Best Leica M at night time

[Mean Panda]

Thank you all for your vote and suggestions. M3, M7, and MP are the winners so far. My M3 viewfinder is crystal bright indeed, it works great, but a built-in meter is useful for night metering. I am quite surprised that M6 is far behind the MP....

 

[kdemas]

I already cast my vote for the M7 (.85) but I am wondering if anyone has shot with a Zeiss Ikon at night? Nice finder, curious as to how it does in real darkness.

Kent

 

[Keith]

Not the brightness of the finder that matters in low light, but the contrast of the patch. And alignment with fast lenses helps, too (better than 3cm close-up anyways) 😛

I would be curious to know why the Ikon has such strong contrast in near zero lighting conditions ... what is the technology involved that makes it so good?

My M2 has superior contrast to my M3 in the patch department but looses out a little in it's magnification being designed of course to accommodate the 35mm focal length. I sat there the other night with the M3 ... M2 ... Ikon and my Hexar alternately gazing into the gloom of a darkened room with each camera and trying to evaluate the advantages of each. Over all it would have to got to the Ikon with the M2 second ... next the Hexar and finally the M3 which is a little low on contrast and as I said likely age related!

 

[Tuolumne]

I voted for the M8 because I really like to use my R-D1 in low light, but I don't have an M8. I just figure the M8 is the closest to the R-D1. The RF is 1:1 magnification, finder is bright, rf patch never flares out and is easy to use, and you get actual shutter speed numbers, not just a stoplight, in the view finder, which makes it easy to tell what speed you are shooting at in the dark. What's not to like about this set-up?

/T

 

[intron]

I voted for Mp 0.85

 

[nobbylon]

Not the brightness of the finder that matters in low light, but the contrast of the patch. And alignment with fast lenses helps, too (better than 3cm close-up anyways) 😛

good point ferider as most of my problems with focus using my 50 lux seem to have been close range. I am getting more used to it now though and using faster film and a little tweak left of the focus ring seems to have cured my initial concerns of front focus wide open. btw MP is better for this sort of shooting than my M6 with side lighting in frame due patch flare.

 

[furcafe]

I would suggest that the other parts of the camera do matter for night shooting because metering & shutter speed accuracy often matter. As you mention, the more primitive Cds meters can have issues w/low light & having accurate shutter speeds can matter if you're shooting E6. That's why I voted for the M7 (M8 would be my 2nd choice; would have been my 1st except for the added noise/vibration from its shutter/motor mechanism).

This information is IMO the only relevant discussion which addresses the original question. The camera could matter less. Its the patch that has the most contrast that will allow you to focus in the dark. I have an M3 that I love but can only use in the daytime because the patch is pretty faded.

If you plan to use a cl (or an m5) in the dark make sure you pack a flashlight with you so you can shine it through the lens to "charge up" the meter, it needs to register a light source before it begins to meter accurately.

 

[crawdiddy]

Donald Rumsfeld fanatic club

Donald Rumsfeld fanatic club

Just curious,

are you referring to the known unknown that is unknown to the unknown that we know to be unknown or to the stuff that is unknown to the known that is known to the unknown?

Exactly. You know, I heard Rumsfeld has a cameo role as "the Riddler" in the next Batman movie.

 

[Florian1234]

Last night I tried out my M4 with Jupiter-8 lens in the city at f:2, 1/30 and 1/15.
Hopefully the results will be good.

Unfortunately we have yellow street lights overhere, so they could be a bit tinted maybe.

 

[MikeL]

Exactly. You know, I heard Rumsfeld has a cameo role as "the Riddler" in the next Batman movie.

Have you heard his verse set to music?

Poetry of D. Rumsfeld🙂

 

[Nokton48]

Well I'll vote for the M2, as that's my favorite Leica. Throw the Canon F1.2 on it with 1600 Presto, and you can shoot a portrait practically with the light of a single match. Actually, I've done that. Tried the M4 for a while, prefer the M2.

 

[Newjerseyjohn]

My goodness you guys are picky!!!!!!!!!! Well, I could never afford half the stuff being talked about being 18 in college. However, I do love my M6 and voigtlander 35 1.7 with some pushed film! Don't you think most leicas are quiet enough?

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Well if you are not too picky you could try something different: Hexar RF. I really like it for night shots, expecially in full AE-mode. Here you can find some examples: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zorki_2007/

 

[aizan]

m6 ttl and m7, because they have ttl flash. 😉

 

[nightfly]

An M4-P with a 35mm Summicron and guesstimating exposure seems to work for me:

 

[SDK]

Your choice depends on what sort of night shooting you are doing, fast lens + fast film + handheld, or stopped down + slow film + tripod. For the former, any film M is probably fine. I do the latter sometimes (though now I'm mostly using a Bronica RF645) and the M7 is superb for this because the viewfinder display counts up in seconds when on bulb, so you don't have to use a separate timer or watch.

I usually go by my Black Cat exposure guide for guessing long exposures, unless the light is strong enough for my Sekonic Multimaster external meter (which it usually is not even in Boston's over-lit streets). The Zeiss 50mm ZM Planar is really good at f/5.6 to f/8 and the Leica 28mm/2.8 ASPH is great from f/4 to f/8. Both lenses are very low flare.

Zeiss ZM 50mm on M7, f/5.6, 15 seconds (very bright street). Fuji NPC.

Leica 28mm/2.8 ASPH on M7, f/4, 1/4 second (dusk with camera resting on concrete at the end of a bridge). Fuji Pro 160C.

(I probably should have used the lower contrast NPS and Pro160S).

 

[jsrockit]

Well, I like a nice black paint M4 to match my ninja costume when I'm in stealth mode.

 

[maddoc]

Well, I like a nice black paint M4 to match my ninja costume when I'm in stealth mode.

... Ninja-costumes were dark blue because black attracts more attention at night. 😉

 

[jsrockit]

... Ninja-costumes were dark blue because black attracts more attention at night. 😉

Damn, no wonder why people keep noticing me... and here I thought it was the red dot on my M9. 😱

 

[maddoc]

Damn, no wonder why people keep noticing me... and here I thought it was the red dot on my M9. 😱

... 😀😉

I would like to see a dark blue painted Leica M 🙂