Al Brown Posted January 19, 2022 Share #1 Posted January 19, 2022 (edited) Advertisement (gone after registration) I can't find the information on the M6 "Big Logo" dates, production numbers and serial numbers for chrome and black versions. Does anyone here have this data available? Much appreciated. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Edited January 19, 2022 by Al Brown Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/328741-m6-big-m6-logo-numbers-and-serials/?do=findComment&comment=4361496'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 19, 2022 Posted January 19, 2022 Hi Al Brown, Take a look here M6 "Big M6 Logo" numbers and serials. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
a.noctilux Posted January 19, 2022 Share #2 Posted January 19, 2022 1987 ? 1 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted January 19, 2022 Share #3 Posted January 19, 2022 3 hours ago, a.noctilux said: 1987 ? 1987, the year hem lines once again went higher and Leica logos got bigger, that makes sense. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
a.noctilux Posted January 20, 2022 Share #4 Posted January 20, 2022 12 hours ago, 250swb said: 1987, the year hem lines once again went higher and Leica logos got bigger, that makes sense. Interesting ! Hello Steve, can you please tell more, what is "hem lines" of 1987 ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Brown Posted January 20, 2022 Author Share #5 Posted January 20, 2022 Seems like this one will have to be done the old fashioned way - finding all serials from images and users on the web and narrowing down the batch & dates empirically. Even Lars agrees as he has no data available. Anyone with the M6 big logo from the forum welcome to write the serial number and version of their camera (black/silver). If you know the date/year manufactured please add it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamc Posted January 21, 2022 Share #6 Posted January 21, 2022 (edited) I'm not sure if this helps but I think it was the same year the red dot started carrying the 'leica' logo rather than 'Leitz' (was this also the year of a factory change or change /sale of naming ?) because I read that initially they thought he repetition of the logo 'leica' and 'leica m6' was too much so for the first few batches that year appears 'm6' only. So it may be easier to find out what year that change occurred Leitz > Leica Just a thought and might be an easier way to get the info you need Edited January 21, 2022 by grahamc Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Brown Posted January 25, 2022 Author Share #7 Posted January 25, 2022 Advertisement (gone after registration) On 1/21/2022 at 2:45 PM, grahamc said: I'm not sure if this helps but I think it was the same year the red dot started carrying the 'leica' logo rather than 'Leitz' (was this also the year of a factory change or change /sale of naming ?) because I read that initially they thought he repetition of the logo 'leica' and 'leica m6' was too much so for the first few batches that year appears 'm6' only. So it may be easier to find out what year that change occurred Leitz > Leica Just a thought and might be an easier way to get the info you need Thanks, I thought of that, yes, it has to be quite a short period of time. But the daunting quest for serial numbers will have to be done nevertheless... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Brown Posted January 25, 2022 Author Share #8 Posted January 25, 2022 I did some digging and found some interesting results: The compilation of M6 "BIG LOGO M serial" numbers I could find in one day: SILVER 1738772 1738969 1739732 1740566 1748124 1755512 BLACK 1724633 1726316 1726583 1726588 1726947 1727289 1727481 1728018 1728044 1728212 1728377 1741453 1741873 1742838 1743105 1743654 1743982 1745133 Most of them seem to have the LEICA GMBH GERMANY engraving. Upon the data gathered it would be safe to say (after putting the serial #s into context) that "big M logo" was produced from March 1987 to May 1988 (in black) & October 1988 (in silver), and that about 14.000 were made.BUT of course that would have been too smooth. At the end of research I stumbled upon a black "big M logo" M6 with serial number 1704162 (with Leitz logo) that obviously rendered my above assumption of production start false and pushed the dates back to 1986, changing the total count. If anyone has another 1986 (or 1985 even) "big M logo" M6 please post the serial here. So far the only certain thing is that the "big M logo" M6 is not as rare as presumed, in Leica terms of course. