M5 Show and Tell

jmooney

Guy with a camera
Local time
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Joined
Sep 11, 2007
Messages
343
Hi all,

I've been taking a gander at the M5 and they look like great camera. Obviously the meter appeals to me but so does the larger size as I've got big paws. How 'bout some pics of your M5's, tell us how you get on with them, and what lenses you like to stick them?

Take care,

Jim
 
Can't post a picture but can tell a story. Mine is an early one, balck chrome, purchased from a fellow member (thanks, Cindy!) this fall. A good user; it won't win any concours d'elegance.

I wouldn't say I have large hands by any means, but the camera feels great in use. The meter is very easy to get on with, though as is always the case with a spot meter be careful in high contrast situations to account for the differences in light levels. Film winding is smooth; shutter release (get a Softie) is very quiet. Viewfinder is great, though in subdued light it's a little hard to read the meter readout at the bottom of the VF. It might be my camera more than any particular design issue.

I've been using it with modern non-Leica lenses -- Voigtlander 35/1.7, Voigt. 90/3.5 and Pentax 43/1.9. This would be a good camera for the Voigtlander 50/1.5, I think.
 
Welcome to the club!

Welcome to the club!

I liked my first M5, Bigfoot, so much that I bought a second one, Bubba. Seen below sporting 35mm UC-Hexanon and Nikkor 8.5cm 2.0 lenses. I've also used the following with no complaints:

28mm/2.8 M-Hexanon
35mm/2.8 Canon
50mm/1.4 Nikkor
50mm/2.0 Leitz Dual Range Summicron
75mm/2.5 Voigtlander Color Heliar
90/2.8 Elmarit
135mm/3.5 Canon

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Enjoy!
 
My M5 came to me in need of a fair bit of work 'under the hood' it had been stored for years after getting pretty wet. Sherry worked wonders on it. I did the MP upgrade to the finder, was only $50 more than having the 75mm framelines added, so I went for it. Bonus is that now it has the same frames as my M7.

I usually shoot the Current 50 Summicron or 35/2 ASPH on it, but have used the 50 Hexanon, ZM 21, 25 & 28, the 40 Summicron, Rollei 80, Pentax 43, and 90 Elmarit with success. The ZM viewfinders are less than ideal on the M5 in my opinion, as the hotshoe seems too high? Maybe just me.

I love the shutter speed dial on the M5, and the VF readout. Don't meter vertically though.
 
My short M5 story. Ignored them diligently through the 80s, 90s and early 00s. Bought one after reading too much Gandy a couple of years ago. Decided that although it was a wicked cool and truly superb camera, it did not really work for me and decided to sell it. My older son wound up buying it from me, so it is still in the family. He doesn't have the classic-M genetic defect so he's totally thrilled. We sent it out to Sherry K. earlier this year and it hums like the superb machine it is. It came from Jimmy Koh, by the way - a wonderful purchase experience.

Here's a pic from when I was selling it:
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It even came with the box!

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M5s are great! Of course there is something to be said for the 'classic' size M-series body, but the M5 has advantages and the most complete feature set for a user. As I say, its still an M but just different.

Here's a photo of how to hang an M5 :angel:
 

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dreamsandart said:
Here's a photo of how to hang an M5 :angel:

Can I borrow your camera hanger??

I promise to return it on the 32nd...
 
Duh...it never occurred to me to hang it that way. I mean with the strap running all the way through both lugs so the camera can slide along it. That's neat!

/T
 
sepiareverb said:
Composure Carl. Those of us lucky enough to have an M5 have to gloat every now and again.;) You M8'ers can't have all the fun.

Lucky enough?
Not the words I would use :D
 
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