Leica M6 User guide??

[Jamie123]

someone once told me that there are no stupid questions but there are annyoing ones.
although i have a strong feeling that this will be one of those annoying ones i'm still going to go ahead and ask.

could anyone recommend a website with a guide to using leica M cameras (or rangefinders in general)?

my two cousins have both inherited Leica M6s from their late father but none of them seem to have the knowledge (nor the interest) to use them. my cousin has offered to lend it to me and i would love to take her up on her offer but i would like to know how to use it before i borrow it.
i'm quite familiar with manual focus and auto focus SLRs and use them a lot but i've never used a rangefinder camera.

 

[Benjamin Marks]

I'm not trying to be flip, but I am not sure you need an instruction manual for this camera, particularly if you are already familiar with photographic principals.

To focus, turn the focus ring on the lens while looking through the viewfinder until the two images in the central focussing patch of the viewfinder overlap. Chose an appropriate shutter speed. Turn the aperture on the lens until the two red arrows in the viewfinder are equally lit "> <". Press the button. The metering area is located more or less around the yellow patch in the viewfinder. Batteries are MS-76 or equivalent, but they only power the light meter and all other functions on this camera are mechanical. If the batteries are DOA, you can test the shutter and accuracy of the focussing mechnism using the Sunny-16 rule.

Film is dropped in through the bottom with the film leader threaded into the "tulip" take up spool. Replace the bottom plate. Make sure the rewind crank is moving when you first advance the film.

That's all there is to it.

 

[ERV]

I have a .pdf file of the m6 manual.
Google m6 manual and you'll find it.
If not send me email and I'll send it to you.

 

[Jamie123]

what about DOF? i'm used to seeing in the viewfinder how much DOF i'll get. will i have a hard time to adjust to the RF way of shooting?

thank you for the information. the part about loading the film and about the meter was very helpful since i couldn't find it last time i held the camera in my hand (she probably forgot to put in a new battery).

now i really can't wait to get the camera and put a few rolls through it 😀

 

[Jamie123]

thanks ERV. i did a search and found the manual. i'll have to get the camera first, though, to find out whether she has a classic M6 or a M6TTL.

 

[richard_l]

what about DOF? i'm used to seeing in the viewfinder how much DOF i'll get. will i have a hard time to adjust to the RF way of shooting?

Are you referring to DOF preview (i.e., the view with the lens stopped down to the taking aperture) or to the DOF at the (wide open) viewing aperture (which generally is shallower than the actual DOF of the image)? A lot of SLRs nowadays don't have the DOF preview feature.

Anyhow, the DOF scale on a rangefinder lens works the same way as on a manual focus SLR lens, showing approximate near and far distances for the "zone of sharp focus." It may seem a little awkward at first, but the technique of selective focus falls right into place after a little practice.

 

[Jamie123]

Are you referring to DOF preview (i.e., the view with the lens stopped down to the taking aperture) or to the DOF at the (wide open) viewing aperture (which generally is shallower than the actual DOF of the image)? A lot of SLRs nowadays don't have the DOF preview feature.

Anyhow, the DOF scale on a rangefinder lens works the same way as on a manual focus SLR lens, showing approximate near and far distances for the "zone of sharp focus." It may seem a little awkward at first, but the technique of selective focus falls right into place after a little practice.

i was indeed referring to the DOF preview feature. both the cameras i own have it and it's all i usually use to set the aperture.
i guess it won't be that big of a problem getting used to it.

 

[Benjamin Marks]

Jamie: Sorry, this may be unnecessary to state at this point, but DOF preview on an SLR works because you are looking through the lens that takes the picture. I would consider it a WYSWYG advantage to using an SLR. With a RF camera, you are not looking through the lens that takes the picture, you are looking through a fixed set of lenses that make up the viewfinder. The viewfinder does not change when you use lenses of different focal lengths, other than to bring up different sets of bright-lines showing approximately what the lens will see. The M6's brightlines are parallax-corrected to a modest degree. M3s had a feature (a little extra tab of rangefinder patch on the top and bottom) that you could use to estimate what was in focus. If the images were less co-incident than the width of this extra patch, you were assured of sufficient depth of focus. It was a crude approximation compared to looking through the stopped down lens of an SLR and later Leica Ms dropped it.

