MP Quality Control Issues ??

[sc_rufctr]

The Mp looks like a great camera but is it a "user"?

For collecting then yes the MP is the way to go but if you want to actually use it for taking photos then a good M6 would be hard to pass up.

The M6 is cheaper and that is a good thing for a camera that will live in the real world.

 

[peter_n]

You haven't got the thing yet and you're worrying. The Leica warranty is a thing of wonder, believe me. You will be mollycoddled. No worries. Really.

 

[bherman]

No worries. Just some things that I stumbled upon when reading the reviews. I bought it nonetheless. Thanks

 

[adamli629]

Mervynyam;

Actually, the MP demo with a 3-year Leica Passport Warranty, with box and all papers cost $2900.00 shipped. Thanks, Brad

I think you purchased this camera via Samy's Camera. A few weeks ago, I talked to them and purchased this camera for $2,500 BIN (You can see their feedback, it is the same camera with the same SN). But after I purchased this camera, they told me the camera was broken before I purchase, so they can't sell it. So the issued me a refund. And after a few days, I saw they relist the camera, and increased the price to $2,900.

I don't recommend this seller, but I wish you good luck and will get a perfect camera. For the warranty, in the first, they write is one year, and after a few days I saw they change to 3 years. I think they may also not sure about the warranty. So when you get this camera, I suggest you first get register with Leica USA, then give them the feedback.

It is a good camera, but I don't think they have that much "demo" camera. I saw the sold about at least three "demo" Leica MPs.

Hope you get your camera in perfect condition. Good luck!

 

[Roger Hicks]

The Mp looks like a great camera but is it a "user"?

For collecting then yes the MP is the way to go but if you want to actually use it for taking photos then a good M6 would be hard to pass up.

The M6 is cheaper and that is a good thing for a camera that will live in the real world.

And, in the real world, the MP is even better - especially the reduced-flare finder. I've NEVER bought a new camera except to use, and with the exception of a black M3 I bought used some 30 years ago, the MP is as good as, or better than, any of the other Leicas I've owned.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Steve_F]

The camera is truly mechanical perfection. You won't be sorry.

Oh man, that is not what I want to hear. I've been thinking about an MP (again) and relegating my M6TTL (with upgraded finder MP) as a second body and have spent the last 4 weeks talking myself out of it.

Thanks for nothing! 😉

Steve.

 

[sepiareverb]

I have to say I've never managed to run into any VF flare problems with any M, even the M6 I used for a good while and I've even tried to provoke it to see what all the fuss was about.

 

[N.delaRua]

I think VF flare is over talked about. SLR's with spilt prism can be very difficult to focus in certain lighting and lens combos i.e. one half of half of the split prism is blacked out. If you want to use a manual focus, fully manual camera you will have to deal with issues unique to that system. Its not an Nikon F5.

I just don't sweat details like a little bit of dust in a VF or a small blemish. I don't think that has anything to do with Quality Control. If the camera is fully functional when it counts, then the QC is good enough for me.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Viewfinder flare doesn't happen often -- a few times in decades, as far as I'm concerned -- but when it does, you know about it. I once had to switch from M4-P to M2 to be able to focus.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Rafael]

I had a .85x M6 Classic a while back and the viewfinder flared regularly. The rangefinder patch would turn white and become utterly unusable. Believe me, this happened more than a few times a decade.😉

After I had Gerry at Kindermann upgrade the viewfinder, the problem more or less went away. But, the vf would still flare on very rare occasions. That said, the vf on my MP has also flared on very rare occasions. So the MP finder is not, as some suggest, entirely flare resistant. But it, along with the upgraded M6 vf, has proven far less flare-prone than the original 0.85x vf.

If the finder in your camera does not flare, you've got nothing to worry about. If it does, the flare can prove a real problem, at least it did for me.

 

[Paul Luscher]

I wouldn't fret the quality issue, re the MP. I have one, built like a bank safe. Dust in the viewfinder? Haven't seen it yet.

