Kinda urgent: How to check an M2?

R

Roman

Guest
Guys,

I'm meeting a guy tomorrow morning who is selling his M2 for around 400 Euros.
Now, I know there was a thread here at RFF recently with what to check when looking at used Leicas, but I cannot find that thread recently (it had all kinds of links, eg. to a photo.net thread, with stuff about shutter curtains sticking out or not, etc.)
Can anybody point me there?

Oh, and a second question - if I buy this M2, I want to use my 40/2 M-Rokkor on it, but would like to use the 35mm rather than the 50mm framelines it would bring up. Now, I know that you are supposed to grind something off on the lens mount - does anybody have a link with a picture that shows where to grind? (I'm not concerned about lowering resale value - I LOVE that lens and won't even sell it if I ever win the lottery and can buy a full set of Summiluxes...)

Roman
 
Just a quick question: Why don't you buy one of the CV 40mm accessory viewfinders? They aren't expensive, and you never know, you might want to use the lens on a camera with 40mm framelines in the future.
 
Thanks, guys, Ronnie ('hoot') just sent me the link to the PN thread:
http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=007MBz

Second question I still need an answer, but that's not so urgent.

'thpook',
the 40mm framelines on the CL are always there, so even altering the lens will not make them diasppear; the only other cameras I know with 40mm framelines are the CLE and the R3a, both of which, for a variety of reasons, don't really appeal to me.
As for an external finder, I find that just a bit inconvenient for carrying the camera - you cannot put it in the pocket on a jacket, in a camera bag it takes up extra room if mounted (as I know from the 25mm finder of my Snapshot Skopar), is not fast enough to use if unmounted, and if I carry the camera on a strap, I'd be afraid it might slip off and get lost.

Roman
 
You're right, while external finders use to be big and bright they tend to 'get in the way' in the in&out camera operations... :)

Good luck with the checking list Roman ! 400 euros is a sound price for one, and with the 40 being a superb lens that would be a killer combo ! :eek:

And yes, that filing procedure is probably one of the 'top ten' questions in photonet :)

Again, best of luck my friend !
 
Oscar,
OK, I'll head over to PN to look for that question right away...

BTW, quite a few M2s went in the 400 to 500 Euro range recently on German Ebay, but I was a bit wary about not being able to check them out in advance, and wanted to wait for the next local 2nd hand camera fair on Oct. 16th, when this one popped up in an unexpected place...

Here's a pic of the camera I'm going to look at tomorrow - seems to be an old 1958/59 model...
 
Small picture but looks nice. Let us know please :)

I know that the US$500 range is populated with user M2s and 3s, however the Canon P and 7 are enough M-like to me, plus I'm a bit short on funds probably until January :(

Which means I'll have to sell in order to buy, which is what I'm going to do... if circumstances permit :D

Again, good luck ! An M2 is probably the M I'd go for if I was going to go for one, in first place.
 
Oscar,
I'll have to do a bit of selling soon, too, will have to rummage through my stuff to see what is used least/has to go (probably the Mamiya 645...)

Roman
 
JoeFriday said:
throw it in water.. if it floats, it's a witch!
Click to expand...

LOL!!!!!

Roman-- Don't forget to check the 1 second speed, very important; it's a good indicator whether or not the slower shutter speeds are in sync or not. A quick way to check it is by using an analog watch while you fire it. Have the back door open as you do this to make it easier to check.

And I also second the advice about not filing down the 40mm lens; get the viewfinder.
 
Gabriel,
without even knowing what's in the kit? ;)
BTW, after reading all the threads about filing down I found on PN, if the deal works out tomorrow (for all I know, the camera might look nice outwardly, but not function correctly...), I'll do a bit of framing accuracy testing before doing any filing - apparently, with an M6 (which has smaller framelines for similar focal lengths) it's a no-brainer to file the 40mm Rokkor down to use it with the 35mm lines, but with an M2, esp. at closer distances, the 50mm lines seem to be the better choice...

Roman

PS: Ashley, still no message from the Salzburg shop...
 
Hi Roman.

The M2 + 40mm (Rokkor CLE in my case) is a great combo.
I use Leicagoodies' Scoop to protect my glasses and the complete viewfinder is close enough to the 40mm field of view. The 50 frame just add a kind of a basic grid for composition (I like grids in my SLR focusing screens).

No need to destroy anything to enjoy it ! ;-)

Regards,

ag
 
OK, I'm back from checking the camera - looks really nice, shutter sounds fine (even the slow speed - that whirly sound is there), could not detect any specks/de-silvering/dust in the viewfinder. One thing: tried to check for infinity alignment with the RF, and pointed the camera at a high building in the distance, which had the sun behind it (the building hiding the sun) - in that instance, the RF patch seemed slightly veiled (though still useable for focussing) - is that normal? Otherwise, the patch was crisp.
The seller has the M2 listed at a small local auction site, and did not want to sell it right away (fair enough), so I still have a few days to sleep over whether I really need the M2 (I doubt that anybody else will bid there - I know from experience that this is not a good place to sell photo equipment).

On my way back I dropped into a second hand camera shop near where I live - they have an M2 in their window for 410 Euros that I have been eyeing for a while; asked the guy there to take it out of the window for me, and it felt immediately wrong - there are a number of tiny dent in a row just above the RF window, and the whirly sound on the slow speeds sounded wrong, too...

Roman
 
Roman said:
(the building hiding the sun) - in that instance, the RF patch seemed slightly veiled (though still useable for focussing) - is that normal?
Click to expand...
According to leicagoodies.com, this (click) is what a backlit focusing patch looks like.
 
Ah, that's the white-out I've heard about - no, it was not that bad - it was more of a hazy look... But as I said, I assume it is from the strong backlight, the patch was crisp in normal light.

Roman
 
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