Likes and Dislikes About Your Leica LTM

[ZeissFan]

I think the Heliar was a Voigtlander lens design. Unless you mean that you have the new Cosina Voigtlander Heliar.

 

[lacavol]

Like: viewfinder and rangefinder seperate.
Dislike: no meter, extinction would be nice.
Like: everything not mentioned under dislike.
Dislike: can only use 5cm. as I dislike external accessories.

I've had no problem with film loading and have never cut a leader. I've got the wiggle down.

 

[LeicaTom]

My Likes:

Lightweight, Compact, (alot less bulky than a M body Leica) ~
Fast Focusing (even faster with the OKARO Enhancement Filter & Barreled Zeiss lenses - like the "wartime" Sonnar f1.5/50) ~
Butter smooth film advance and film transport ~
(with the IIIC "K" models and almost as fast shooting as with a Leicavit speed winder when using the "index finger" method) ~
Quiet shutter releases ~
and I only use 50mm "fast" lenses on them so I don't use external finders -
(my "wartime" VIOOH's are just eye candy, I don't use long lenses on the IIICK, all my wides and longs go on my M8)

My Dislikes: (well not really...)

Slow loading and rewinding (you get used to the loading after you used the cuticle scissors cutting film and learn the old film stretch trick - rewinding well there's NOTHING you can do to make this faster other than a custom made crank etc.) ~
...........another problem is finding those rare "long nose" LNYC camera cases so you can use/mount the rigid Sonnar's, Nikkor's and Canon's of the 1940's and 50's
(I'm lucky I have 3 cases already which hold two of my "user" IIIC K's!) ~
No meter, I miss the convenience the meter gave me in the Leica M6, but I'm getting a vintage Sekonic or Norwood meter to deal with all that soon, I'm tired of always metering with a M camera and then picking up and shooting the LTM body 😉

Tom

 

[Melvin]

I think the Heliar was a Voigtlander lens design. Unless you mean that you have the new Cosina Voigtlander Heliar.

Yes that's what I mean. specifically 15mm Heliar. Not to seem like a shill for cosina, but having affordable, state of the art, ashpherical, wide angle lenses is a MAJOR LIKE for LTMs. Having a 21st Century 15mm aspherical Ultra Wide lens on a Leica II made in 1932 is very cool. What a perfect marriage: the heavy, lacquered brass and hand filled engravings combined with a computer engineered formula and lightweight alloy.

 

[coelacanth]

Likes: small size, light weight, thin profile with Elmar 50/3.5, 1.5x magnified RF, Knob winding (no lever to poke my right eye out), the looks, chicks & old guys magnet, still serviceable, pretty much everything other than the things listed below.

Dislikes: Small VF w/o parallax correction (other than IIIg), louder shutter compared to M, no strap eyelets on older ones (unless retrofitted), 1m close focus, need to cut film (or other tricks), shutter speed dial moves during exposure.

All in all, my IIIf still beats most of the cameras I have and had in many aspects for my use.

None of the dislikes are critical enough for me to quit shooting Barnacks. If I could change ONE thing on Barnack, I'd like the shutter sound as quiet as DS M3. I still regret selling the SS converted DS M3 I had when it coes to shutter sound.

 

[bigeye]

Yes that's what I mean. specifically 15mm Heliar. Not to seem like a shill for cosina, but having affordable, state of the art, ashpherical, wide angle lenses is a MAJOR LIKE for LTMs. Having a 21st Century 15mm aspherical Ultra Wide lens on a Leica II made in 1932 is very cool. What a perfect marriage: the heavy, lacquered brass and hand filled engravings combined with a computer engineered formula and lightweight alloy.

I agree. I'm not really keen on putting non-Leitz lenses on Leicas, as it's mostly the glass not the body that makes the camera, but making a jet engine work so well on a biplane has a strong appeal. I'm contemplating one as a mini SWC.

- Charlie

 

[LeicaFoReVer]

dislikes:noise, film loading
likes:small size (they are so cute!), small size and small size 🙂)

 

[easyrider]

I like the fact that I am holding a piece of photographic history in my hand. Finely designed and machined. Takes photos too 🙂)

 

[Luddite Frank]

Likes: Compact, reliable, historic, wide variety of lenses available, no "shutter-lag" , as with digital !

Dislikes: location of tripod socket ( prefer center-mount); squinty VF /RF, fiddly loading ( but I've gotten better with that...)

Not many other up to 80-90 year-old cameras that still take serious pictures...

 

[Bingley]

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

Dislikes:
what's not to like?

+ 1 🙂

I've learned to live w/ the fiddly film loading, and I sidestep the small vf by using a nice CV finder.

 

[radiocemetery]

Hey Tom, What is the "old film stretch trick"?
I like the size, feel, lenses.
I dislike the viewfinder, solved with the SBOOI, which also helps on my Retina IIa. (My eyes need all the help they can get.)

Steve

 

[jsrockit]

Pros: Size, Aesthetics, Bare Bones / Basic Functionality, History, etc.
Cons: Loading film, lack of light meter, no LCD to chimp on, etc. 😉

 

[Paul Luscher]

Likes: Pretty much everything that's been said above. I actually like the rangefinder on these cameras very much. I find them to be very accurate in low light and in some ways easier to sue than an M under low light conditions.

Dislike: film loading. Well, not actually not the loading, but the prepping, i.e. cutting the long film leaders. Kinda labor intensive, and sometime, being lazy, I'll simply grab a camera that doesn't require me to do all that cutting.