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I Love My M6!


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2 hours ago, Steve Ricoh said:

Thank you EddieJ. 

I fully understand how thing wear; consequently it wasn't my line of enquiry.  I'm interested to know (as an M6 owner) what is interfaced between the zinc substrate and the black chrome. 

No worries.

Check the following out. I’m not an engineer however.

Leica FAQ - Brass vs. Zinc

https://www.nemeng.com/leica/042b.shtml

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2 hours ago, EddieJ said:

No worries.

Check the following out. I’m not an engineer however.

Leica FAQ - Brass vs. Zinc

https://www.nemeng.com/leica/042b.shtml

Thanks Eddie, that's an interesting article. I mentally underlined the following: "On the zinc top plates, first a flash coat of copper is applied, then nickel plating, chrome plating and then the finish black chrome plating."

The ashen patina you mentioned earlier is likely to be the underlying chrome or nickel plating, and if rubbed harder still, it's likely the nickel will give way to copper. This could possibly explain why I've seen pictures of zinc M6 cameras with a brass-like finish - not brass but copper. But once the copper 'layer' is exposed I guess there's only microns remaining before the nasty zinc is exposed. Then all hell breaks loose. 

Yes I like my 'classic' M6 but I have to block the use of the nasty horrible zinc out of mind. It could be one reason to upgrade to an M-P, but the cost difference keeps my feet firmly planted. 

 

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2 hours ago, Steve Ricoh said:

Thanks Eddie, that's an interesting article. I mentally underlined the following: "On the zinc top plates, first a flash coat of copper is applied, then nickel plating, chrome plating and then the finish black chrome plating."

The ashen patina you mentioned earlier is likely to be the underlying chrome or nickel plating, and if rubbed harder still, it's likely the nickel will give way to copper. This could possibly explain why I've seen pictures of zinc M6 cameras with a brass-like finish - not brass but copper. But once the copper 'layer' is exposed I guess there's only microns remaining before the nasty zinc is exposed. Then all hell breaks loose. 

Yes I like my 'classic' M6 but I have to block the use of the nasty horrible zinc out of mind. It could be one reason to upgrade to an M-P, but the cost difference keeps my feet firmly planted. 

 

You have really got to go some to get through to the copper, let alone the zinc. Also, depending on the humidity etc. of your location, if kept dry the zinc will not cause problems. I know that some people are hell bent on getting down to "brassing" but that is for black paint Leicas not black chrome.

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1 hour ago, Matlock said:

You have really got to go some to get through to the copper, let alone the zinc. Also, depending on the humidity etc. of your location, if kept dry the zinc will not cause problems. I know that some people are hell bent on getting down to "brassing" but that is for black paint Leicas not black chrome.

My black paint M240 is still solid black paint. I'd love brassing on the edges, perhaps I'm not fondling it often enough. :)

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32 minutes ago, Steve Ricoh said:

My black paint M240 is still solid black paint. I'd love brassing on the edges, perhaps I'm not fondling it often enough. :)

Strangely I had a black paint M6 TTL Millennium which never showed any brassing even though I was not at all gentle with it. I know some people love that look but I never did subscribe to it. Still, each to his/her own.

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  • 2 weeks later...

M6newBie,

welcome to the Leica M world.

Summicron 50mm III will be the right companion to your M6.

As side note, Summicron III 50mm IS always Wetzlar made.

Not "better" than Canon LTM or Jupiter that you already have

(I use them ...Canon 1.8/1.4/1.2/50mm, J3/J8 along my Leitz/Leica lenses to have different renderings that I like to have in my pictures).

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2 hours ago, M6newBie said:

Now I ordered the version two of Voigtlander 35mm f/1.4.
On eBay they had a nice selection of 50mm Summicrons, from Wetzlar and from Canada.
A nice Wetzlar v. 3 is in the cart right now. Hmm. I already have a Jupiter 5cm, a Canon L 50 mm and a Zony 55mm.
Only the Canon L-lens gets out of the bag to see some daylight. It has been seasoned with fairy powder in the factory, spmething that makes it irresistible 😎.
So I take a deep breath , calm down and try to make the decision if I should to get the pot and the chemicals or should I let an unknown machine violate my TX rolls?
 

