I bought an M6.....

[tom_uk]

It's been like an itch I couldn't scratch, and it's been there for years. I did at one time have an M2 but I just couldn't meter reliably enough, and there were some problems with light leaks between the shutter curtains, so I sold it, headed back to EOSville and settled down. But I couldn't forget the feel of using the M2, and the occasions when I got it right and felt great. Even in recent years with DSLRs and their instant feedback (which I love) something was nagging at me....

Recently I've done a lot of research about possible RF choices. A Bessa system would be cheap, but would it last? At their best those CV lenses can be good, but there are too many accounts of centering problems and so on. Then I found out about the Zeiss Ikon and its lenses and they sound wonderful, but there don't seem to be any dealers in the UK where you can get a hands-on experience. A new Leica M7 or MP would be completely out of reach.

This afternoon I went to my local photo dealer, who is a Leica dealer, to ask about Zeiss. No, they don't handle it - the fact that the UK importer is also a retailer is a problem for them. But, they asked me, had I thought about a second-hand Leica? - prices have come down a lot recently. So we investigated a few of these and after 30 minutes or so playing with them, working out how to meter and adjust exposure, and comparing VF alternatives, I bought a black 0.85 M6TTL and a new 50mm Summitar to go with it. I don't need terribly fast lenses for what I do, and would have been looking at a Summicron (or Planar), so the Summitar will be fine. (I had read Erwin's recent review of the Summitars so I was relaxed about their optical quality).

The weather forecast for tomorrow is good - cold and clear - so I shall put my first roll of film through it then. This will be Fuji Velvia 100, so I shall be very interested to discover just how I get on with the metering.

 

[wintoid]

I'm excited for you! Great weather this weekend for shooting in the UK. Bet you get some great shots.

 

[vrgard]

Congratulations. Sounds like a great setup you got there. I'm looking forward to seeing some of your shots when you get them.

-Randy

 

[northpole]

Congrats Tom. I was out on my bike today and cursed myself - I had deliberated whether to carry a backpack and decided against - as I approached Parliament Square the contrast on the buildings around 2:30 pm was incredible and a perfect frame appeared comprising Houses of Parliament on the right, Terry Farrell's parliament offices building (the one with the peculiar 'chimneys') on the left, the London Eye and Big Ben centre stage with the moon peeping out between them. OK pretty touristy fare, but it looked fantastic! Get snapping!!

Peter

 

[kalokeri]

Welcome back to the leica-world. Enjoy your new M6 !

Thomas

 

[walnut]

Tom-UK, also, congrats on your purchase, I have the same camera with the 50 cron and really like it for shooting slides, velvia 50 and 100, and use my M2 with B&W. Enjoy your "NEW" camera!!. Dennis

 

[santi-u]

Hi Tom, i got a silver one last week with a 50mm cron. My first rangefinder experience and very excited as well.

Regards,
Santi

 

[PJRiley]

So did I. Today. I'm still shaking and it isn't even shipped yet. When it gets here, I'll probably have a heart attack!
But, here in Canada, where I live, we have 3 feet of snow, so I can daydream until it shows up.

 

[alan davus]

Onya Tom, it's a great camera, you'll love it. Mine's off to the cricket with me today, Australia v. India in a one day international at Adelaide Oval. I'm a member so it'll be lunch in the Bradman room and a few amber ales in the Chappell bar. All a bit hard to take. PJ, i'ts a coolish sunday morning here in Happy Valley, expected max 38c.

 

[arnulf]

I used to have a Bessa, but had the same the same feeling as you when it came to Leica: an itch you can't scratch. Finally I bought an M6 with a 35mm lens, and i've got to say that although I enjoyed my Bessa immensely, the difference is striking. The shutter sound alone is worth the extra money, in my view.

Enjoy the red dot.

arnulf

 

[tom_uk]

Well, I went out this morning and shot my first roll of film for over a year - and that was the first for a couple of years before that! I live on the edge of the city of Sheffield and there are open fields, woods, streams and hills just a few minutes walk away, so that's where I go a lot. And as expected, this morning was cold (frost overnight) and very bright and clear.

I was using Fuji Velvia 100. I took a range of shots, all of 'countryside' subects of course, but some at infinity focus, some (near) close-ups, most with the sun behind me and a few into the sun, aiming to get a silhouette effect. Sunlight is very directional where I live at this time of year - I estimate that the sun was at most 20 degrees above the horizon.

It was all very enjoyable. I was surprised at how quickly I adapted to the focussing tab on the Summitar - I've never used one before. Metering seemed easy, though of course the proof of how effectively I did it will only be known when I get the slides back. Mainly I metered off the fields and then re-composed the shot I actually wanted. I was interested to see how the metering indication of the actual shot changed depending on whether there was sky in it or not. For most of the roll I took just one frame per shot, but for maybe 4 or 5 shots I bracketed (1 stop intervals). These were shots of places that were are familiar to me so I should be able to understand the results that I get.

