Which film M has the best "bang for the buck" today? M5?

[a.noctilux]

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When using along digital M and film M, choosing this last one can be easy in my experiences.

Having almost every model of film M, I can choose each of these MDa, M2, M3, M4, M4-2, M4-P, M-A, etc.

The film choice is more important than the M model.

I still regret the end of Fujifilm Neopan.

[colint544]

The M5 is a fantastic camera. Really well thought-out in its design. I'd get an M5 over an M6 any day. I say that because I swapped my M6 for an M5 back in 2013, and never looked back.

The M5 has the flare-free viewfinder, unlike the M6. The M5 has a superior rewind system to any other M. The M5 has real and grippy vulcanite. The M5 shows you your shutter speed in the viewfinder, unlike any other analogue M. The M5 has a zen-like match-needle meter. I find it much less distracting than the bright LED arrows of the M6. The M5 has a self timer, unlike the M6. The M5 has the best designed, most intuitive shutter speed dial of any M. The M5 is built like a tank. You could suspend a car from one of its strap lugs. The M5 is around half the price of an M6, maybe even less. 

Alan Starkie, of Cameraworks UK did a CLA on my M5. He told me he didn't understand all the talk of repair shops not touching the M5, or it being somehow a weird camera. He said the M5 is 'essentially an M4 in a fat suit', a phrase that stuck with me.

Good luck with whatever you end up getting.

[matted]

Surprised nobody has mentioned the M4… seems to me that it often is best “bang for buck” amongst film Ms. usually a bit cheaper than M2/M3/M6, and is basically an M-A with an angled rewind lever, two-piece advance lever, and without the 75mm frame line. They were selling for $1200 not that long ago, which is only ~$300 more than I paid for mine 11 years ago. 

[Fotoklaus]

The M4 is the last "real" Leica from the brass and chrome era before the more easy to produce M4-2/M4-P/M6/MP/M-A- type cameras.

My personal best "bang for the buck" is a M4-2 which got a full service at Leica that i bought some years ago. Perfect viewfinder, perfect shutter

and the exact same built quality as an M6/MP. I could sell this gem for 3 times more that I paid back then.

The M4-2 was also not very popular like the M5, but they all have proven their reliability over decades now.

So it´s almost pointless to discuss "which one is the best".

Edited October 13, 2022 by Fotoklaus

[plaidshirts]

15 hours ago, cbgrey said:

I've been a digital M shooter for the last year but have recently shot a little film on my old Nikon F3...which gave me a little itch to shoot a bit more film. 

I'd really like an M film body to pair up with my M11 (and share glass) but they all seem so absurdly priced these days. Where's the sweet spot in today's market? I generally shoot 35mm or 50mm focal lengths. Not essential it have a meter. 

M6 seems to be going for around $4000 USD (Edit: Others have said closer to $2k...not sure where I got $4k in my head) which seems nuts. 

I know the M5 is the ugly duckling of the bunch but does that make it a sleeper buy? What are the downsides to owning one? 

Appreciate all your thoughts and opinions. 

 

M5 is the best value among Ms with meters and is a fantastic camera.

I had one years ago and had no real complaints other than I didn't like its aesthetics. If traditional M cameras are Porsche 911s, the M5 was a Porsche Cayenne -  a superb automobile for sure, but just not my thing.

If you want to get a taste of film Leica without investing too much, I'd suggest M5's little brother, the CL, which sells for $400-$700 depending on the health of its meter. You'll get a 50mm frameline and for 35, look just outside the 40mm lines and you should be close enough.

Edited October 13, 2022 by plaidshirts

[Huss]

6 hours ago, a.noctilux said:

When using along digital M and film M, choosing this last one can be easy in my experiences.

Having almost every model of film M, I can choose each of these MDa, M2, M3, M4, M4-2, M4-P, M-A, etc.

The film choice is more important than the M model.

I still regret the end of Fujifilm Neopan.

I still have the old Neopan Acros and the new Acros II.  I don’t see any difference.

[Anbaric]

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18 hours ago, cbgrey said:

I'd really like an M film body to pair up with my M11 (and share glass) but they all seem so absurdly priced these days. Where's the sweet spot in today's market? I generally shoot 35mm or 50mm focal lengths. Not essential it have a meter. 

M6 seems to be going for around $4000 USD (Edit: Others have said closer to $2k...not sure where I got $4k in my head) which seems nuts. 

I know the M5 is the ugly duckling of the bunch but does that make it a sleeper buy? What are the downsides to owning one? 

Appreciate all your thoughts and opinions.

One thing to consider if the prices (understandably!) look absurd is the price and availability of film. The price difference between an M2 and an M6 is probably equivalent to the cost of about 30-40 rolls if you shoot colour, assuming you can actually find that many rolls and you have them developed commercially. You could comfortably get that number of shots, even with the M11's highest resolution raw files, on a $50 256GB SD card.

[cbgrey]

7 hours ago, a.noctilux said:

The film choice is more important than the M model.

