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  • 2 weeks later...

My M60

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  • 3 weeks later...

Never having seen a Leica M60, when I realised that Red Dot Cameras in London were offering a used example, off to town I went a yesterday to take a look at this ava raris...  Curiosity may not have killed the cat, but it did significant damage to my bank balance!

My late wife had been a Leica user, and had visited Wetzlar and the factory at Solms. My purchase of the M60 was made possible by some funds that I inherited following her death, so I regard my new acquisition as a posthumous gift from her.

Already converted to the concept of a screenless camera, I've been using used an M-D since 2019, but always regretted that this camera had never been offered in silver chrome rather than with black-paint finish. However the titanium-like grey of the M60 seemed an acceptable alternative to silver chrome, so the M60 will now become my main camera, with the M-D being demoted to backup camera in place of my M-9P.

The only downside to the M60 that I've noticed so far is that its DNG files don't seem to involve compression. With the M-D, each DNG file is typically anything between around 27Mb to 32Mb, but on the M60 each is about 46MB. My SD cards won't store as many images as they used to, so the days when one 4Gb card could last me all day will be over. However, Adobe DNG converter will allow me to apply lossless compression to each DNG before I archive a card's contents.

Edited by roydonian
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1 hour ago, roydonian said:

Never having seen a Leica M60, when I realised that Red Dot Cameras in London were offering a used example......Curiosity may not have killed the cat, but it did significant damage to my bank balance!...

Sincere congratulations on your acquisition! I trust that you will capture some wonderful memories together; I know how much you liked using your M-D.

Philip.

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Hello Philip. As you say, I have enjoyed using my M-D, but what I did not enjoy was looking at it! I just don't like black-paint as a camera finish. But at the time when I opted to go screenless, the M-D had seemed the only realistic option.  I never considered the M60, reasoning that most if not all examples of the M60 + Summilux ASPH that had been made were probably in the hands of collectors. Also I already had a 35mm Summilux ASPH.

But having become separated from the Summilux ASPH with which it had originally been partnered, the M60 that Red Dot was offering was no longer such a desirable item for a collector, so became a possible camera for use. It wasn't silver chrome, but it wasn't black. But what did it look like 'in the flesh'? And how did it feel like to handle? Curious to find out, off to London I went. And came home financially poorer!

One thing that did surprise me was the box in which the camera and its accessories were packed - it's huge (56cm x 34cm x 26cm) and heavy. By comparison, the box that my M-D came in measured a mere 22cm x 22cm x 16cm.

Making one's new purchase easy to carry home was obviously not Leica company priority when deciding how to package it - for example, the user manual takes the form of a hard-back book. There was no way I was going to carry my acquisition across London, and from my local railway station to my front door. Red Dot offered to ship it, promising that I'd have it the next day. An early-morning email from OCS Worldwide duly reported that DHL eCommerce UK would deliver my package "between 12:27 and 13:27", and it arrived at 12.43.

The camera had its first 'operational sortie' yesterday, when I took some photos in and around our village church.

Douglas

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Douglas, that's a great account.  The M60 box is  huge with beautiful dividers and hidden compartments on the side.  I had forgotten about the side compartments where Leica gloves resided among other things.  When I purchased my copy it was missing the stainless steel hot shoe cover and the hard cover manual, the cover was a part order that Leica could supply but I could not obtain a copy of the manual except as a pdf.  After a few days use my the rangefinder roller fell apart and the camera needed repair with Leica.  The camera surprised me that the rangefinder adjustment post repair had perfect alignment and the exposures were as good as can be, rarely did highlights overexpose.  Enjoy your new camera, I miss mine but other Leica bodies console me.   

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2 hours ago, darylgo said:

When I purchased my copy it was missing the stainless steel hot shoe cover

Yes, it's a very loose-fitting item. The previous owner had tucked a little piece of folded paper between the shoe and the cover. I've attached two stacked small pieces of medical sticking plaster to the underside of the cover.

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6 hours ago, roydonian said:

...The camera had its first 'operational sortie' yesterday, when I took some photos in and around our village church....

I'm truly very happy to read that things have worked out well for you.

Who knows? Following-on from last year's little meet-up on the South-Bank perhaps there will be another such get-together and we can all catch-up on 'News'?

Philip.

P.S. : Wasn't the Ur-Leica - the genuine actual one as seen in your Avatar - finished in Black-Paint?......😸......

Philip.

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1 hour ago, pippy said:

Wasn't the Ur-Leica - the genuine actual one as seen in your Avatar - finished in Black-Paint?.

True - but I wasn't BUYING it - just holding it! No bright-line viewfinder, no rangefinder, no 1/1000 of a sec, no flash synch, no slot for an SD memory card. Not the sort of camera I'd spend my money on... 

Leica get-togethers such as the South Bank trip are not too frequent. I went to one in London last Sunday that had been organised via this forum. Several hours spent in good Leica-toting company.

 

Edited by roydonian
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23 minutes ago, roydonian said:

...Leica get-togethers such as the South Bank trip are not too frequent. I went to one in London last Sunday that had been organised via this forum. Several hours spent in good Leica-toting company...

I'm truly sorry to have missed that one!

Whilst I have always had a soft-spot for Leicas finished in Black-Paint finish(*) I deliberately held-off buying an M9 Monochrom until I found one in Silver-Chrome. That camera really is something special for me.

Philip.

* My very first Leica (bought as a 15-y-o) was a 1931 Model 1 (A) to III conversion. Loved that camera to bits!

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  • 2 weeks later...
5 hours ago, roydonian said:

A raw-steel prototype M60 bearing the serial number N007/010 was auctioned recently:

https://www.leitz-auction.com/en/Leica-M60-Raw-Steel-prototype/AI-20220121-1128-41246

Wow thanks for sharing this. Really cool and inspiring. Shiny stainless steel all over. A few slightly rough and ready brushed areas to give texture change and make you realise it is a prototype ...

It went for EUR36k.

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Curious - my version is P17/24….with no serial number but with the lacquered finish

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Edited by NigelG
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38 minutes ago, roydonian said:

...It has no serial number.

Nice!

However according to the page in the link it might be #1 of three in the series;

"M60-P-01of03"

The very first M60 prototype perhaps?

Philip.

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7 hours ago, roydonian said:

A raw-steel prototype M60 bearing the serial number N007/010 was auctioned recently...

 

4 minutes ago, NigelG said:

Curious - my version is P17/24….with no serial number...

 

3 minutes ago, pippy said:

...However according to the page in the link it might be #1 of three in the series...

OK; now I am  very curious about the 'serial numbers'(?) of these prototypes.

The 'earliest'(?) as seen in post #76 might be the original; '01of03'.

The next-up number-wise is 007/010 and the highest number noted here is 17/24 but this final time there is a 'P' prefix which might denote 'Prototype'.

How does this work? Was there an initial run of three followed by a continuation of the numbering system from '004' up to '010' and then a 'P' batch which went from P10 to 24?...

Questions Must Be Asked in the House at Prime Minister's Question Time! (I'll get on the 'phone to my MP....)...

Philip.

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