Likes and Dislikes About Your Leica LTM

[MarkoKovacevic]

Curious to see why everyone favors their LTM, and also the parts they don't favor.

LIKES:
Small size,
Quietness
Film loading(i know, a weird one to like, but..)
Classic styling

DISLIKES:
Lens(got a J-8 on it, don't like it that much wide open)
focusing (the RF is spot on, but I still have trouble focusing perfectly\i need to take a lot of time to focus correctly)
no meter(not that confident about estimating light, using auto slrs made me lazy and i forgot how to estimate)
how my lens blocks part of the VF window.

How about you, RFF?

 

[jmooney]

Likes:
Size
Noise
Simplicity
Old, yet able to be useful forever
It's a Leica

Dislikes:
No sold on the collapsible lens
The crusted over keyhole viewfinder experience - in danger of putting mine on the auction block for this.

 

[Robert Lai]

I like the tiny overall size, and I LOVE the 1.5x magnified rangefinder view. It's easy to focus for 135mm lenses with this camera.

I rather dislike the fiddly flash synch timing adjustments on the IIF/IIIF models. Why does Leica feel that it's got to put the flash sync so close to the finder? (problem for these cameras and all the Ms).

The tiny little viewfinder! The viewfinder is so close to the lens axis that anything with a greater than 36mm filter size starts to cut into the bottom of the VF image.

The IIF and IIIF also have a long lever for the RF dipoter adjustment that reaches to the edge of the camera, and gets caught up in the leather of a Zhou half case.

The RF window is also close to the lens. Occasionally, with a big fat shiny lens like the Jupiter 9, sunshine reflecting off the lens body will flare the RF. (And you guys thought it was only a later M camera problem!)

I'm much happier with the IIIG which takes the hassles of flash synch away, and has a much nicer viewfinder with parallax compensating lines. The RF diopter adjustment lever is now much shorter, and still usable when the camera is in a half-case.

I thought that bottom film loading might be an issue, but I don't mind it at all. The key is to cut the film properly beforehand.

Wierd, off to one corner tripod mounting (a common Leica problem since the beginning to now).

Other than these points, I love shooting the little Barnacks.

 

[johannielscom]

Likes:
Size & weight, pocketability
Noise
LTM lenses
'harmless' appearance (Oh look, a nutter with an old crappy camera)

Dislikes:
what's not to like?

 

[Nikon Bob]

Like most I like the size and smoothness but hate the film loading and split VF/RF windows. For a better LTM experience I prefer the Canon P.

Bob

 

[dbarnes]

My Bessa Rs were good values but the futzy screw-mount lens changing experience is very annoying. My 21/35/90 lens setup (all CV) has me thinking about buying a third body. Or, better, upgrading to a pair of M-mount R2 bodies.

 

[Robert Lai]

Marko,
No meter is one of the big advantages of these cameras. Any selenium meter that they might have put in would be dead by now, or due to die at any time. Have a look at a later era Rolleiflex, and you'll know what I mean. Now you have extra bulk and bits that serve no purpose on the camera. The Barnacks having no meter keep the streamlined shape that we love.

Parts for these old selenium camera meters are rare to non-existent. I prefer a nice Weston Meter (new selenium cell put in by George Milton of Quality Light Metric), or my Gossen Luna Pro F when it's very dark. I can always change my hand-held meter if it dies and it's not permanently a part of my camera body.

 

[jenhao]

I wish there were more lens choices, particularly faster lenses. Yes, you'd run into viewfinder issues with fat fast lenses but still, it would be nice.

Otherwise, I love it all.

Mark

 

[johannielscom]

I wish there were more lens choices, particularly faster lenses. Yes, you'd run into viewfinder issues with fat fast lenses but still, it would be nice.

Otherwise, I love it all.

Mark

Cosina Voigtlander has a 35/1.7 and a 50/1.5 for it. You can shoot a Jupiter-3 50/1.5 on it too. Canon 85/1.9 fits it too.

Load with Tmax400 rated as 1600 and 2-stop push in development and you can shoot 1/10th @ wide-open hand-held with these lenses and have good nighttime shots!

 

[Vince Lupo]

Dislikes: Tiny Rangefinder Window (for us glasses-wearers, it's especially annoying)
Film Loading Of Course -- but you can get used to anything after awhile
The Lenses' Screw Mount -- not exactly designed for quick lens changes

Likes: Everything Else!

 

[wolves3012]

Likes: size, balance, smoothness, quietness, ease of focus, aesthetics, quality, longevity, repairability.

Dislikes: Lens intrudes into VF, necessitates a separate finder on many lenses. Off-centre tripod mount (not used it often though). No meter but I didn't want or expect one on such an old camera.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Don't forget potentially poor flange/film location on pre-IIIC models with a fabricated shutter crate instead of die-cast.

They're lovely cameras but after I got my first M I preferred the combined range/viewfinder, the mutiple bright-lines, the lever film advance, and the wider choice of lenses. Oh: and the shutter speeds(all on one dial, easier to change). And the loading. But the size, pocketability and reliability of my IIIa is still impressive - until you compare it with my Retina IIa...

Cheers,

R.

 

[Mudman]

I solved the futzy viewfinder with the VIOOH (with the added benefit of working with my 90mm). I prefer my m's, but the iii was a present from a professor and is going nowhere.

 

[Steve M.]

LIKES
Size
Quietish shutters
The old Leicas have that wonderful look & feel

DISLIKES
Teeny, tiny viewfinders. W/ a hood you miss a lot of the view
No parallax correction. Had a few surprises w/ that one
Pretty disgusted w/ seeing great shots ruined by vertical marks from the malfunctioning shutters

 

[Erik van Straten]

The greatest of them all is the "ONE".

Erik.

 

[Erik van Straten]

Leica I, Tmax400, silver-gelatine print.

Erik.

 

[splitimageview]

For what I shoot, and how I shoot, there is nothing to dislike. 😉

To get 1.5x mag focusing accuracy on a M, one loses all the advantages of the M viewfinder by adding a magnifier; plus it's annoying the way it sticks off the back of the camera. And since with my eyes I find an M difficult to focus, this easily favors the Barnack.

For the situations where I zone focus with a 28mm, I like the smaller size of the body.

For others, a Bessa or M or Hexar RF may be a better choice.

 

[jenhao]

Cosina Voigtlander has a 35/1.7 and a 50/1.5 for it. You can shoot a Jupiter-3 50/1.5 on it too. Canon 85/1.9 fits it too.

Load with Tmax400 rated as 1600 and 2-stop push in development and you can shoot 1/10th @ wide-open hand-held with these lenses and have good nighttime shots!

Ah yes, Johan. The CV 50/1.5 is very interesting and still available in screw mount. I have a Zeiss 50/1.5 C-Sonnar in M-mount which I love. Too bad you can't convert to LTM!

I actually like shooting these lenses in good light just to get that great creamy background...

Mark

 

[bigeye]

All of the above, then heft it in your hand. Strapless. Pure.

Then you look at the the images from the Elmar, Summaron, Summarit or Summar. It delivers on the promise of all the rest of The Experience.

It's the whole package - brains and beauty. What's not to love?

- Charlie

 

[Melvin]

LIKE: Small, quiet, and take great pictures. Neat fetish object (especially the black one). Very basic and simple. Elmar Summar Heliar lenses.

DISLIKE: Repair bills to get them working right. Slow speed dial. No meter. Loading cassettes for older ones.