Easy...my choice is Kodachrome. 😉

[cbgrey]

5 hours ago, colint544 said:

he didn't understand all the talk of repair shops not touching the M5

I've heard this is due to lack of some critical parts. True? 

[cbgrey]

12 minutes ago, Anbaric said:

The price difference between an M2 and an M6 is probably equivalent to the cost of about 30-40 rolls

A very good point. Personally, if I shoot more than 1 roll a month that would be a lot but your point is perfectly valid. 

[Huss]

19 minutes ago, cbgrey said:

A very good point. Personally, if I shoot more than 1 roll a month that would be a lot but your point is perfectly valid. 

Shoot b&w.  Make your film M a monochrome kamera.  $5/roll for Kentmere 400 which I love.  Dev at home which is super easy w b&w, even easier if you use Cinestill DF96 Monobath.  A single solution for everything (google it).  Fall back in love with the process.

[ktmrider2]

I owned an M5 for a couple years.  It is a great choice if you want a meter.  I would try to  buy one from Sherry Krauter at GOLDEN TOUCH LEICA.   She is THE M5 guru.  Try and reach her by phone and ask her about the M5.   Be prepared to listen for a couple hours.  Everyone forgets that Leica spent over ten years engineering the M5.  I suspect it failed in    the market because the CL was introduced at the same time for two-thirds the cost and Japanese SLR's dominating camera sales.  I liked mine but liked the M4 better.

[a.noctilux]

1 hour ago, cbgrey said:

Easy...my choice is Kodachrome. 😉

Sadly, Kodachromes 25/64 were also my choices, why I did use M5.

I have "done" ☺️ many thousands of well exposed Kodachromes.

Edited October 13, 2022 by a.noctilux

[jsrockit]

For me, the Leica M2 or the M4-2 is the sweet spot if money is a concern, but it depends on where you are buying.  

[jsrockit]

12 hours ago, matted said:

They were selling for $1200 not that long ago, which is only ~$300 more than I paid for mine 11 years ago. 

Well, not too long ago...is not now.  They are routinely $2000 now. 

[shirubadanieru]

I got a clean M3 and M2 for 1200 USD each, that’s more than half of what M6s are going for these days. I’d much rather invest in getting an M3/M2 over the M5 or any other cameras in Leica’s lineup. 

[otto.f]

That depends on what you see as bang for the buck. On a long term basis an M5 will not grow in value that much, which is the opposite for M3 or M4. My M4 which I bought for 600 has about tripled its value in 3 or 4 years. The M3 has a less broad functionality and may have a less bright viewer sometimes. The M4 is the most sustainable in every sense. If inflation will come down ever again, I doubt whether these M’s will follow. In my memory classic M camera never went down in price. If you are just wanting to know if film photography really is your thing, the M5 may seems a cheap way to find out. But what if you want to sell it, compared to selling an M4 over a year or so? 
Btw, you say you want a film M alongside your M11; in my case it has become vice versa in the meantime:  I own an M10-R alongside my M7.

Edited October 14, 2022 by otto.f

[Fotoklaus]

vor 40 Minuten schrieb otto.f:

That depends on what you see as bang for the buck. On a long term basis an M5 will not grow in value that much, which is the opposite for M3 or M4. My M4 which I bought for 600 has about tripled its value in 3 or 4 years. The M3 has a less broad functionality and may have a less bright viewer sometimes. The M4 is the most sustainable in every sense. If inflation will come down ever again, I doubt whether these M’s will follow. In my memory classic M camera never went down in price. If you are just wanting to know if film photography really is your thing, the M5 may seems a cheap way to find out. But what if you want to sell it, compared to selling an M4 over a year or so? 
Btw, you say you want a film M alongside your M11; in my case it has become vice versa in the meantime:  I own an M10-R alongside my M7.

On a long term basis... you just don´t know. 20 yeras ago Film leicas where by far not as desirable as they where now, Leica was near it´s end.

Nobody would have thought about the prices know and invested much in that. Some departement stores had clearance sales for Leica products here in Germany.

M4-2 or M5 at that point... absolutely bargain.

[Fotoklaus]

vor 16 Stunden schrieb Anbaric:

One thing to consider if the prices (understandably!) look absurd is the price and availability of film. The price difference between an M2 and an M6 is probably equivalent to the cost of about 30-40 rolls if you shoot colour, assuming you can actually find that many rolls and you have them developed commercially. You could comfortably get that number of shots, even with the M11's highest resolution raw files, on a $50 256GB SD card.

Or you could buy 5 Sony A7 III and 5 SD Cards for one M11. But you WANT to shoot film with an M2/M6 or you WANT to shoot digital with your M11.

 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[otto.f]

17 hours ago, Anbaric said:

if you shoot colour

I don‘t do that. Unless you shoot slides, which is even more expensive, colour negative film cannot compete with today’s digital IQ. I shoot B&W only, which can be realized starting at 4€ per film with Fomapan. Talking about bang for the bug…