The camera itself behaved faultlessly and the lens also felt good. However, I have a couple of issues with the accessories I bought for the lens (at eye-watering prices, I might add). I bought the Summitar 35/50mm lenshood and a UV filter. Here's what I have found:-

a) there is an 'end-ring' that screws onto the front of the lens which has a slightly larger diameter than the lens itself, and this holds the lenscap - it fits quite firmly onto this. However, to fit the UV filter you have to remove this end ring, and without it the lenscap is quite loose and could drop off. You can't fit the end ring back on with the UV filter on;

b) the lens hood looks great; it's one of those 'boxy' shapes rather than a circular hoods with cut-outs. It has an end-cover that clips on, and you can fit the hood on the camera with the UV filter also on. The lens hood itself screws onto the front of the lens. However, there's no 'click-stop' when it's on to hold it firmly, so in fact you can unscrew it with just finger-pressure. What this means is that it's very easy to move the lens-hood out of alignment (i.e. rotate it) when you're checking angles with the camera, focusing, etc; if your finger just brushes against it, it'll unscrew a bit. And even just walking around I found that it had a tendency to come partly unscrewed. This gives rise to two dangers: you can lose the lenshood, I think, as it could come completely unscrewed without you realising it, and if it's misaligned when you take a shot then it could obstruct two of the corners.

I may go back and talk to my dealer about these two issues.

 

[Olsen]

Well, I went out this morning and shot my first roll of film for over a year - and that was the first for a couple of years before that! I live on the edge of the city of Sheffield and there are open fields, woods, streams and hills just a few minutes walk away, so that's where I go a lot. And as expected, this morning was cold (frost overnight) and very bright and clear.

I was using Fuji Velvia 100. I took a range of shots, all of 'countryside' subects of course, but some at infinity focus, some (near) close-ups, most with the sun behind me and a few into the sun, aiming to get a silhouette effect. Sunlight is very directional where I live at this time of year - I estimate that the sun was at most 20 degrees above the horizon.

It was all very enjoyable. I was surprised at how quickly I adapted to the focussing tab on the Summitar - I've never used one before. Metering seemed easy, though of course the proof of how effectively I did it will only be known when I get the slides back. Mainly I metered off the fields and then re-composed the shot I actually wanted. I was interested to see how the metering indication of the actual shot changed depending on whether there was sky in it or not. For most of the roll I took just one frame per shot, but for maybe 4 or 5 shots I bracketed (1 stop intervals). These were shots of places that were are familiar to me so I should be able to understand the results that I get.

The camera itself behaved faultlessly and the lens also felt good. However, I have a couple of issues with the accessories I bought for the lens (at eye-watering prices, I might add). I bought the Summitar 35/50mm lenshood and a UV filter. Here's what I have found:-

a) there is an 'end-ring' that screws onto the front of the lens which has a slightly larger diameter than the lens itself, and this holds the lenscap - it fits quite firmly onto this. However, to fit the UV filter you have to remove this end ring, and without it the lenscap is quite loose and could drop off. You can't fit the end ring back on with the UV filter on;

b) the lens hood looks great; it's one of those 'boxy' shapes rather than a circular hoods with cut-outs. It has an end-cover that clips on, and you can fit the hood on the camera with the UV filter also on. The lens hood itself screws onto the front of the lens. However, there's no 'click-stop' when it's on to hold it firmly, so in fact you can unscrew it with just finger-pressure. What this means is that it's very easy to move the lens-hood out of alignment (i.e. rotate it) when you're checking angles with the camera, focusing, etc; if your finger just brushes against it, it'll unscrew a bit. And even just walking around I found that it had a tendency to come partly unscrewed. This gives rise to two dangers: you can lose the lenshood, I think, as it could come completely unscrewed without you realising it, and if it's misaligned when you take a shot then it could obstruct two of the corners.

I may go back and talk to my dealer about these two issues.

Tom,

I don't quite reccognise what you are describing regarding the ring and all that, but I have bought a 2.hand Summicron 35 mm 2,0 a while back that had the same issue with the lense shade. I got one of these circular lense shades with mine. It fell off quite regularly. I just bought a new 'square' one. I think it is the mechanism that gets worn out. Just buy one new or complain to the dealer you bought the M6 from, and get one free or rebated one.

 

[tom_uk]

A couple of days ago I wrote this after using the M6ttl for the first time:

) the lens hood looks great; it's one of those 'boxy' shapes rather than a circular hoods with cut-outs. It has an end-cover that clips on, and you can fit the hood on the camera with the UV filter also on. The lens hood itself screws onto the front of the lens. However, there's no 'click-stop' when it's on to hold it firmly, so in fact you can unscrew it with just finger-pressure. What this means is that it's very easy to move the lens-hood out of alignment (i.e. rotate it) when you're checking angles with the camera, focusing, etc; if your finger just brushes against it, it'll unscrew a bit. And even just walking around I found that it had a tendency to come partly unscrewed. This gives rise to two dangers: you can lose the lenshood, I think, as it could come completely unscrewed without you realising it, and if it's misaligned when you take a shot then it could obstruct two of the corners.

I may go back and talk to my dealer about these two issues.

And indeed I did do that, and they took the lenshood back and I got a refund for it.

Since then I've come across something interesting. There's a review of the whole of the (new) Summarit range in this week's Amateur Photographer, and at one point Geoffrey Crawley has this to say on the lenshoods, when commenting on possible problems using rectangular hoods:
"However the cunning Leica engineers have overcome this - the thread is single-start and a minutely-raised sharp edge on the hood rim engages with a cut-away on the lens rim just as the hood tightens. The hood os then locked with the hood square with the recatangle format."

I no longer have the lenshood, of course, but I've examined the lens closely, and I can't see a "cut-away on the lens rim", so I may go back to the dealer again this weekend. I know they have several examples of the full range - perhaps we can check a few examples.

 

[CCCPcamera]

Ya, I'm looking at a black paint m6. Man, that would be awesome. My kiev 4 was fun but finally jammed up and died.