MP gets much "dirtier" than M6

[Landiah]

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In my experience with the MP (at least a few months now) I have noticed that, compared to my m6, the glass is much more prone to fingerprints and oil. I usually carry both cameras with me and it is much more often that I end up cleaning the viewfinder on the MP than the m6 as it gets a bit foggy as oils build up. Has anyone else had a similar experience or know how to remedy it?

[jaapv]

You are supposed to put the camera in the dishwasher every other night. I think it is mentioned in the manual.

[Landiah]

Just now, jaapv said:

You are supposed to put the camera in the dishwasher every other night.

Can you recommend a detergent?

[ianman]

9 minutes ago, Landiah said:

I usually carry both cameras with me and it is much more often that I end up cleaning the viewfinder on the MP than the m6 as it gets a bit foggy as oils build up.

Do you use the MP more than the M6 maybe?

[Landiah]

Just now, ianman said:

Do you use the MP more than the M6 maybe?

I've considered this and while it may be the case, it feels as though I use them both the same amount.

[shirubadanieru]

I have no experience with the M6 but I do feel that the new MP (& MA) get dust inside the viewfinder much more easily / frequently when compared to the M3/M2/M4...I guess that although the built quality improved compared to the 80/90s, it will never be able to compete with the golden Leica years of the 50s and 60s...

[jaapv]

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4 minutes ago, Landiah said:

Can you recommend a detergent?

For Leica never the cheapest.

 

 

 

 

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[a.noctilux]

Four pages of cleaning opinions

 

 

Edited January 16, 2020 by a.noctilux

[jaapv]

I see I made the same recommendation back then

[earleygallery]

Try not to get your fingers on the viewfinder glass. Also avoid the lens elements. 

[Ouroboros]

Put these on before handling your camera

[TomB_tx]

If you consciously work at keeping your fingers off the VF (by thinking about how you hold / grab the body) it will soon be second nature to not touch the VF or RF windows. I've used an M for over 50 years and never give it a thought. Mine only gets finger prints when I let someone else use it for a shot. (Which is rare, as I don't care for pictures with me in them - I want to picture what I saw.)

It's much like never letting your lens point at the sun while carrying it (to avoid burning holes in the shutter cloth). After a while you automatically avoid it.

Edited January 16, 2020 by TomB_tx

[adan]

I don't have either model to check - but is there a difference in the finder window glass coating?

It's my impression that the MP has a coating more like the digital Ms - with a purplish cast, compared to more yellow in the M6 Classic (preTTL).

The newer coating improves finder clarity (just like lens coatings), but also makes any fingerprints more obvious, both in reflectivity from the outside ("silvery" fingerprints against the dark finder tunnel), and in clarity when looking through the finder. Fingerprints don't show quite as starkly on the older, yellower coating (but the finder is slightly muddier all the time).

My digital Ms are more fingerprint-prone than I remember from M4/M6 days.

___________

There's a little history to the Leica viewfinder glass. The original M3 had heavy metal "picture frames" surrounding the viewfinder windows, with the glass recessed behind them (in fact, mounted inside the entire top plate). The frames tended to push fingertips away from the glass, and reduced the tendency to collect fingerprints - but also made it a bit harder to clean them away once they occurred. It required Q-tips or some such to dig out dust and prints in the deeply-recessed window corners.

The M2/4/4-2 removed the M3's heavy surrounding frames, but the glass was still mounted behind the cover-plate metal thickness, with a double-1mm stepped recess. (Can't speak to the M5 - as with many things, it is different from the "main line.")

The M6 (and the last copies of the M4-P) started having the glass front-mounted into the windows with glue, making it flush with the metal surface. Much easier to fingerprint, but also much easier to wipe off. (However, I had an M6 0.85x in which the front-mounted main finder glass fell out twice in 18 months!)

[Landiah]

Adan, you are correct the coating is different and this seems to be exactly what I am experiencing. Thanks for going in depth. 

[GRBrown]

4 hours ago, adan said:

The M2/4/4-2 removed the M3's heavy surrounding frames, but the glass was still mounted behind the cover-plate metal thickness, with a double-1mm stepped recess. (Can't speak to the M5 - as with many things, it is different from the "main line.")

The M5 glass is inside a single stepped recess that appears to be about 1mm. 

[Ouroboros]

20 hours ago, shirubadanieru said:

I have no experience with the M6 but I do feel that the new MP (& MA) get dust inside the viewfinder much more easily / frequently when compared to the M3/M2/M4...I guess that although the built quality improved compared to the 80/90s, it will never be able to compete with the golden Leica years of the 50s and 60s...

 

Urban myths proliferate.

You may have some dust in your camera viewfinder, but that does not mean the MP/MA is more prone to dust than all other M cameras

 How would I know that?

Because I've owned and used my MP for 15 years.  It has travelled the world with me, been up mountains, down a coal mine, inside caves and Pyramids, crossed seas, deserts, been wet, hot, cold and I USE IT.  There is no dust in the viewfinder.

Some early production MP's are reported to have had internal dust in the viewfinder and Leica dealt with that issue by sealing the viewfinder during assembly a long time ago.

[shirubadanieru]

4 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

 

Urban myths proliferate.

You may have some dust in your camera viewfinder, but that does not mean the MP/MA is more prone to dust than all other M cameras

 How would I know that?

Because I've owned and used my MP for 15 years.  It has travelled the world with me, been up mountains, down a coal mine, inside caves and Pyramids, crossed seas, deserts, been wet, hot, cold and I USE IT.  There is no dust in the viewfinder.

Some early production MP's are reported to have had internal dust in the viewfinder and Leica dealt with that issue by sealing the viewfinder during assembly a long time ago.

i also have an MP / MA & M4 and used to have M2 / M3 and talking about my own experience with them..mp & ma buit quality is miles ahead of the M6 but I still think nothing beats the early Leicas in terms of built quality. Of course even an M6 is better built than any other camera brand and is perfectly usable 

[ianman]

6 hours ago, shirubadanieru said:

Of course even an M6 is better built than any other camera brand

Balderdash! I don't know about all brands but my Nikon FM2 for example is just as well built as my MP. Just because we use Leica doesn't mean all the others brands are rubbish.

[pgk]

On 1/16/2020 at 11:09 AM, Landiah said:

Can you recommend a detergent?

Nikwax Tech Wash - the best😉.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[pgk]

48 minutes ago, ianman said:

Balderdash! I don't know about all brands but my Nikon FM2 for example is just as well built as my MP. Just because we use Leica doesn't mean all the others brands are rubbish.

An interesting comment and without wanting to be brand biased, given that I used to use FM2s and I think that they were great cameras, I would say that over the passage of time they have proved to be reliable, but I do now see quite a few for sale with issues. FM2s were undoubtedly built well but whether they will survive as long as their Leica counterparts will be interesting to see. I suspect that they will suffer from the 'uneconomic to repair' syndrome which proves to be the undoing of many great pieces of equipment, whereas Leicas will be deemed repairable for rather longer.