Help me. I'm about to sell my MP for an M6...should I?

Harry Lime said:
Keep the MP. It's the smoother, better made camera. You're going to have spend an additional $200 on the M6 to get the flare fix upgrade applied to the rangefinder (the MP already has this upgrade).

Interesting. I have an early Wetzlar M6 (completely overhauled) and a very late one (just before the TTL), and the late one has much smoother winding, like the MP I used to have--and my M4. As to the finder and the "better made", I occasionally get the patch white-out but it's my signal I don't have the camera squared to my eye. I haven't bothered with the upgrade and don't plan to. I also have an M4 and had the MP so I do understand there's a difference. As to the MP finder being brighter I didn't find that, in fact I found it a little dimmer (and bluer) than the M4 or M6. But even if I were to get the finder upgraded my M6 would sill net at $1000 less than what I paid for my MP demo back before the new prices shot up to $3500. And I had to seal up my MP's eyepiece with automotive silicone to keep that flare-free finder also dust and dirt-free😡

That said my main reason for the switch was to avail myself of 2 bodies for the price of one. Otherwise I probably would've kept the MP.
 
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i have to say i have trouble understanding this. if i were you i'd just take that fine mp you possess and start using it. the more it brasses and dings, the more fond you will become.

i do not have a mp, as i don't have the cash for one, but i have owned a m6. and i sold my m6 and bought instead a m5 and a lens; and i couldn't be more pleased with that exchange. in fact every other M or barnack I have owned was preferrable to the m6. ---and, this is isn't just about the red dot🙂

go hardcore with that mp and post some of your results!

good cheer, thomas
 
Harry Lime said:
If someone really wants your camera, they are going to attempt to take it, regardless of it being and MP or M6. In my experience 99% of the population think that any M camera is an antique, not worth the neckstrap it's hanging from (especially if it's brassed, dinged etc). But what will get you in trouble is if you treat it like an expensive object, while you're running around.

So true. I had the same hesitation as you the first time I used my camera. Here's a story from that recent trip.

This is a little OT, but a good story especially for those afraid of getting their Leica stolen:

I finished off the last frames of a roll in my Leica MP while my wife was haggling with a market vendor at the souks in Marrakech. They were heatedly bargaining when the vendor saw me using the camera's knob rewind. He looked at me with pity, shaking his head, "VERY old camera." Then he looked at my wife, still shaking his head, "Okay, okay... I give you good price" and agreed to my wife's offer. 😉



Also, I think one basic question you need to ask yourself is: "Am I planning to resell this camera eventually?" If the answer is no, then what does it matter if it gets all dinged up?
 
But... I forgot to say one thing in my previous post... It's easy to say go out and shoot with your camera, an MP or any other expensive camera, but when you've paid an high price for the 1st time for a camera, no sure if it's your case, it can explain the fear you have...

It's philosophical, it's just a Camera! not your soul!
and if you had enough money to pay for leica, save some for a good insurance!

In no time, that should stop you to go out and shoot with any camera whatever the price you've paid! It's just money and it's made for spending like a camera it's made for shooting!

Make yourself a gift... buy some insurance and go shooting to any place you wished before!
 
I'm keeping the MP.

For those who left thoughtful, meaningful responses, thank you very much.
 
Rich,

I think you made a good choice!

I would like to purchase an MP, yet the lack of funds always seems to get in the way.

I would not worry about, it being stolen or mugged. When I have travelled, very few people even knew what kind of camera I had, and sometimes I allow the children int he streets to handle my M6, when other people see that I am allowing children handling my camera, they think that I really do not care about it as much and assume that it is an antique, as others have mentioned.

Have fun and enjoy!
 
Rich,

I think you made a good choice!

I would like to purchase an MP, yet the lack of funds always seems to get in the way.

I would not worry about, it being stolen or mugged. When I have travelled, very few people even knew what kind of camera I had, and sometimes I allow the children int he streets to handle my M6, when other people see that I am allowing children handling my camera, they think that I really do not care about it as much and assume that it is an antique, as others have mentioned.

Have fun and enjoy!
 
congrats 🙂

just one note on the "people usually dont know what leica is, everyone think its an old camera"

Couple of months ago, someone broke in my flat and the only thing they stole was my camera, a M7. Did they knew that was valuable ? Most likely not. They just though "oh a camera, must be worth some". Funny thing they even left my laptop and mobile alone, they just took the M7 and lenses.

But I congratulate you for keeping the MP. There is something VERY different about it from the M6. I had a M6 and M7 and they seem so different fromt he MP. Purely my opinion ofc, but the MP really stands out, seems handmade whilst otheres seem a factory line product. Hard to explain.
 
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