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandro Posted February 1, 2022 Share #9 Posted February 1, 2022 Interesting research and I have always wondered how the 'big' M6 came into being at all. Are there any stories or theories why Leitz/Leica changed from Leica M6 to M6 and back again? Lex 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Brown Posted February 1, 2022 Author Share #10 Posted February 1, 2022 15 hours ago, sandro said: Interesting research and I have always wondered how the 'big' M6 came into being at all. Are there any stories or theories why Leitz/Leica changed from Leica M6 to M6 and back again? Lex Yes, when the company went from "LEITZ" to "LEICA" it felt redundant to have another "Leica" writen above M6 because one "Leica" was already on the new red dot. So they dropped the naming next to the M6 and had 8000-14000 cameras (we still do not know the exact numbers) built with just big M6 logo instead. The big logo became the standard on the successor M7 and firmly kept its place up to Leica M9, being replaced with just the M for its last incarnation on Typ 240 before it was finally dropped and sent to oblivion on M10 and M11. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Vallew Posted April 22, 2022 Share #11 Posted April 22, 2022 Hello, I have a m6 Big logo and its serial number is 16901XXX Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzongkha Posted April 24, 2022 Share #12 Posted April 24, 2022 (edited) Interesting discussion. My copy looks like this. Serialnumber: 2331xxx (from '97 as far as i know) Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Edited April 24, 2022 by Dzongkha Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/328741-m6-big-m6-logo-numbers-and-serials/?do=findComment&comment=4423710'>More sharing options...
sandro Posted April 24, 2022 Share #13 Posted April 24, 2022 8 hours ago, Dzongkha said: Interesting discussion. My copy looks like this. Serialnumber: 2331xxx (from '97 as far as i know) Yours is a regular one. The "Big M" M6 only had M6 on the front instead of Leica M6. Lex 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
a.noctilux Posted April 24, 2022 Share #14 Posted April 24, 2022 9 hours ago, Dzongkha said: Interesting discussion. My copy looks like this. Serialnumber: 2331xxx (from '97 as far as i know) Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! No-BIG-Logo 😉 like this one (without Leica ! ) we are talking about On 1/19/2022 at 6:15 PM, Al Brown said: I can't find the information on the M6 "Big Logo" dates, production numbers and serial numbers for chrome and black versions. Does anyone here have this data available? Much appreciated. or like this below another from Leica litterature 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madNbad Posted April 24, 2022 Share #15 Posted April 24, 2022 I always thought it was when the factory moved from Wetzlar to Solms and the company was rebranded to Leica Camera. Apparently someone felt it was redundant to have “Leica” both above the M6 and on the red dot. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madNbad Posted April 24, 2022 Share #16 Posted April 24, 2022 11 hours ago, Dzongkha said: Interesting discussion. My copy looks like this. Serialnumber: 2331xxx (from '97 as far as i know) Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Not a big 6 but I have the same lens on my M4🙂 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Brown Posted April 24, 2022 Author Share #17 Posted April 24, 2022 On 4/22/2022 at 5:03 PM, Del Vallew said: Hello, I have a m6 Big logo and its serial number is 16901XXX Thanks. Can you post a picture with the serial number AND the big M6 logo seen so we can discuss this further and dig the archives with Lars? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtlajoe Posted November 3, 2022 Share #18 Posted November 3, 2022 big m6 logo only cameras for the japanese market? a way to keep track of leica cameras being sold to the japanese market? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradS Posted November 4, 2022 Share #19 Posted November 4, 2022 from eBay item #284893539391 (Toronto, Canada), Black Big M6 nr. 1726809 Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/328741-m6-big-m6-logo-numbers-and-serials/?do=findComment&comment=4554351'>More sharing options...
Al Brown Posted January 3, 2023 Author Share #20 Posted January 3, 2023 On 11/3/2022 at 10:09 AM, dtlajoe said: big m6 logo only cameras for the japanese market? a way to keep track of leica cameras being sold to the japanese market? No, 100% not the case. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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