M5- is it worthwhile?

Reason enough to own one

Reason enough to own one

eric rose said:
Actually I like the look of the M5 over the M3. Very clean. I also make full use of the spot metering, something the other M's don't have. Mine is two lug and I like the way it hangs under my arm. It was the last of the true hand fit M's built.
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Built the old way with a spot meter. What's not to love?
 
Tastes is something I don't want to argue about. If everybody was like me, 99% of the women out there would never have sex. I'm happy to know there is always someone to pick up the leftover women and save their lives (generally speaking).

I always loved and appreciated the Leicaflex SL, and it's obvious the M5 shares components with the SL. They are about the same size too. I'm not sure it's a good idea to share SLR and Rangefinder components as it invariably handicaps the rangefinder (think size).

I'm not so sure about spot metering being better. As a matter of of fact, spot metering is not a good solution for street and candid shooting on the fly. It usually leads to gross under and overexposures. Spot is great for careful metering and zone system. For Candids, nothing beats average.
 
What about the meter:
  • does it work with led's, or is it an old style needle meter?
  • does it have AE? (is it coupled to shutter or not coupled at all?)
  • does it have AP? (don't think so because this was first introduced I believe in the M7)
  • does it 'eat' batteries?
 
NB23 said:
For Candids, nothing beats average.
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While rock breaks scissors and scissors cut paper, paper covers rock.

While many people look to their meters as something to be obeyed, I rather look to them as guides. My S3 does not have a meter and I do very well with candids. There is no meter that is perfect for every situation. I would rather have a built in spot meter and a hand held incident meter than a built in average meter.

The M5 has a beautiful meter needle display which is one of the best I've ever seen. But again, that is my opinion.

B2 (;->
 
This is 1960s-tech...no LEDs, it uses a galvanometer with swinging needle...AE is not the same thing as being coupled to the shutter; it is coupled, but purely manual match-needle...AP, are you kidding? - the M5 was designed in the 60s and introduced 1970/71. If you had a mercury cell source (no more!), you'd find you'd probably get YEARS of use from each battery - very thirfty compared to modern camers.

Ron (Netherlands) said:
What about the meter:
  • does it work with led's, or is it an old style needle meter?
  • does it have AE? (is it coupled to shutter or not coupled at all?)
  • does it have AP? (don't think so because this was first introduced I believe in the M7)
  • does it 'eat' batteries?
Click to expand...
 
Ron (Netherlands) said:
What about the meter:
  • does it work with led's, or is it an old style needle meter?
  • does it have AE? (is it coupled to shutter or not coupled at all?)
  • does it have AP? (don't think so because this was first introduced I believe in the M7)
  • does it 'eat' batteries?
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- Needle meter
- No AE
- No AP
- It does not eat batteries

JNewell beat me to it
 
I'm not an expert but:
The M5 was made in the Wetzlar factory using the same manufacturing techniques as the M4, M3, M2, e.g. vulcanite covering, brass sprockets and gears, analog speeds. It was the last camera Leica made that way, and the quality of the manufacturing is very high. If you admire the build of vintage leicas but want a light meter, the M5 is a good choice.

The light meter is really excellent. It's a spot meter. you can easily gauge the dynamic range of the scene by moving the spot over the different areas of light and dark. So if you're photographing a sunset, and want the sky perfectly exposed, you put the spot on the sky. Likewise, if you want to know if shadow detail will show up you put the spot on the shadow. I use a rule of thumb that I made up:"2,3,4", the number of stops over or under the middle point that will show up with chrome, color neg and B&W respectively, assuming a dynamic range of 4 stops for chrome, 6 for color neg, and eight for B&W.

The M5 is very "user friendly", very intuitive to use. The meter uses the same principle as the traditional rangefinder: you turn the focus ring on the lens left and the moving image moves left. Likewise with the speed dial and aperture ring on the M5.
 
As noted above, if you're careful not to leave the shutter cocked, that turns on the meter, the battery lasts quite awhile. The zinc-air Wein cells are a good replacement for the mercury battery. Same voltage. No adjustment required.

I generally set the aperture and spin the shutter speed wheel to align the meter needle. In effect, aperture priority. Very quick to do in the real world. On occasion I will do the reverse: set the speed and twist the aperture ring. Equally quick.
 
Did you get your last M5 promoters check Wayne? Mine still hasn't come. 😀

Great readout in the VF for the meter- not so burning bright as the MP can be. The VF is upgradable to the current MP finder, I had Sherry do this when I wanted to get 75 framelines in there- it was only a little more than doing just the framelines.

