Leica M5... good choice?

[P. Lynn Miller]

I do not like M5 for the follwing reasons:
It is big
It has out of date and unreliable Cds photo cells
it is not M looking camera
M6 is the better choice.

I agree with you on all counts and hope every other Leica users agrees as well!

That way the price of M5's will fall and I can buy a few more of the awful things.

 

[J J Kapsberger]

If you like the old Wetzlar fashion go buy a M4.

I'm way ahead of you. I enjoy my Wetzlar M4, but it's not the same as the M5, which offers a different level of exhileration.

...Zinc cover plate is thick than the M5 brass top cover, they brass differently, M6 resistent dent impect better than M5.

Bubbles.

 

[Krosya]

All this M5 talk made wanna get one. I used to have m3 and m6 and sold them in favor of Hexar RF. But m5 seems like a rather different camera from handling stand point. I am really tempted now.

 

[Carlos Cruz]

No point in lusting after this ugly, un-leica looking, ill-metering monster, with hard to get batteries. Leave more for us 😀

 

[P. Lynn Miller]

Yeah, why you would want such a HUGE rangefinder, and heavy, wow! gives you biceps like Arnie! And so unM-like, not mention that design flaw of having the strap-lugs only on one side...

I bet it is not even a Leica, probably just a rebadged import from the Far East or West...

 

[Beemermark]

i owned one briefly. i love the look of them. i love the function of the shutter-speed dial (and position). i love the meter and viewfinder feedback. i love the side carry strap lugs (i had a 2-lug). i love the weight. but the size was just too much for me. people say the difference is slight, and maybe in measurements it is. but it feels like a big camera to me. i do have small hands though. the other m bodies just fit me better. if you don't mind the size...jump on it!

I agree completely. Over 30 years of using Leica's I have owned 2 M5's - bought at prices I couldn't resist. Beautiful cameras but once you start to use them they are just awkward. Some, a few, people like them but most don't. They weren't popular new and still aren't. The only advantage they ever had was the built in meter. An M3, M4 or M2 with the Mr-4 meter are much more user friendly cameras. The M6 surpasses the M5 and is worth a few hundred more. If I couldn't afford an M6 I would look at the Bessa's.

 

[venchka]

Oh good grief...

Oh good grief...

To quote Bigfoot and Bubba, "Nuts!" 😉 😎

 

[Krosya]

I agree completely. Over 30 years of using Leica's I have owned 2 M5's - bought at prices I couldn't resist. Beautiful cameras but once you start to use them they are just awkward. Some, a few, people like them but most don't. They weren't popular new and still aren't. The only advantage they ever had was the built in meter. An M3, M4 or M2 with the Mr-4 meter are much more user friendly cameras. The M6 surpasses the M5 and is worth a few hundred more. If I couldn't afford an M6 I would look at the Bessa's.

See, I felt that m6 and m3 were kinda awkward. So, maybe M5 would be just right for me? I guess one way to find out? 😉

 

[venchka]

Just do it!

 

[johannielscom]

Focus is no big problem with the Hexar RF / Noctilux @ f/1.0. The RF patch has quite some contrast:

...

That is a pretty shot, that is... Would love to get results like this with my M-Hex-50-1.2. I will definitely take the M5 out for a spin once it's checked in here!

THX 4 sharing!

 

[dreamsandart]

In some ways how I feel about the M5 mirrors what 'awilder' had to say. I'd used an M5 for many years, and as a camera to use it was my favorite shooter. Things I really liked about it were the analog meter, shutter speed dial, finder, even the 2 lug strap configuration, I still have enough of the old mercury 625 batteries to last me 10 years or more, and an M5 oozes Wetzlar quality.

But I sold it this last year...🙁 Maybe a mistake, but I got a good price for it, my repair person here in Japan doesn't work on them (who else besides Sherry and Don can do them justice and has the parts?), and I just decided that I wanted a metered M that more closely matched my M4/M3 in use/feel/compactness, an MP anthracite came my way in a moment of weakness (Leicavit use is nice too), and I felt I needed to make a choice to keep the body count down.

I reasoned also that if I really wanted another - and a revisit can always be on the horizon in Leicaland - I can pick one up at a 'discount' price these days.

Still I can say. If you want one, and get one, it can be the best Leica you will ever own.

 

[Krosya]

So what would be a good price for a good user M5? Not the collector grade, but nice and clean?

 

[J J Kapsberger]

When it comes to a nice and clean M5 money is no object.

 

[Matthew Runkel]

I found the meter to be less accurate than an M6 as it's readings will vary to within at least +/- 1/2 stop depending on how you hold the camera, i.e. vertical vs. horizontal as well as aiming low or high which will cause variation in accuracy.

Yes, I believe the manual instructs that the meter will be only accurate when the camera is in the horizontal orientation, and that vertical scenes should be metered horizontally first. Since the metering pattern is closer to a spot than those of other M's, where you aim can make more of a difference in the reading, but this is not really a "variation in accuracy."

 

[Melvin]

The extra weight of the M5 probably provides more inertial damping. And the shutter is very quiet...could make for sharper photos.

The light meter is great, but it is a spot meter, and very accurate. This is what makes it hard to use for slide film. If you don't have the metering spot on 18% gray, you won't get a perfect reading. Not only that, but the card needs to be angled to reflect the light source, then the m5 meter will agree with an incident meter.

All the Leica camera models are imperfect in some way, and they're all great.

 

[venchka]

Haven't looked lately...

Haven't looked lately...

So what would be a good price for a good user M5? Not the collector grade, but nice and clean?

Median price, probably $750 give or take a low of $550 and a high of $1,000. Time since or in need of a CLA is a factor.

Good luck!

Happy New Year!

Wayne

 

[Krosya]

Thanks!
I just had a quick look on ebay and lowest I can find is around 1K with some going to something rediculous like over 2K !
But, search is ON! 😉

 

[venchka]

Whoa! Wassssssssssssup? Maybe I can trade Bubba for a nice 8x10 camera one of these days. Would I do that???????????

Like I said, I hadn't been following prices. I just recall a few here going for under $1,000.

 

[HuubL]

A couple of month ago prices were 500-700 for good users. That's what I got two for (and sold one).
If prices are up again, then that's because there are too may threads like this one here 😉

 

[srtiwari]

The M5 is a very special machine- a little different, but it grows on you. I took mine out of the closet after a year, convinced that I should sell it. That was 2 weeks ago- I have now run a couple of rolls theough it, and no way am I going to sell it ! It is beautiful, and wonderful to use.