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Leica M7 now discontinued


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Pity. 16 years is a pretty good production run for a camera and especially one which has had to compete against an incoming tide of digital competitors. Whilst all success stories come to an end, I think that the M7 can be regarded as having had a very good innings.

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However it is still on Leica's website.

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Too bad:  with Auto exposure the M7 brought something different and new to analog Leica M photography.

 

The surviving offerings (M-A and MP) appeal to those who wish to strip down that sort of experience, but who could do just as well with a properly serviced M4-P or M6 of the 80's era.

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Does anyone know how serviceable the M7 will be in the future ? Are the electronics going to be a problem ?

No doubt that electronics will be a problem in the future, as they already are with the M6 models, with the added drawback that the M7 shutter is dependent on those electronics to a far greater extent than any other analog Leica model.

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Don't hold your breath for too long.

 

I bought the M7 à la carte in 2006 after which it went back to Solms twice as it took photos all by itself even when turned off with the shutter cocked.

 

It was at Solms for such a long time that Leica must have thought is easier or less expensive to just fit my à la carte exterior around a new camera.

 

For the last tens years it has been reliable and faultless, however with electronics one wonders for how long.  Same with modern cars.

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It is gone from Leica Mayfair’s web site, so I can only assume that the rumor is true.

 

This is very very bad from my perspective. The M7 is the most capable M-series film body that Leica has made, and it is my primary workhorse. If Leica is no longer making - and presumably supporting - them, then my main rationale for shooting Leica goes out of the window.

 

I also really dislike the way that this has been (non) announced. If there had been notice of a final product run, I would have ordered at least one additional body.

 

It also raises the question as to how much longer the two remaining film bodies will be supported. Presumably the issue is a lack of components and insufficient demand to justify designing/building modern replacements.

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A problem we have here in Australia is the availability of batteries.

 

They are difficult to source and illegal to import as they are considered terrorist weapons or a component thereof !!!  Work that one out.

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Presumably the issue is a lack of components and insufficient demand to justify designing/building modern replacements.

 

The Hasselblad XPan ran into problems to do with the materials used in its construction. With dwindling sales and a redesign needed I assume that it did not make economic sense to build a new model. Could be a similar problem with the M7 - some of its components may now be obsolete and sourcing newly manufactured replacements may not be possible. I'm sure that Leica will continue to support the M7 and will have a good spares back up, but after a 16 year life which has seen radical changes in electronics, I'm impressed that it was still available new for so long myself. There will be a good number of lightly used bodies on the used market for those who want them no doubt.

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It is gone from Leica Mayfair’s web site, so I can only assume that the rumor is true.

 

This is very very bad from my perspective. The M7 is the most capable M-series film body that Leica has made, and it is my primary workhorse. If Leica is no longer making - and presumably supporting - them, then my main rationale for shooting Leica goes out of the window.

 

I also really dislike the way that this has been (non) announced. If there had been notice of a final product run, I would have ordered at least one additional body.

 

It also raises the question as to how much longer the two remaining film bodies will be supported. Presumably the issue is a lack of components and insufficient demand to justify designing/building modern replacements.

 

 

Components are generally made in-house, so Leica can continue to make them as long as they want to.

 

There is no suggestion that they are no longer supporting M7s and they will have obligations to do so for a certain period under European Law.

 

When they first started selling the MP, they undertook to continue to service that model for 30 years after the last production. No one knows (yet) whether that promise will be upheld, of course.

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... however with electronics one wonders for how long.  Same with modern cars.

 

Not true according to my own experience. My first car which had a lot of electronic components (at least for its time) was a 1984 Audi 200 turbo, and just as you I feared that the electronics would give me problems down the road. I drove the car for well over 200.000 km and roughly 11 years, and all the electronics worked faultlessly. Not a single problem. In the end, problems with deteriorating plastic parts such as the radiator frame and connection flanges (they simply broke apart) made me sell the car, which by the way was still on its first exhaust system (and that one looked like new! It was all stainless steel apparently).

 

I owned subsequent cars of different manufacturers, each for 10 year periods, and each covering roughly 250.000 km, and never experienced any problems with the electronics, except for a 3-series BMW, which started to have electronic problems already in its first year. I sold that car earlier than intended, and moved on to other brands (Saab and Volvo for the most part).

 

To conclude, electronics can be very reliable if well made and designed.

 

Cheers, Andy

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A problem we have here in Australia is the availability of batteries.

 

They are difficult to source and illegal to import as they are considered terrorist weapons or a component thereof !!!  Work that one out.

 

Very strange.

M7 batteries are small common type batteries used in so many devices.

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Hmmm. 60+30. I might still be around and using my M7 in my dotage 

 

 

Leica didn't make the same 30 year promise with the M7.

 

Leica's servicing record is a bit mixed when it comes to supporting discontinued models (I think it ultimately comes down to what's left in the parts bin) but the main problem IMO is an apparent lack of service personnel when it comes to the film bodies and the associated extended time frames for getting anything done. The prices charged by the service department are also increasingly eye watering. All that said, Leica did the DX upgrade (and presumably a CLA) on a second hand M7 I bought a couple of years ago at no charge to me (and in a reasonable timeframe) so I am happy to give them credit when it is deserved.

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Components are generally made in-house, so Leica can continue to make them as long as they want to.

 

While that is likely true for the mechanical parts, I think that it is less clear for the electronics.

 

The recent panic over M6 TTL meter repairs are an example of this. The components needed to build the metering circuit are no longer available, and although you could easily design a modern replacement with newer parts in practise the development and stocking costs are deemed too expensive.

 

I am not sure what exactly is inside the M7 shutter (a Copal design?), but I am pretty certain that anything put together 16+ years ago will require some design work to keep it viable today - and this is a lot harder than a simple metering circuit.

 

What I find frustrating is that I see Leica discontinuing practical cameras, while remaining happy to produce extremely low production runs of "special editions" aimed at collectors. It is yet another signal that people who rely on the M series for serious photography are very far from being Leica's priority.

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Apart from allegations and 3rd-party predications, is there any official statement from Leica Camera about the purported discontinuation of the M7? I cannot find any. So I guess it's just fake news (until proven otherwise).

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A problem we have here in Australia is the availability of batteries.

 

They are difficult to source and illegal to import as they are considered terrorist weapons or a component thereof !!!  Work that one out.

 

I have had no problems sourcing batteries here.

 

 

If true I would seriously consider getting another M7.  It may not have the iconic status of the MP or MA, but for me the aperture-priority auto makes it a most versatile camera.

Edited by MarkP
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