and to the right of the page "M (TYP 240)". The hoo har on the date of it's release was that numbers had been dropped and from now on there was simply going to be the "M", and people were discussing how we'd be able to distinguish subsequent models from each other. I don't recall Leica on that day referring to TYP240, only internet forums. Leica, I'm sure, was referring to it as the "M".

Pete

[IkarusJohn]

Didn't Stefan discuss this in one of his interviews, about how Leica didn't like the use of the typ designation?

 

I didn't mind the M designation, but it was confusing as it became hard to differentiate the different versions. I wonder what they'll call M10 variants. M10M? M10M-D? A bit clumsy.

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[Michael Geschlecht]

Didn't Stefan discuss this in one of his interviews, about how Leica didn't like the use of the typ designation?

 

I didn't mind the M designation, but it was confusing as it became hard to differentiate the different versions. I wonder what they'll call M10 variants. M10M? M10M-D? A bit clumsy.

 

Hello John,

 

Not that "clumsy".

 

It worked in a reasonably usable manner from the M1 all of the way thru the M9 & its variants.

 

The only "clumsy" iteration so far has been the M240 which is based on a Leica internal designation instead of their following their own nomenclature as it had been used up thru M9.

 

Example:

 

M5 is an improved version of the M4 which:

 

Has an improved (Over the M4.) quick load system.

 

With an easier to use & clearer to read shutter speed dial.

 

With the shutter speed in use observable inside the range/viewfinder window.

 

With a battery test indicator observable inside the range/viewfinder window.

 

With the most sensitive behind the lens meter available in 35mm photography at that time. Also observable inside the range/viewfinder window.

 

Which reads about the central 1/9th of the area covered by the lens currently in use.

 

Which is wired with 3 independent flash circuits.

 

Which could use, or have adapted so it could be used, every lens made for it & its predecessors from before Franklin Roosevelt was elected President of the United States.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

Edited July 24, 2017 by Michael Geschlecht