New Leica M6 Film Camera

[LocalHero1953]

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3 hours ago, jonoslack said:

Mine arrived last week - it's just too beautiful to resist (it really is a lovely thing!)

 

I was seriously tempted. But I was strong and resisted temptation - I don't need another camera. But then I found my left hand, on the quiet, had ordered a MP black paint (you lose control of your body as you get older). Red Dot Cameras tell me it may arrive in January. At least I won't have red dot bling to angst about.

[Topsy]

3 hours ago, logan2z said:

Have to agree.  One of the photographers in the 'Why the M6?' video recently put out by the owners of Leica Store San Francisco has bits of his M6 covered with gaffer's tape and I think it looks awful.

 

Only just got around to looking at this, turned it off after a couple of minutes what utter pretentious cr*p, didn't see a good photo in the video (as far as I got). Maybe I'm just too old to get it.

[Herr Barnack]

1 hour ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I was seriously tempted. But I was strong and resisted temptation - I don't need another camera. But then I found my left hand, on the quiet, had ordered a MP black paint (you lose control of your body as you get older). Red Dot Cameras tell me it may arrive in January. At least I won't have red dot bling to angst about.

Blasphemy!  Blasphemy, I say!  Everyone needs another M camera!

[lmans]

If you don’t like the red dot… be a real man/woman and buy an MA:)

[Herr Barnack]

For those who haven't yet surrendered to the desire for a copy of the new M6, here's a nice short that may help push you over the edge -

 

[Steve Ricoh]

If I was in the market for another I’d buy an MP. It’s basically the same camera, but the button rewind is far more satisfactory from an engineering standpoint, plus it will brass nicely over time. I already have an M6 from yesteryear, and the ‘zincness’ really bugs me. Almost enough for me to trade it up to a secondhand MP.

[jonoslack]

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7 minutes ago, Steve Ricoh said:

If I was in the market for another I’d buy an MP. It’s basically the same camera, but the button rewind is far more satisfactory from an engineering standpoint, plus it will brass nicely over time. I already have an M6 from yesteryear, and the ‘zincness’ really bugs me. Almost enough for me to trade it up to a secondhand MP.

At least you don't get the zincness with the new one (brass top plate). 

[Steve Ricoh]

1 hour ago, jonoslack said:

At least you don't get the zincness with the new one (brass top plate). 

Precisely!

I’m glad to see the second hand value of the zinc M6 continues to increase; maybe time to pull the plug. Zinc is a dreadful element unless you want to offer it up sacrificially, eg on a ship in salty water.

[raizans]

If anyone has a chance to visit Wetzlar, could they swing by the archives and find out once and for all why they decided to put the model engraving on the M5 and CL, and red dot on the M4-P?

In a wonderful parallel universe, the M4-2, M4-P, M6, M7, M8, M9, M240, M10, and M11 would have had “Leica” engraved on the top plate, and no front engraving or red dot!

Edited December 24, 2022 by raizans

[madNbad]

24 minutes ago, Steve Ricoh said:

Precisely!

I’m glad to see the second hand value of the zinc M6 continues to increase; maybe time to pull the plug. Zinc is a dreadful element unless you want to offer it up sacrificially, eg on a ship in salty water.

It was those zinc top plates that kept Leica making rangefinder cameras long after everyone else abandoned them. From the late 1970s until 1999 when the F4/5 and other autofocus cameras were dominating, Leica continued with a slow but steady trickle of M4-Ps then the M6 followed by the TTL. Bringing back the brass top plate (not to mention black paint) brought new buyers to Leica.

[Herr Barnack]

32 minutes ago, raizans said:

If anyone has a chance to visit Wetzlar, could they swing by the archives and find out once and for all why they decided to put the model engraving on the M5 and CL, and red dot on the M4-P?

In a wonderful parallel universe, the M4-2, M4-P, M6, M7, M8, M9, M240, M10, and M11 would have had “Leica” engraved on the top plate, and no front engraving or red dot!

I love the beautiful Leica script engraved on the left side of the top plate on my M-P 240 Safari and on the titanium M-A (which I missed out on 😢 ).  IMHO, Leica should gift this engraving to all M cameras going forward from here.  It would be a nice a connection to the M camera's heritage, going all the way back to the M3 which had this top plate engraving.

 

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Edited December 24, 2022 by Herr Barnack

[Huss]

10 minutes ago, Herr Barnack said:

I love the beautiful Leica script engraved on the left side of the top plate on my M-P 240 Safari.  IMHO, Leica should gift this engraving to all M cameras going forward from here.  It would be a nice a connection to the M camera's heritage, going all the way back to the M3 which had this top plate engraving.

 

Leica can’t do that.  All the cameras they make are basically the same thing and little things like engravings, paint etc is how they are able to charge more for ‘special’ versions.

😜

[Huss]

I love the red dot.  It’s a design signature and obviously very effective seeing all the discussion around it.

IMO it’s like the three point star on a Mercedes.

[lmans]

Looks like everyone should factory order their "M" and then have as an option of script (and location), or red dot, or nothing....or or or ....perhaps go back to the old days and have a brass/metal/whatever emblem put on the bottom plate stating where it was bought at! 

[raizans]

I must be influenced by CameraQuest in my preference for the top plate engraving. The red dot is from the "plain Jane" era, and I want the fancy, classic engraving from Leica's golden age.

Edited December 24, 2022 by raizans

[Steve Ricoh]

Possibly an engraving on both the top and bottom indicating whether they’re made from brass. Definitely put an end to the endless debate about the M6 titanium having a brass top plate (it hasn’t).  All elderly M6 models could be retro engraved with the script ‘pure zinc’ (which would definitely lead to corrosion 🤣).

[Herr Barnack]

40 minutes ago, Huss said:

Leica can’t do that.  All the cameras they make are basically the same thing and little things like engravings, paint etc is how they are able to charge more for ‘special’ versions.

😜

How about this - Leica gives us the Leica script engraving on all M cameras and raises prices by $25 USD across the board to compensate for the lost cash flow?

Edited December 24, 2022 by Herr Barnack

[Huss]

9 minutes ago, Herr Barnack said:

How about this - Leica gives us the Leica script engraving on all M cameras and raises prices by $25 USD across the board to compensate for the lost cash flow?

And then the limited edition cameras for $1000 more will have no engraving!  Brilliant!
 

of course then we will have people complaining that all Leicas should come w/o engraving as it is more discrete etc blah blah blah..

[madNbad]

what about skipping the engraving altogether, pay attention to any assembly or production problems and shipping a camera that doesn't scratch the film?

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Huss]

7 minutes ago, madNbad said:

what about skipping the engraving altogether, pay attention to any assembly or production problems and shipping a camera that doesn't scratch the film?

That is just crazy talk.