In praise of the Leica M7

I like to use my m7 (0,58) the only point where I'm not sure is that at least once a year I have to realign the rangefinder. Of course if shooting landscape with a 35mm lens at f 8 it would be not necessary but I do not like when the RF images are not correctly aligned. No other problems with this camera. Maybe I should learn not to care so much...
robert
 
I have two M7 0.85, both sent back to Solm's for optical reader and finder upgrades.
Other than the original mechanical reader, there have been no problems. The finders were upgraded at the same time because they were already in Germany and for the new one, no cost to me. Finder upgrade has not made any discernible difference.
The M7's in AUTO allow one to concentrate on action and composition in a manner that no other analog M can do. I shoot mostly people and people move and many times are moving fast.
No more adjusting the aperture ring to make the light centered, just shoot.
For scenes where there is a lot of bright sky, the exposure hold feature of the M7 is the best I have seen. Expose for the area you want and partially depress the shutter and the exposure is held.
I use Motor M's and the only problem is that the exposure is only held for one shot. Only thing I don't care for in the M7.
Never use my M3 and M6 anymore.-Dick
 
I'm using a lovely M7 bought from this forum for personal black and white work, haven't touched my beloved MP in a while. The EA works so much better for me. I think they are a superb camera and I've found they allow me to get the best out of my Leica lenses. They are the most accurate Leica film body. I have the upgraded finder but not the upgraded dx reader... Not had any problems so far, touch wood, while the MP has been back to Solms thrice for different issues. Perhaps the clockwork ones are a little more fragile after-all ;);)... I'm kidding of course, I don't buy the one vs the other build quality conversation. They are all well crafted tools - look after them and fix them when they go wrong.
Yes, praise for the Leica M7...
 
I have an M7 and have mixed feelings about it because I don't think they got the design quite right. I don't like the exposure compensation wheel on the back as it's fiddly to use and can sometimes turn by accident and I don't like the flashing LED to show that the camera's set to a non-DX EI (why do I need to be constantly reminded about this?). Actually I think the latest Bessas are better designed in some ways, particularly the exposure compensation on the shutter speed dial. I sometimes miss those lovely clockwork sounds of the earlier models and although I'm not saying it's a bad camera and it's never actually broken down, it just doesn't endear itself to me.
 
My first M was an M7, and I still have it, original DX and all. I've had several other M7 bodies over the years, and still have a .58 M7, latest version. It was gotten as Leica refurbished through Popflash. It arrived with the meter nearly a stop off, and underexposed everything. Popflash made it right in extremely quick order (fantastic customer service there). I still use both, but rarely compared to the MP bodies. I find the M7 bodies to go through batteries far faster and just annoy with wacky readouts- the shutter speed readout when in A mode can go from 30 to 5000 to 180 to 45 within two seconds aimed at anything- but not always. The random blinking dots are annoying as well. I've found these problems are always remedied by spinning the ISO dial back and forth and on the rare occasion that does not work replacing the batteries is the cure. Cold weather and the M7 are not always a good combo- and here in Vermont the cold is here a lot. I tend to put the M7s away in November and pull them out again in April so as only to not be surprised with a dead camera.

If choosing between an M7 and an MP I'd vote for the MP. If I had to sell off all but one M I'd keep an MP. Some of us lived without AE for a very long time.
 
I bought mine 2nd hand 5 years ago. Original DX reader and never let me down.
I think the M7 is the most useful of all the M's because of its AE.
 
Ive owned two M7s: the first I couldn't get into the electronics and sold it. Owned it about 2 years without any problems. My latest M7, which I've owned for about three years I have not had any problems. Leica NJ installed the upgraded optical finder. Camera works like a charm, just don't forget the batteries! I like the ability to use it in manual mode or AE.
 
Two of mine have worked fine for years. The other two have DX reader or ISO wheel issues on occasion. If a thump on the bottom under the film cassette doesn't do the trick, a quick spin of the ISO wheel does. Even when the camera's flashing the wrong ISO or has the damn dot flashing, it seems to meter just fine. My only complaint is the lag from switching it on to shooting.
 
I know this thread hasn't been active for a while but I thought I would breathe some life into it ...

+1 for the M7. Bought mine used from a fellow RFF'er in 2011. It has the upgraded VF but the original optical DX reader. Never had any issues, and I've used the camera frequently since I bought it a year ago.

Quirks that I've noticed:

a. as presspass noted above, I don't like the 'power on' lag. IMHO that takes too long. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to miss a shot because I'm waiting for the damn ISO indicator to go away.

b. I have also experienced the wildly fluctuating metering issues mentioned by sepiareverb. The first time it happened to me, I became extremely concerned! I kept my calm, and started with the simple and obvious: let's try a fresh battery. Problem solved. That being said, the M7 seems to devour batteries faster than other cameras I own. Not a big deal, though. I just make sure I keep a spare in my camera bag.

c. the flashing dot in the VF is odd. It doesn't bother me, but I can see how it would drive other people a little bonkers. That being said, a film SLR with a vertical Christmas tree of LED's is much worse.

d. Interestingly, I can definitely notice a VF difference between the M7 and the .72x black M6 that I also own. The M7's viewfinder is superb. Clear and crisp in all kinds of lighting. I have had intermittent flaring with the M6 and THAT drives me bonkers! Extremely annoying when it happens. If I didn't love that M6 so much I'd probably sell it and just use the M7 all the time.

A final note: I think the M7 is a beautiful camera. It's a pleasure to use, and definitely has its own character. In fact, I think it's relatively under-appreciated in the pantheon of Leica M bodies.
 
not to be blatantly promoting, I just stumbled on this thread, but I have an M7 in the classifieds that I _need_ to sell and for which I've had no responses yet, if anyone's interested check it out
(sorry for the ad break :D )
 
+1 for the M7. I bought it used (not one roll of film went to it) from Popflash with updated VF and DX reader. I LOVE the AE. The camera is just a joy to use. I would of course love to have an MP but I feel I would sometime miss the AE. I guess the ideal is to own both. :)
 
Well it's funny because I just bought an MP and I'm selling the M7, I feel there's no need to have both (also the MP needs to be paid for :D)
I don't know if I'll miss the AE, which is the very reason I bought the M7, we'll see...
 
m7 love

m7 love

congratulations on getting another m7.
it is the one leica i bought new. it never missed a beat and i loved using it. i take it out to exercise the shutter now and again...as i do with it's chrome .85 mp counterpart.
 
I wish Leica never introduced the DX reader on the M7. Every other camera I have had that had a DX reader worked perfectly. Whether it was $50 or $2000.
My M7, a high serial # build with the latest everything, still is occasionally flaky.
But I still love it.
 
Huss said:
I wish Leica never introduced the DX reader on the M7. Every other camera I have had that had a DX reader worked perfectly....
My M7, a high serial # build with the latest everything, still is occasionally flaky...
Click to expand...

Is the newer optical DX reader an issue? The M7 I had and sold was purchased new in 2003, which means it was an early model with the DX reader with metal spring loaded pins. Never had a problem with it.
 
nasmformyzombie said:
Is the newer optical DX reader an issue? The M7 I had and sold was purchased new in 2003, which means it was an early model with the DX reader with metal spring loaded pins. Never had a problem with it.
Click to expand...
The newer reader was/is the one that is meant to be reliable!
I'm almost thinking that the issue could be with the ISO dial for many of these cameras. But the fact that Leica changed the reader was due to the initial one being 'inconsistent'.
 
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