Only issue I've had with it in seven years is one of the metering LEDs going out at the end of last year--but then I had a complete shutter failure in an M6. Nothing's perfect--not even a Leica.

 

[J J Kapsberger]

The so-called VF 'flare' has a lot more to do with eye position than with light being scattered.

I have a 0.85 M6 TTL. When the VF 'flares', I simply have to change my eye position very slightly to mitigate it.

 

[Turtle]

I have had VF flare severely on 0.85 especially but also the 0.72 VF. This ONLY happens when I am shooting indoors, focusing on something in the very dim light of dingy buildings and with a bright light source (window) off to one side. It is often so bad shifting your eye position will not change things enough to make it OK. So it is rare, but when it is bad it can be so bad as to make focusing impossible if shooting dynamic human subjects under documentary (i.e. non-repeatable) conditions. This is why I bring my MPs when shooting in such conditions. I have very really lost shots.

MP = wonderful
M6 = Almost as wonderful but half the price
MP = IMHO better if you have the money
M6 = IMHO a more sensible buy if you need lots of bodies and the above does not apply.

 

[Mister E]

I think VF flare is over talked about. SLR's with spilt prism can be very difficult to focus in certain lighting and lens combos i.e. one half of half of the split prism is blacked out. If you want to use a manual focus, fully manual camera you will have to deal with issues unique to that system. Its not an Nikon F5.

I just don't sweat details like a little bit of dust in a VF or a small blemish. I don't think that has anything to do with Quality Control. If the camera is fully functional when it counts, then the QC is good enough for me.

Yeah I don't think it is exaggerated at all.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I have had VF flare severely on 0.85 especially but also the 0.72 VF. This ONLY happens when I am shooting indoors, focusing on something in the very dim light of dingy buildings and with a bright light source (window) off to one side. It is often so bad shifting your eye position will not change things enough to make it OK. So it is rare, but when it is bad it can be so bad as to make focusing impossible if shooting dynamic human subjects under documentary (i.e. non-repeatable) conditions. This is why I bring my MPs when shooting in such conditions. I have very really lost shots.
.

Worst example I can remember: shooting folk musicians out of doors at night (Broadstairs festival) with lights off to one side on scaffolding, i.e. virtually identical condtions to what you describe -- and shifting my eye position didn't make it better, just as you say. I agree 100% with your analysis.

But what do we know? All we're trying to do is make a living with the damn' things, you under rather more demanding conditions than I. How can we compete with coffee cups, cats and brick walls?

Cheers,

R.

 

[Erik van Straten]

Leica MP, Summicron 35mm f/2 (8 elements), Tmax-2, silvergelatineprint.

Erik.

 

[hteasley]

Worst example I can remember: shooting folk musicians out of doors at night (Broadstairs festival) with lights off to one side on scaffolding, i.e. virtually identical condtions to what you describe -- and shifting my eye position didn't make it better, just as you say. I agree 100% with your analysis.

Just got my M6 from a fellow RFFer[1] little more than a week ago (Hi Brad), it's a mint Titanium Classic, and I've already had a bad flare experience: indoors at a Chinese restaurant, with moderately dim lighting and a bank of bright windows along one wall[2]. It was a family banquet, and I was shooting the crowd, and the VF patch flared a lot. I think I'll get the VF upgrade for it.

Amazing, amazing camera, though. Much as I love my M3, the framelines of the M6, the crisper mechanism of the newer camera, and the in-camera meter have made me a very happy guy. Don't know how I could tolerate sending it off for the upgrade....

[1] Who is (duh) the OP. Hi again, Brad 🙂

[2] Many of which can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/harryteasley/sets/72157624933001953/

 

[ashrafazlan]

M6 patch flares a lot, make no mistake about that 😛

 

[sepiareverb]

I could certainly be an idiot.

 

[J J Kapsberger]

I could certainly be an idiot.

Yeah, what are you and I doing wrong?