Looking at an M4-P vs M6 - What do you think?

[Out to Lunch]

Try to use a Zeiss Ikon for a while and then compare with Leica. The Zeiss is lighter, the film loading is easier, you can actually see what film you loaded, the viewfinder is enormous and it's cheaper. I have both and love both but I do believe that Zeiss made a serious effort in producing an 'improved Leica'. If its for you or not...only the use of both cameras will tell.

 

[BillBingham2]

I loved my M4-P and my M6. I got the M6 for the built in meter and liked it, but then started using incident rather than reflective.

If I was going to buy one or the other today I would be an M4-P, less things to have fixed over the years.

B2 (;->

 

[David Murphy]

They are both good cameras, but in my experience the M6 is somewhat better. Personally the M2 is my favorite for use - not for everyone though.

 

[ferider]

I have both. But I think the M6 meter is overrated (nice to meter looking down on the camera, with a VC meter, for instance).

The biggest difference is in the viewfinder. Both are similar wrt brightness, but in the M4P, 35mm and 50mm framelines are larger, same size as in M2 and M4. In the M6, the 50mm frameline is so small, it's almost useless, and the M6 35mm framelines match 40mm more accurately.

If you like 28 or 75mm, the M4P is the best film Leica ever made for you, due to frame-line accuracy.

Also note that most M4Ps (recessed window) have brass tops and bottoms, so "zinc bubbles" will never be an issue.

Roland.

 

[x-ray]

Try to use a Zeiss Ikon for a while and then compare with Leica. The Zeiss is lighter, the film loading is easier, you can actually see what film you loaded, the viewfinder is enormous and it's cheaper. I have both and love both but I do believe that Zeiss made a serious effort in producing an 'improved Leica'. If its for you or not...only the use of both cameras will tell.

I completely agree. I owned a new one for several years and loved it. There's no better RF/VF anywhere. Unfortunately I sold it when I thought I would go digital and now I've returned to film.

I've owned most of the M's over the years. I had a new M4-2, M4-P and M6. There's no functional difference other than the meter and a little difference in framelines which is a non issue. I returned to film M's and have three at the moment. One is an M2 I've owned for decades. The other is a A La Carte MP my wife had built for my birthday a few years ago. The other is a recent acquisition and is an M4-P.

I do own the VC meter but I'm not in love with it. I've used MR meters for fifty years and like the way they couple with the shutter speed dial. The VC does not and its annoying to me. I purchased a couple of nice working MR meters and sent them to George Milton at Quality Light Metric for a rebuild and conversion to a modern battery. They work great and integrate perfectly with my M2 and M4-P. Now I never use the VC and probably will sell it. One of the annoyances of my VC meter is you can only set whole ISO settings not In between. For example only 100-200-400 etc. I rate some films at 125 or 250 for example. You might not think 1/3 stop is much but 2/3's is.

The M6 is essentially an MP. The M6 is excellent in every way as are the others mentioned.

If you wear glasses go for the Zeiss, If not its a tossup. You can't go wrong with either.

 

[andrew00]

Thanks for all the comments on here, it was super interesting to read everyone's opinions.

I went to the store and ended up coming away with a Chrome M4, which ironically is the 'hardest' choice of all the cameras, but having tried them all I thought I'd go with something that made me get involved in the process. Plus, it looks pretty sweet heh.

 

[BLKRCAT]

Congrats, enjoy the camera. Either choice you make you will end up with a wonderful camera.

 

[Godfrey]

Thanks for all the comments on here, it was super interesting to read everyone's opinions.

I went to the store and ended up coming away with a Chrome M4, which ironically is the 'hardest' choice of all the cameras, but having tried them all I thought I'd go with something that made me get involved in the process. Plus, it looks pretty sweet heh.

Good stuff. Enjoy it!

G