greetings + some longwinded M5 talk + a few M5 questions.

[Godfrey]

My uncle had an M5 back in the day. To my traditionalist eyes of a 19 year old, it looked big and clumsy compared to my IIc and M2... I still prefer the rounded contours of the M3 line more but can appreciate the design idiom of the M5 now. I tend to prefer the sibling M-mount of that era, the CL, for its handy size. I still wish they'd make a CL-sized digital model.

Regardless, I'm enjoying all the M5 lore and photos!
Good luck and good photos with it!

G

 

[Erik van Straten]

I bought some last year from, of all places, Walmart.

Easy to find are rubber rings for sealing off water. The 1" size is perfect for the Elmar-M. You need two of them to be really sure the cell doesn't touch the rear of the lens @ infinity. They have a strong smell of rubber, however. I hope that this will disappear soon.

Erik.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

An elastic band around the lens barrel works well enough for me and is easily replaced and removed.

Regards, David

 

[Nokton48]

The M5 meter is the best meter I have ever used for this type of photography, period. After doing this nearly fifty years, that is saying a lot.

The metering system is uncanny. Which I think is the whole reason one would use this over an M2 or M4, if one wishes to stick to Wetzlar cameras. Especially good if the light is fleeting and difficult. You will soon see what I mean.

 

[harvester]

The M5 meter is the best meter I have ever used for this type of photography, period. After doing this nearly fifty years, that is saying a lot.

The metering system is uncanny. Which I think is the whole reason one would use this over an M2 or M4, if one wishes to stick to Wetzlar cameras. Especially good if the light is fleeting and difficult. You will soon see what I mean.

i do see what you mean.
i'm feeling spoilt.

i can see exactly what the spot meter did for me in this pic.

i'm re-evaluating 20 years of guesstimated exposures ( especially as i have just bought my first scanner and have a big file-box of 120 negs to digitise ) with the rollei and meterless RF cameras. i'm also trying to keep an eye on the settings and maybe i'll learn from the M5 meter as i go.

i'm enjoying pushing my 400 speed films and trying delta 3200 for the first time here ^ and letting the meter sort it all out for me. lazy ? maybe, but it's new to me.

* the meter also doubles as a handy lens cap detector.

AP

 

[harvester]

My uncle had an M5 back in the day. To my traditionalist eyes of a 19 year old, it looked big and clumsy compared to my IIc and M2... I still prefer the rounded contours of the M3 line more but can appreciate the design idiom of the M5 now. I tend to prefer the sibling M-mount of that era, the CL, for its handy size. I still wish they'd make a CL-sized digital model.

Regardless, I'm enjoying all the M5 lore and photos!
Good luck and good photos with it!

G

it's an interesting history lesson to unravel the parallel-evolutions of Leica bodies during this period.

i was very tempted by the CLs and CLEs

AP

 

[harvester]

well, the 5 is back from it's inevitable service.
i couldn't handle the messy framelines and eventually the 28/90 lines refused to show at all.

the seller chipped in half the repair cost ( 2 months after purchase ). i explained the situation and the quote and let him decide an appropriate contribution.

i can't really complain about that result. if it wasn't my first M i might have dealt with the issue differently upon first receiving the body but still i got a good deal overall ...

i found an extremely patient semi-retired Leica tech 15 minutes from my home in Western Melbourne with experience working and training at Solms in the 80s - who therefore didn't flinch when i followed the familiar letter 'M' with the dreaded number 'Five' when i called.

framelines fixed - the masks were removed and soaked/cleaned then replaced and adjusted.

speeds checked ( as i watched - which was very educational ).
1000 and 500 were a little out.

i got a lesson in the tolerances of the movements of the two curtains etc

meter checked - accurate to within half a stop over it's full range apparently.

RF adjusted.
high speeds duly adjusted.
all nicely cleaned and lubed etc etc

he was pleased to see and handle an M5 after many years and spoke about it's history and design quirks.

in the meantime an old friend with a few Ms decided that he wasn't going to use his old wedding-shooter-backup-beater M4 body ( and Elmarit 90 ) anytime soon so i am making him very happy by running a lot of film through it in tandem with the M5.

the M4 seems to be appropriate as a black and white shooter while the M5 has lately been loaded with Ektachrome, Portra and Cinestill.

my only other adventure to report is that the rewind crank on the M5 was sorely in need of lubrication. it ground to a halt at the end of a roll one night and the camera was hell to either advance or rewind.

a tiny drop of sewing machine oil on the external stainless axle of the rewind mechanism did the trick. the whole film advance and rewind process is now a lot smoother ( though having an M4 in my bag puts that relative 'smoothness' into perspective ! )

cheers, AP

M5 with very clean Canon 50mm 1.4 ( $108 .. bargain of the year for me, though it sure is a handful ! )

M4 with CV Skopar 35

 

[Richard G]

i found an extremely patient semi-retired Leica tech 15 minutes from my home in Western Melbourne with experience working and training at Solms in the 80s - who therefore didn't flinch when i followed the familiar letter 'M' with the dreaded number 'Five' when i called.

Wow. This is the most amazing part of all. I'm in Meblourne. Is he interested in more work? I have an M5 with a problematic frame selection lever which has lost its spring and the 90 frame line creeps into the 50 frame line. I'd love to have that fixed. The Camera Clinic couldn't handle that, and left the vertical adjustment of the RF out and the frame selection lever hanging by a thread. I fixed those two things myself. Would you be willing to PM me your semi-reitred repairer's details....?

 

[harvester]

hey richard.

I have an M5 with a problematic frame selection lever which has lost its spring and the 90 frame line creeps into the 50 frame line.

that sure sounds familiar 🙂

The Camera Clinic couldn't handle that, and left the vertical adjustment of the RF out and the frame selection lever hanging by a thread. I fixed those two things myself. Would you be willing to PM me your semi-retired repairer's details....?

yikes.

i knew enough not to go to Camera Clinic with anything considered 'esoteric' like an M5.

i called Yoshi Nagami ( another semi retired tech from the same generation who's worked in Japan and Europe ) based on his local reputation ( and low prices ). he said he's never worked on M5s or 6s ( or later models presumably ) and gave me Vic Plant's phone number ( not sure if he would take on the work either ).

i'll pass it on to you.
i had meant to offer this in my post.

Vic works from his suburban home in Altona Meadows.
he's not an emailer or much of an internet guy apparently, but is still busy. when i arrived he was replacing the bellows on an old professional Polaroid camera and had some Hassy lenses to CLA.

his prices seem to be at a professional level i must say, though the 'one on one' walk through of every detail of his work before and after the job were worth it, rather than dropping off the camera to a counter or posting it into the yonder.

i was worried re sending the body OS to be repaired ( especially given the state of our tired old dollar ).

he was tech for Adeal, erstwhile Australian leica importers for many years - unfazed by the M5, he was a fan of the meter and shutter & seemed to really enjoy seeing one and putting it through it's paces.

AP

 

[harvester]

magic beans.
my drug of choice.
delta 3200 again.