Leica a la carte

dave lackey

dave lackey

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:)

Hi,
This is my first post on this board. For years, I have had NAS with Nikons and love every minute of the dreaded disease. :eek:

Now, I am reaching a "mature" stage ;) in my life and have become fascinated with rangefinders.

So, whilst cruising the Leica website, I came across the a-la-carte selection and configured the M7 I would like to have! Has anyone used this option?

Thanks for the opportunity to introduce myself and I look forward to learning more about Leica cameras!

:)

Best regards,

Dave Lackey
 
Hello and welcome, Dave. I did use the a la carte configurator once and it gave me an M2 with a meter built in. As I can live without the meter I bought an M2 for a fraction of the price. It's fun to play around with the leather options though.

There's a thread somewhere where people posted ther creations from the website.
 
I go on leica's website about once a week to configure "my" a la carte MP. When I finish I go to bed with a tear in my eye. Some day in my wildest dreams.
 
Yes me too! The strange thing is I keep changing my mind over what I really want, (option wise) so if I ever managed to save up enough money to actually use the a la carte option, I worry that the option I would choose will be the wrong one!?
 
The configutor is quite a fun diversion, I went for the M7 starter kit, gently used from my dealer, after seeing what he was going to give me in trade on a very extensive Nikon kit. I'll second Magus about the optics- I've never looked back. I currently have a second M7 w/.58 viewfinder, and if I can ever get over my M5 I might sell it & some things and go for an ala carte camera. In the end it is the viewfinder first for me, the glass second, with the simplicity of the camera and it's wonderful light weight/compactness a great bonus.
 
Welcome Dave! Like many I've played with the configurator but ended up with bog standard models. It is fun though.
 
It's a very attractive option and one I considered but as a long time slr user I didn't want to take the risk of buying a new a la carte RF only to find I didn't take to it. So what I did was buy a S/H M6 which is totally like new for less than a third of the price and a 50mm lens which I am loving. I will get some more glass then it will be an MP and M8 and I'll likely sell all the Nikon gear.

:)
 
peter_n said:
Way to go Ian! Welcom to the forum BTW! :)
Click to expand...
Peter

Thanks and love your gallery - especially the street scenes/candids. I am also moving more and more to B&W and in fact that is pretty much the only film I am now shooting but even digital I am leaning that way too.
 
Well, i honestly don't know how anyone can justify the price of an a la carte, or any new Leica for that matter.
I still could not justify a couple design options for those prices either..

Take a dep breath, and ask yourself, "why"? (No offense to those who have done it...please, none at all...expensive, I know, is a "relative" term).


Man, some people do nothing but criticize the price of the MP, but I paid $1900 for mine a couple years ago. Dream camera, and the only camera I would ever need. Considering a CL as a back-up.

At times (as much as I Love it and could never part with it) I still find it difficult to justify over an M3.

Even when I *had* money to spend, it was still a lot of money for me to try and justify spending. Now I do *not* have money and boy does it seem exorbitant...but we have been through too much...

And amortized over time, come on, one could not ask for more in a rangefinder.

Heavens, get an MP and send it to DAG to remove the framelines and have a diamond of a camera..the best money can buy.

FWIW, be cautious about spending so much $ on the d@mn thing that you don't even use it as it should be used...it isn't jewelry man. I have been down that garden path....


But hey, if you have the $$ to spend (as expensive is a relative term once again, i know) ...go for it!!


And post pictures...;-)

Best
D
 
Welcome to the Forum

If you are migrating from Nikons to rangefinders I would think you should stay away from the configurator until you are familiar somewhat with Leica M's. An "a la carte"Leica is quite expensive. Most people who go for one (I would like to think, ... I may be wrong),those people know exactly what they want ,feature wise, in a camera. And in order to know exactly what they want, they have to have had some experience with Leica M's. The job of picking the the viewfinder magnification, the choice of frame lines ,what type of advance lever,the type of covering... these are all,very highly personal choices.
From your first post, I don't know if you have ever used a Leica M.

If you have decided to buy yourself a Leica "suit"; think of the Configurator as ordering a handmade suit. Money should be no object.

good luck!


dave lackey said:
:)

Hi,
This is my first post on this board. For years, I have had NAS with Nikons and love every minute of the dreaded disease. :eek:

Now, I am reaching a "mature" stage ;) in my life and have become fascinated with rangefinders.

So, whilst cruising the Leica website, I came across the a-la-carte selection and configured the M7 I would like to have! Has anyone used this option?

Thanks for the opportunity to introduce myself and I look forward to learning more about Leica cameras!

:)

Best regards,

Dave Lackey
Click to expand...
 
Welcome Dave. I also came to Leica from Nikon SLR in 1982, starting with an M2. I still use Nikon SLR and have a brace of Leica M cameras. It is ok to use both. As for the configurator in the A La Carte program, it is fun to build your camera (my current favorite is a black chrome 0.58 MP with green leather and no engraving), but there are resources who can remove framelines and change the leather for much less money. And it is pretty tough to beat a stock MP right out of the box with a 35 f2 Summicrion attached. Above all, welcome, and have fun with it.

Rafael M. said it very well: knowledge first, then choices.
 
Thanks a lot guys-- I have also been mulling over spending next year's bonus on an MP and I hadn't played with the configurator before. What fun!

The only problem is that I printed my dream cam out (chrome with the tan leather) and accidentally left it in the printer where my husband found it :eek: .

Not a good thing....;)

JT
 
I played with the configurator trying to get a M3 look alike. I wanted the 50mm to fill the entire viewer but could not, even at .85. Was anyone else able to?
 
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