tom_uk
Established
We don't often hear praise for the M6 TTL here. If you ask for people's views on - well, pretty much any other Leica M, really, you'll get quite a few comments as to how the M-whatever is the best, the classic: either because of the features it has, or the features it doesn't have, or just its place in the lineage. So I thought I'd try to redress the balance and write something 'in praise of the M6 TTL'.
It seems to me that a s/hand TTL is the best introduction to Leica RF photography for those unfamiliar with it, and additionally can be a good Leica camera for anyone. These are my reasons for recommending this camera, often damned with faint praise:
a) age: even the oldest is barely 10 years old, and the newest might only 5 years old or thereabouts. This means that the camera is unlikely to need much if any maintenance, dealers are happy to give a reasonable warranty, and the camera will still have a reasonable amount of that 'new-camera' feel. (I had an M2 which suffered from light-bleed from one frame to the next, if a bright light was at the corner of a frame. The 40-year-old shutter blinds were no longer closing absolutely tightly.)
b) cost: TTLs seem to be a steal at the moment. Here in the UK there are significant numbers of good condition, s/hand TTLs available from many dealers at prices of between £800 and £900. The bottom end of this is only £100 more than an M6 classic seems to go for, which by definition will be older (possibly several times as old) and with less a sophisticated & sensitive metering system;
c) a good balance of features: the TTL gives you the same metering range as the M7 (the M6 has a meter 1EV less sensitive) and, I believe, the MP. However, despite having this enhanced meter sensitivity, the camera is still essentially manual: take the battery out and you've got an M4-P, which is very different from the M7. There's an 'off' setting! And finally, because .85 and .58 viewfinders were available on standard-prince cameras (my understanding is that to get either today you have to buy a la carte), you stand a good chance of finding alternative VFs in the s/h market, if that's what you're looking for,
So what are the disadvantages? Well, I suppose they would be as follows:-
a) the curse of the flaring RF patch - introduced in the M4-2 production run and cured on later M7s (but not all) and all MPs (I believe);
b) the reversed shutter-speed dial. With the TTL Leica changed the direction in which the shutter speed dial rotates. Experienced users of older M's find that this essentially makes the TTL almost impossible for them to use; having to suddenly remember to do it in the opposite direction means that they can never relax and just *use the camera*. Roger Hicks has experience of this, I believe. I can understand this problem from their point of view, but of course for new users it's not a problem at all! (And of course the M7 and M8 share the same reversed-direction dial.)
c) ? any others?
What do other forum members think?
It seems to me that a s/hand TTL is the best introduction to Leica RF photography for those unfamiliar with it, and additionally can be a good Leica camera for anyone. These are my reasons for recommending this camera, often damned with faint praise:
a) age: even the oldest is barely 10 years old, and the newest might only 5 years old or thereabouts. This means that the camera is unlikely to need much if any maintenance, dealers are happy to give a reasonable warranty, and the camera will still have a reasonable amount of that 'new-camera' feel. (I had an M2 which suffered from light-bleed from one frame to the next, if a bright light was at the corner of a frame. The 40-year-old shutter blinds were no longer closing absolutely tightly.)
b) cost: TTLs seem to be a steal at the moment. Here in the UK there are significant numbers of good condition, s/hand TTLs available from many dealers at prices of between £800 and £900. The bottom end of this is only £100 more than an M6 classic seems to go for, which by definition will be older (possibly several times as old) and with less a sophisticated & sensitive metering system;
c) a good balance of features: the TTL gives you the same metering range as the M7 (the M6 has a meter 1EV less sensitive) and, I believe, the MP. However, despite having this enhanced meter sensitivity, the camera is still essentially manual: take the battery out and you've got an M4-P, which is very different from the M7. There's an 'off' setting! And finally, because .85 and .58 viewfinders were available on standard-prince cameras (my understanding is that to get either today you have to buy a la carte), you stand a good chance of finding alternative VFs in the s/h market, if that's what you're looking for,
So what are the disadvantages? Well, I suppose they would be as follows:-
a) the curse of the flaring RF patch - introduced in the M4-2 production run and cured on later M7s (but not all) and all MPs (I believe);
b) the reversed shutter-speed dial. With the TTL Leica changed the direction in which the shutter speed dial rotates. Experienced users of older M's find that this essentially makes the TTL almost impossible for them to use; having to suddenly remember to do it in the opposite direction means that they can never relax and just *use the camera*. Roger Hicks has experience of this, I believe. I can understand this problem from their point of view, but of course for new users it's not a problem at all! (And of course the M7 and M8 share the same reversed-direction dial.)
c) ? any others?
What do other forum members think?
