Is the Leica M7 going strong in 2012?

[presspass]

I've been using them since they were new. All mine have the old DX readers, with their attendant problems, but I work around them. As long as the batteries are good, they work every day. Not the purist camera of the M3-MP lineage, but they're fine, and the shutter is the quietest of any of my Leicas.

 

[Leica All Day]

No need for a review... plenty of them around. Mine has seen two years in Iraq and has been dropped, blown up, crushed and desert dusted to the point I could barely see it was black.

Man, you rock....I have put my Leica m's through a lot, but man, you take the cake........very cool

cheers, michael

 

[Biggles]

Slight thread drift, but still an M7 question: The only one I've ever put to my eye had non-labelled framelines. I mean, there was no little "35" or "50" in the viewfinder to tell me which frame I was selecting with the preview lever. Are they all like that?

 

[Teuthida]

Never got on with my M7. Too "electronic."

 

[segedi]

Slight thread drift, but still an M7 question: The only one I've ever put to my eye had non-labelled framelines. I mean, there was no little "35" or "50" in the viewfinder to tell me which frame I was selecting with the preview lever. Are they all like that?

There is no label. You just have to know the groups. Or get it modified. Mine only shows 35/135, 50, 90mm. The Bessa RxA/M has a manual switch that is labeled. But I prefer the Leica system a bit better as I don't have to change frameline display when I change lenses, the camera does it for you.

 

[sepiareverb]

...the shutter is the quietest of any of my Leicas.

It really is quiet. Just reading the "How loud is the Ikon vs G2" thread, and just no comparison to an M7. As silent as a real shutter gets- heck even my iPhone "shutter" is louder than the M7.

I think build is certainly well above most DSLR cameras. Better than SLR bodies I've handled- even the F4. The DX and the display can be finicky, but as stated above that is most often a power issue or the DX dial needing a spin to clean-up the contacts. I'd expect with all the times Leica has had an M7 back for this they've made some changes in the current crop of M7 bodies. Anyone have a new M7 that can report??

 

[Freakscene]

I'd expect with all the times Leica has had an M7 back for this they've made some changes in the current crop of M7 bodies. Anyone have a new M7 that can report??

I have one very early and one very late M7, and there are numerous differences obvious when you open them, including the materials (particularly polymers) used, the way the circuits are wired, down to the shape of the threads on the slotted washer under the rewind knob.

Marty

 

[sepiareverb]

I have one very early and one very late M7, and there are numerous differences obvious when you open them, including the materials (particularly polymers) used, the way the circuits are wired, down to the shape of the threads on the slotted washer under the rewind knob.

Marty

As I suspected. Any differences you notice in use? Does the newer one seem less prone to DX faults?

 

[Freakscene]

As I suspected. Any differences you notice in use? Does the newer one seem less prone to DX faults?

No differences in use. My newer one is the one that has problems, although each time the old one goes to Leica the more it seems to be similar to the new one. Leica Solms always did a lot of work for me gratis, which seems to have stopped since the Australian service contract was given to Camera Clinic. But the cameras come back faster.

Marty

 

[tightsqueez]

Man, you rock....I have put my Leica m's through a lot, but man, you take the cake........very cool

cheers, michael

Ha ha. I'm almost positive I could, or anyone for that matter, achieve the same results in my backyard.

This may sound odd but I hate when I send an M into Leica and it comes back looking new.

I just want it to "work" good.

 

[leobloom]

sorry, if I really wanted AE, I prefer Zeiss Ikon for the brighter VF.

 

[scripscan]

I don't know about anyone else, but I just ordered a NEW Leica M7 Black which will arrive in about 2-3 weeks. I thought I'd add my 2 cents and bring this forum up to 2012.

Best regards,
Glen Converse

 

[kshapero]

I am just starting to trust my M3 after only 49 years. TeHe.

 

[sepiareverb]

I don't know about anyone else, but I just ordered a NEW Leica M7 Black which will arrive in about 2-3 weeks.

Nice. The M7 was my first M, I was shocked at the build quality compared to the Nikon F4S and Contax G2 bodies I'd been using. It just felt SOLID in a very different way. And quiet.

I still have that first M7, a .72 with old-style DX reader from Jean at Camtec in Montreal. Don't shoot it as much as the MP bodies, but it is a wonderful tool. I prefer the M7 when I'm heading to the city and tend to feel more rushed in shooting. But battery life is still the kicker with an M7- an MP goes and goes and goes on a single 1/3N but an M7 seems so often to drink those electrons right up. And still, in cold weather the M7 flags before the MP. More for the battery to do there for sure, but troublesome nonetheless. Though every digital M has shut down long before the M7 in every Vermont winter test.

 

[jagwar.jim]

I recently bought myself a Leica M7 second hand and have been loving it. I know what you mean, not many reviews from the last couple of years. I wrote one that will be appearing on my blog next week if you are still interested?

 

[mfogiel]

I have and use more than 30 cameras in various formats, but if I only had to keep one, it would be the 0.85x m7 (with the 75mm frames removed) and Summilux 50 pre asph.

 

[denizg7]

Leica CL is as good as the M7 except some lenses don't work well with it 50mm ones

 

[mfogiel]

"Leica CL is as good as the M7".
I think you have the wrong number.

 

[kehng]

I'm selling mine. if i want electronic i'm going to use my m9. if i want to shoot film it'll be my m3. the m7 is lush but was gathering dust.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Leica CL is as good as the M7 except some lenses don't work well with it 50mm ones

Dear Dennis,

What are your criteria for 'just as good'? Personally I'd back the M7's longer RF base, better meter, ability to accept all lenses (including the 135/2.8), better ergonomics and more solid construction against the CL, even if the M7 weren't a lot newer.

Cheers,

R.