dcsang
Canadian & Not A Dentist
Hello gentle RFF members and guests.
In the immortal words of Bobby Bittman, "HOW ARE YA !!!!!!" 😀
You'll probably remember my recent unscientific non-Irwin Puts-ian report on playing around with the M3 entitled "My M3 Experience" and in that report you'll note that I was waiting on my M6 from "deep in the heart of Texas" (insert the three claps here).
Well, it arrived about a week ago now and I took it out for its first spin last weekend.
Again, I'll present my report in a completely unscientific way. Think of it as "The Leica M6 For Dummies Who Have Wads Of Cash To Spend On Photographic Toys (But Not Much Photographic Sense)" OR "How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love My Second Mortgage" 😀
I'm not going to go into the aesthetics of this piece of equipment. As most Leica owners or admirers will tell you, there's just some sort of weird "charisma" that these cameras have (at least to me they do); perhaps because I don't recall seeing any other cameras like them since I've been doing photography (some 25+ years now...... man.. I'm getting old).
I will tell you what I liked about it compared to the M3 though.
Here's what I liked about the M3 more than the M6
I can't get over the M6's metering system. I was lucky and the M6 I got came along with the original instruction manual. The manual does describe Leica's metering system and how it meters a scene based on lens choices etc. I can now sort of understand why Voigtlander's metering system is the "down and to the left" type of metering (I can't remember who's post it was but this info is up on Stephen Gandy's website). In my outing on Saturday I did do a lot of hand metering but I also let the M6 tell me what it thought the exposure should be and it never failed me.
I've uploaded photos from the M6 - all taken with Tri-X developed in Xtol and scanned via the Minolta Scan Elite II, downsized and then run through a nice "converter" to get that duotone look. The very last shot of a Kiln from the Toronto Brickworks building was metered entirely by the M6, as you can see, the focus point was deep in the kiln and it was pretty dark over all. The aperture was f2 and the shutter was 1/8. There's more detail on the neg than is shown in this craptacular scan 😀
Needless to say, I'm now fully engulfed in "Dark Side Mysticism" - there's no turning back now... tell my parents and my brother that I'll miss them; wish my friends well for me.. and tell work that I now report to a new boss...
Guten Tag Herr Leitz !! 😀
Cheers
Dave
In the immortal words of Bobby Bittman, "HOW ARE YA !!!!!!" 😀
You'll probably remember my recent unscientific non-Irwin Puts-ian report on playing around with the M3 entitled "My M3 Experience" and in that report you'll note that I was waiting on my M6 from "deep in the heart of Texas" (insert the three claps here).
Well, it arrived about a week ago now and I took it out for its first spin last weekend.
Again, I'll present my report in a completely unscientific way. Think of it as "The Leica M6 For Dummies Who Have Wads Of Cash To Spend On Photographic Toys (But Not Much Photographic Sense)" OR "How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love My Second Mortgage" 😀
I'm not going to go into the aesthetics of this piece of equipment. As most Leica owners or admirers will tell you, there's just some sort of weird "charisma" that these cameras have (at least to me they do); perhaps because I don't recall seeing any other cameras like them since I've been doing photography (some 25+ years now...... man.. I'm getting old).
I will tell you what I liked about it compared to the M3 though.
- it's a wee bit lighter imho than the M3. Still feels awfully sturdy though.
- easier/faster to load than the M3. No removeable take up spool to worry about or lose
- black, totally (this one is) so it's a bit more "stealthy" per se than the M3. Mind you.. for anyone that knows cameras, how "stealthy" can you be with that red dot on the black body.. sheesh..
- quieter shutter than the M3. Not by much mind you but it is a bit quieter.
- excellent internal metering - I thought the Bessa R3A was pretty much bang on but whoa.. the M6 is ahead in this department imho.
- more framelines to choose from and therefore less "cumbersome" when it comes to using external viewfinders.
Here's what I liked about the M3 more than the M6
- it's a wee bit heavier than the M6. SUPER sturdy and built like a tank.
- classic chrome/brushed metal look - suits the old skool collapsible cron and other older lenses perfectly
- no meter at all - perfect to take out in the worst conditions and not have to worry about ANY battery compartment getting fried or such
- nice, big, bright viewfinder - mmmm.... almost as nice and big and bright as the R3A
- not as much RF flare as the M6 (not that there was a lot but still.. )
I can't get over the M6's metering system. I was lucky and the M6 I got came along with the original instruction manual. The manual does describe Leica's metering system and how it meters a scene based on lens choices etc. I can now sort of understand why Voigtlander's metering system is the "down and to the left" type of metering (I can't remember who's post it was but this info is up on Stephen Gandy's website). In my outing on Saturday I did do a lot of hand metering but I also let the M6 tell me what it thought the exposure should be and it never failed me.
I've uploaded photos from the M6 - all taken with Tri-X developed in Xtol and scanned via the Minolta Scan Elite II, downsized and then run through a nice "converter" to get that duotone look. The very last shot of a Kiln from the Toronto Brickworks building was metered entirely by the M6, as you can see, the focus point was deep in the kiln and it was pretty dark over all. The aperture was f2 and the shutter was 1/8. There's more detail on the neg than is shown in this craptacular scan 😀
Needless to say, I'm now fully engulfed in "Dark Side Mysticism" - there's no turning back now... tell my parents and my brother that I'll miss them; wish my friends well for me.. and tell work that I now report to a new boss...
Guten Tag Herr Leitz !! 😀
Cheers
Dave