I use both rangefinders and SLRs and would not claim that either is suitable for all picture takning tasks. However, if you practice with your lens of choice, you will develop a pretty good sense of what it means to take a picture at f4 compared to f8. I use my Ms for available light photography and, as a practical matter, this means I am often using my lenses wide open or close to it. You will develop a feel for it after a while. The previous poster's comments about the markings on the lens barrel is entirely correct, most manual-focus lenses had them in one form or another, usually color coded.

If the camera comes to you without batteries, you can use one of your SLRs as a reflected light-meter. Transfer the reading to the M and shoot away -- you can replace the batteries on the M later. From a practical perspective, the light falling on a subject does not often change quickly more than a stop or so. One of the advantages to using an M6 of any variety over your SLRs is that many users can hand-hold the camera below the 1/focal length rule of thumb. I can use my 50 f2 lens reliably to 1/30 and often to 1/15 or 1/8 if I am lucky (no klonky mirror flopping around inside the camera like on an SLR).

Good luck shooting your first rolls. Let us know how it goes,

Ben Marks

Ben Marks

 

[Jamie123]

Benjamin: first of all, thank you again for taking the time to reply. although i was aware of the technical differences between RFs and SLRs i wouldn't call the information unnecessary at all.
with my "all my cameras have it(DOF preview)" remark i didn't want to give the impression that i'm surprised that the m6 doesn't have it but rather that Richard_l said most SLRs nowadays don't have it (which may very well be true...i really don't know).

I didn't know that RFs can be held at such slow shutterspeeds. it is really interesting to learn more about the advantages that RFs can have. since i will be doing mostly street photography with the m6 i'll probabably, like you, use the lenses almost wide open most of the time.

i'll see if i can get the camera next week and shoot a few rolls. i'm so excited i really feel like a child on christmas eve 🙂


Jamie

 

[richard_l]

.....i didn't want to give the impression that i'm surprised that the m6 doesn't have it but rather that Richard_l said most SLRs nowadays don't have it (which may very well be true...i really don't know).....

<soapbox>I was thinking of entry and mid-level consumer SLRs. They often leave off DOF preview in order to cut cost. The unfortunate thing is that AF lenses tend not to have a DOF scale, so it's possible to have an SLR system with no DOF indicators at all. It's not only SLRs which suffer; the magnificent Contax G1 and G2 rangefinders (which are generally considered high-end professional cameras) are in the same boat. It seems a shame to have high-performance cameras and lenses which apparently encourage a superficial snapshot approach to photography.</soapbox>

 

[ERV]

Jamie,
Glad you found the manual, it can be helpful if your not familar with Leicas or rangefinders in general. Which lens does the m6 have?

 

[Jamie123]

<soapbox>I was thinking of entry and mid-level consumer SLRs. They often leave off DOF preview in order to cut cost. The unfortunate thing is that AF lenses tend not to have a DOF scale, so it's possible to have an SLR system with no DOF indicators at all. It's not only SLRs which suffer; the magnificent Contax G1 and G2 rangefinders (which are generally considered high-end professional cameras) are in the same boat. It seems a shame to have high-performance cameras and lenses which apparently encourage a superficial snapshot approach to photography.</soapbox>

yes the comment about encouraging a superficial snapshot approach is very true. ever since i got an automatic camera i often catch myself just snapping away in aperture-priority or shutter-priority mode without really thinking about what i'm doing.

ERV: i actually have no idea. i'm guessing at least one 50 but i have no idea which one exactly. all i know is that they have at least two lenses (since they have two m6's) and maybe a few more somewhere in the basement 🙂