I shoot M5, MP/MP3 and M7's currently. Never have trouble going from body to body. I do occasionally move the M5 shutter speed dial the wrong way, but it tells you the shutter speed in the VF, so I see that I've done it right off. I very much like that readout, it is the only M I don't remove from my eye to change the shutter speed. Ergonomically it is arguably the best designed M due to that VF ifo and the shutter speed dial.

I also had Sherry change the electronics for modern battery use. My M5 came to me in pretty rough shape inside- the battery compartment needed replacing anyway. Even with the alkaline batteries I get way more rolls per battery than with either the MP or M7.

I modified one of TomA's Rapidgrips for the M5 very easily, as my arthritic hand requires a grip on everything.
 
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I'm not sure it's a good idea to share SLR and Rangefinder components as it invariably handicaps the rangefinder (think size).
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Oh please. The M5 is only slightly larger than the M6.

And since you're carrying a Noctilux anyway I wouldn't think a little size would bother you. 😉
 
kevin m said:
Oh please. The M5 is only slightly larger than the M6.

And since you're carrying a Noctilux anyway I wouldn't think a little size would bother you. 😉
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Noctilux+M4-P = Summilux+M5 😀
 
NB23 said:
Tastes is something I don't want to argue about. If everybody was like me, 99% of the women out there would never have sex. I'm happy to know there is always someone to pick up the leftover women and save their lives (generally speaking).
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Could I get you to explain this? Two things about it went right over my head!

1) Not sure what you are saying about the relationship between you and women

2) Don't know what this has to do with the M5!
 
Rob-F said:
Could I get you to explain this? Two things about it went right over my head!

1) Not sure what you are saying about the relationship between you and women

2) Don't know what this has to do with the M5!
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Sorry but no, I will not explain. I can't make it any simpler, unfortunately.
 
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I own a Leica M5 black chrome with three hooks, from 1974. Is a true Leica M, with a superb build quality and with a very reliable and precise TTL meter. In combination with my goggled Summaron 35/2.8 is a very fantastic tool.
Ciao.
Vincenzo
 
I (too) am a M5 fan, and love the unique shape, and the meter. I use an M2, M3, an M5 and M6, and if I had to sell all but two, the M5 would still stay !

"...One wife, but many different camera bodies!..."
Thank God. The reverse is almost unimaginably frightening (in both ways) !!
 
sirius said:
I once owned a lovely Canon P. It was very fun to shoot with and if it took m-mount, I would probably still have it. I think the M5 is much similar in feel to that camera. It's different, but still nice to use undoubtedly.
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In my opinion Canon 7 is better than P , above all in rangefinder more wide and clear

Canon 7 is also really close to the m5 form ...

Mauro
 
NB23 said:
For Candids, nothing beats average.
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goes to show you how different peoples viewpoints can be.

Nearly %100 of my work is candids. I bought an M6 because I thought the meter would be helpful in this respect. For my desired use, the meter is more or less, %100 worthless, god forbid you are in a backlit situation with that meter. I havent used every camera made, but Ive used enough, and its the worst meter Ive tried to use professionally. Now the camera sits around and works when Im explicitly NOT shooting people.

If you know how to use a spot meter, you know how to use a spot meter. Suggesting that a narrow meter leads to under or over exposed shots has well more to do with operator error than the inherent design of a meter... Granted, not everyone wants to be bothered with using a spot meter... The meter on my CL, which I believe is the same meter on the M5, is hands down the best meter I have ever had the pleasure to use built into a camera body. You just have to understand what it is...

You have to use a meter to determine what your stop is going to be, you dont set your stop based upon what the meter tells you to set it at... With a narrow spot at least you can gather information critically to come to whatever conclusion you come to.

All my rambling aside, I would think the number one attraction to the M5 would be the metering...
 
How reliable in practice is this metering sytem from a hardware point of view- and is it repairable or adjustable if required ?
 
Quite adjustable I believe, again Sherry is the one to ask there. As to parts, they are becoming less available as the years go by, but probably no different than other cameras of that age.

The thing that will damage the metering arm or stalk is collapsing a collapsable lens all the way into the body with the shutter cocked, or cocking the shutter with a collapsed lens in place. The 'regular' fix for collapsable lenses is to wrap some dymo tape around the barrel to prevent operator error.

Took me a while to figure out what Dymo tape was- when I was a kid those colored plastic labels with raised white letters that got put on stuff- Dymo.
 
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