Crazy Question!!

boomguy57

boomguy57

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So, here is my question. I have an MP that I love, but have grown tired of not being able to see the 35 lines on it since I am now bespectacled :mad: and 35 is the most frequent lens I use.

I picked up a user M6TTL 0.58x for a great deal, and emailed DAG to ask if he could swap the VFs for me, leaving me with my MP at 0.58x and the M6TTL at 0.72x for a backup. He said he has no idea if that's possible, but is concerned that the different size and shutter dials of the two cameras would prevent this from working as I had hoped.

Does anyone have any idea if this would work?
 
Roger Hicks said:
Should do. As I understand it, all M VFs (except M3) are interchangeable.

Cheers,

R.
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That is good news! I assumed it was possible, which is why I sprang for it in the first place before investigating the possibility, but then DAG seemed unsure. I'm sending them off to him next week and he will definitely determine if it can be done.
 
If Don Goldberg says it probably won't work, I'd take his word for it. Why don't you just sell the MP and replace it with an MP with the .58x finder? Leica makes them in .58 as well as .72 and .85
 
I do not understand the point : they are both not automated cameras, so why don't you use the M6 with 35mm and the MP with a 50mm ? An MP is nothing special, I hardly use mine.
 
mfogiel said:
I do not understand the point : they are both not automated cameras, so why don't you use the M6 with 35mm and the MP with a 50mm ? An MP is nothing special, I hardly use mine.
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Send it my way and I'll show it some love! Haha, I'm only kidding :p
 
mfogiel said:
I do not understand the point : they are both not automated cameras, so why don't you use the M6 with 35mm and the MP with a 50mm ? An MP is nothing special, I hardly use mine.
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If it's nothing special, then why did you buy one?

More to the point, I like my MP, and want to have the 0.58 VF instead of the 0.72. I'm quite attached to the MP, and don't want to swap it for another one. I like my MP, and would like to keep it as long as I'm shooting film Ms. I just have glasses now and I can't really see the 35 framelines.

It's not a big philosophical-existential issue. I just like my camera, and want to keep it, but have a different magnification since my eyes have changed. Leica wants $1500 to swap out the VF, so I figured I can do it a bit cheaper.
 
With all the due respect to MP lovers, I 'd take my M7's any day instead of an MP. I bought mine, because I wanted a body for shooting the 75 Summilux, and my 0.85x M7does not have the 75mm frame any more, as I had it removed, to be able to see properly the 50mm one. I also wear glasses. Given that the Summilux had to serve as a portrait lens and did not require a metered body, I thought I'd get an 0.85x MP instead of another M7, just to see what the hype was about. The camera is nice to look at, but apart from this, it does not do anything that my M7 does not do, and instead it does not do the main thing that the M7 does best, which is to expose the photos correctly, when you are in a hurry shooting in ever changing light in the street.

I keep on repeating: if you have the time to measure the light with a meter, you might as well use a slower and better camera ( medium format).
Have you ever thought, why Leica has never even attempted not to put AE into the M8 or M9 ? - Because nobody woud buy them...
If you want to cripple yourself with a non AE Leica, get a M4P instead, and save some money.
Going back to your problem with glasses, just buy a Zeiss Ikon and stop wasting your money on inferior cameras. You will be able to shoot even with a 28mm.
A quick VF guide for glass wearers:
best 28mm frame - Bessa R4A, usable on ZI and Leica 0.58x
best 35mm frame - ZI by a very wide margin, good in a 0.58x Leica, usable in an M4 or 0.72x M6 and later
best 50mm frame - 0.85x Leica, good in M4, 0.72x Leicas, usable in ZI ( a bit small), usable in Bessa R3A ( a bit tight)
best 75mm frame - Bessa R3A, usable in 0.85x Leicas
best 85,90, 135mm, etc - forget about the rangefinders, and get yourself an SLR
 
I think both viewfinders are the same, except for the optical condenser that's in the MP, and not in M6's, thats whats upgraded/added on M6's, not the viewfinder itself.. I have that on mine..
Anyway, hes wanting to change magnification and just happens to have an M6 lying around, not because we wants either an MP or M6 finder..
 
To the original question:

Yes, the VF should be interchangeable. Like Roger I too have been told that all but the M3 are the same enough to be swapped. I've had two cameras with VF swaps, one done by Sherry and one by Leica NJ. I had Sherry put an MP VF into my M5 - a horse of a different size entirely.
 
mfogiel said:
With all the due respect . . .
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With all due respect to you, I don't think I'd agree with even half of your diatribe. Nor do I think I'd be alone in disagreement, e.g. 50mm is generally agreed to be best with an M3; why is 75mm on an MP inferior to an M7?; I frequently use 90mm and 135mm on all my Ms (90 more frequently until I got the 75, 135 only as 135/2.8). M7? An M for those who don't like or are unable to use manual exposure. Why not M4P? Flare in the VF patch (I have M2, M4-P, MP, M8, M9). AE in M8 and M9? It's inherently free. Why NOT put it in? Most M users I know would not worry if it were left out.

As for metering with MF vs 35mm: well, it would be rude to say 'nonsense' but actually that's pretty close to my reaction. Leicas inferior to ZM? Well, not my problem. I've tried both and I know which I regard as (very slightly) inferior.

Finally, repetition is not the same as a persuasive argument.

Cheers,

R.
 
Am I missing something ?
The problem is not the magnification as such but the issue is the disatance of the eye to the VF due to the glasses.
A much easier fix and cheaper of coures are screw in correction lenses, so no need for the glasses when viewing through the finder. Would that be too simple?

the orig. Leica stuff form -3 to +3 :
http://us.leica-camera.com/photography/m_system/accessories/viewfinder_accessories/2210.html

Not sure if there are also after market offers but it is much cheaper than swapping the entire VF of the body.
 
Roger Hicks said:
With all due respect to you, I don't think I'd agree with even half of your diatribe. Nor do I think I'd be alone in disagreement, e.g. 50mm is generally agreed to be best with an M3; why is 75mm on an MP inferior to an M7?; I frequently use 90mm and 135mm on all my Ms (90 more frequently until I got the 75, 135 only as 135/2.8). M7? An M for those who don't like or are unable to use manual exposure. Why not M4P? Flare in the VF patch (I have M2, M4-P, MP, M8, M9). AE in M8 and M9? It's inherently free. Why NOT put it in? Most M users I know would not worry if it were left out.

As for metering with MF vs 35mm: well, it would be rude to say 'nonsense' but actually that's pretty close to my reaction. Leicas inferior to ZM? Well, not my problem. I've tried both and I know which I regard as (very slightly) inferior.

Finally, repetition is not the same as a persuasive argument.

Cheers,

R.
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You are certainly not alone in your disagreement with mfogiel's rant.

I have nothing against the M7, but it really is bunk that one cannot "shoot street" without AE. It has been know to happen in the past and I am sure most experienced shooters have no trouble doing so; it is simple to meter, particularly when you have a clue about the general exposure (the arrows direct you to the correct exposure!)

I can understand that many people would want to rely on the cameras electronics, but the argument can always be extended - you simply can't rely on an M7 meter and AE, you must have an SLR with matrix metering and Program mode.

Everybody has their own preferences and that's great. The only irritant is when they try to foist those on others. And to try to create a M7/MP debate is really seems to be splitting hairs to me.
 
As a side note, I think the M3 had three different versions of its rf unit and they were not all interchangeable. I think I have heard of M3's with an M6 .72 finder fitted to replace a bad one. Joe
 
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