M7 - Age

[PhotoJ]

hi all,

looks like a great forum you have here. i am considering buying a new M7 and was concerned about the issue of finder flair. at what point in production was this fixed? i also wanted get an approximate age of the camera before buying it. the SN number starts with 278XXXX.

please let me know.

regards,

photoj

 

[JeffGreene]

Welcome to the forum. While far from a Leica expert, and there are many on the forum, my understanding is that the M7 finder does not suffer from the flare issue of the M6.

 

[ghost]

see here:

http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=434258#post434258

 

[PhotoJ]

hello,

thank you for your replies. very helpful. the other reason i wanted the approximate age of the camera was that the seller is trying to tell me it is brand new from the factory. but 2784XXX seems a little low to me. anyone have an idea about the age of the camera??

regards,

photoj

 

[peter_n]

Welcome to the forum photoj! 🙂 Modern Leica serial nrs. do not run consecutively. They run a batch in production that may have a higher or lower serial nr. range than the previous batch. It used to be that their serial nrs. were consecutive but modern manufacture is a lot more hazy. You can't trust the serial nrs. any more.

The other factor is extended shelf-life. I bought a brand new M7 last year from a US dealer and it had serial nr. 2786xxx. Four months previously to this purchase, I bought a one year-old used M7 from Australia, serial nr. 2942xxx. The M7 with the much lower serial nr. was brand spanking new, no question. Leica bodies can sit on dealer's shelves an awfully long time these days...

BTW, my serial nr. 2786xxx has the flare free finder, the last 500 in the batch 2786000 to 2786999 had the MP finder fitted. I understand they were the first M7s to have the improved finder. It is likely that the camera you are being offered has the earlier finder.

 

[PhotoJ]

hello perter_n,

thanks for the warm welcome and the info. this is very helpful. i was beginning to suspect that they were trying to unload old product. i’ll just tell them to order a new one and explain about the finder. with respect to the serial numbers one would expect the germans to be more organized than that 🙂

regards,


photoj

 

[peter_n]

Indeed you would! 😉 I should add for clarity that the issue around cameras with serial nrs. 2786xxx was discussed over on photo.net and the information about the second 500 in that batch came from Leica NJ through a PN member. However several members with this serial nr. range claimed to have the MP finder and my own experience is that the finder in my "US" M7 is identical to my "Australian" M7.

Asking the dealer to obtain a new body should be fine unless the camera you are interested in has a 0.58 or 0.85 magnification. Since June of 2005 Leica has only manufactured 0.72 mag cameras and now you can only get the other magnifications through the a-la-carte program.

 

[furcafe]

FWIW, my M7 (0.72), purchased in the U.S. via eBay, has a serial # 2884xxx & did *not* have the MP finder.

Welcome to the forum photoj! 🙂 Modern Leica serial nrs. do not run consecutively. They run a batch in production that may have a higher or lower serial nr. range than the previous batch. It used to be that their serial nrs. were consecutive but modern manufacture is a lot more hazy. You can't trust the serial nrs. any more.

The other factor is extended shelf-life. I bought a brand new M7 last year from a US dealer and it had serial nr. 2786xxx. Four months previously to this purchase, I bought a one year-old used M7 from Australia, serial nr. 2942xxx. The M7 with the much lower serial nr. was brand spanking new, no question. Leica bodies can sit on dealer's shelves an awfully long time these days...

BTW, my serial nr. 2786xxx has the flare free finder, the last 500 in the batch 2786000 to 2786999 had the MP finder fitted. I understand they were the first M7s to have the improved finder. It is likely that the camera you are being offered has the earlier finder.

 

[PhotoJ]

hi,

argh! this is not an easy issue to deal with is it :bang:
regards,

photoj

 

[swoop]

hi,

argh! this is not an easy issue to deal with is it :bang:
regards,

photoj

You're making a big deal over nothing. The flare issue isn't hideous. It isn't a hindrence. It's just an occasional thing that happens. Like lens flare. And with a rangefinder you have no idea when lens flare is happening.

 

[SDK]

Well, my M7 0.72X SN 2888679 and M7 0.58X a-la-carte SN 3009306 both seem to have the flare resistant MP finder. I guess if Leica doesn't use sequential Serial Numbers that doesn't help much.

Flare in older M7s shouldn't be any worse than the M4-2, M4-P or M6, which rarely have a problem. The M7 is a sweet camera, with quieter and more accurate shutter than any other M model. Auto is sometimes quite useful too.