Congrats to your new camera and the choice of lenses! I have also a bunch of CV lenses which IMO are equally fine on film compared to the Leica lens versions. The CV 35/1.4 II lens is a fine one - but keep in mind that it is not the most compatible one when trying to use it later on mirrorless cameras from other brands with adapter (corner unsharpness and color casts in the corners of the frame). This was the reason why I opted years ago to the more bulky CV 35/1.2 II which works equally fine on digital sensors (Sony A7R) and of course on my M film cameras. 

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9 hours ago, M6newBie said:

Thank you for your advices. I understood that the thickness of the Sony sensor is the culprit of Leica lenses blurring the off-center areas.
I have to try to live with this fact. Life can be hard sometimes.

It's less of a biggie than the internet rave about this might make you think. With the Adobe Flat Field Plugin and your own calibration files with the lens at different aperture stops on the Sony sensor will erase nicely all color cast in the corners of your photo taken with ultra-wide rangefinder lenses. This especially works well with my CV 12/5.6 lens. You have to live with a little corner blur by using such ultra-wide lens on an unmodified Sony sensor, but if you don't print large this is totally okay IMO. The only way to get better by using small and wide rangefinder lenses is either using film M cameras (what I often do) or vesting deep into a digital Leica M (what I am not doing for several reasons). 

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21 hours ago, M6newBie said:

Today, DHL delivered my Summicron. All I need now is light and time.
Hopefully Severine says 'oui' for a photo session.

Congrats! You will see that the Leica 50/2 M-lens behaves quite differently than your Canon 50/1.2 L (which I also have). The Leica lens is much sharper, but the bokeh of the Canon is much better. 

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On 4/18/2019 at 9:05 PM, a.noctilux said:

Harmen, MP is closer to M6 than M-A in my thinking.

Even if I prefer M-A more than MP,  I've used MP for years to appreciate it more than M6 that I keep as sentimental reasons and "low price".

In fact, I don't use them much these days (one M6 x0.72 and another x0.85) after having them "CLAed" (expensive as usual),

and the sale prices of M6 seemed "too low" after this expense.

 

Once, I used this beautiful Titanium coated combo M6 plus 35mm Summilux-M asph.

combo sold long time ago (replaced with MP then)

 

good fit :)  

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15 hours ago, oudjunk said:

good fit :)  

Thanks,

another way to say loud that the camera is not important, just a "camera obscura" to hold film and lens 😔.

The film used IS and the lens also, as the photographer of course.

Best gears in lesser hands/eyes😇 output lesser images .

 

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A discovery
 
Just checked the following out on my early M6 serial no 1677110 - advanced film, touch shutter button *meter on, put lens cap on (whilst led lit) **meter off!
 
Do any other member/s have an early M6 that can verify?
Would save additional battery life, however will not save you from accidental shutter release and a waste of a frame.
 
 
Metering
 
The size, shape and color of the LED's appear identical in both cameras. The Early M6 meter automatically turns off after 9 seconds compared to the Later M6's 11 seconds.
 
The Early M6 strangely indicates underexposure by NOT lighting its LED's. The Later M6 indicates underexposure by a blinking LED. If the lens cap is on, the Early M6 LED's do not light at all while the Later M6 blinks a LED as a warning. The Later M6 blinks to indicate its light level limits while the Earlier M6 strangely turns off its LEDs under the same circumstances (until it is within 1/2 stop of correct exposure.)
 
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Just received my first ever chrome M6. 

I have a few black ones, but the chrome got me drooling today :)

I do not think it has had even 5 rolls of film ran through it. 

I won't sleep. And it's the clean big M6 variant. 

Happy Holidays everyone :)

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 by sixteen pads
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9 minutes ago, Doc Henry said:

Almost new , very nice  , I don't have M6 but M7,MP and M-A but it works like MP. 

I work now only with my analog cameras never again  digital M  for me 

Congratulations Patrick 

Merry Christmas to All of you 

Best Henry 

Thank you Henry, 

All the best to you too and your loved ones. 
 

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1 hour ago, erniethemilk said:

Looks a real beauty. I have a black M6, but the chrome is growing on me. Perhaps I need a chrome one for black and white in one body and colour in a second one. :D

Of course you do Ernie !! 

Your reasoning is spotless :) 

p.s : we are all doomed lol 

I am at 15 Leica M film bodies now and with some bizarre and convoluted reasoning I have managed to tell myself it all makes sense :)

 

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