My M6 is a Leitz.. good or bad?

[snaggs]

Was just reading some Photo.net stuff on the Zeiss lenses. (If my ccard was empty, Id just order one of each and be done with it!). I digress.. In the thread it was stated that "E. Leitz GMBH went under in 1986" which I knew, but not the exact date.. Well my M6 is a Leitz GMBH one..

Is this good? Bad? Makes no difference whatsoever. Just curious as I have read some people about the place saying that the Wetzlar made Leica's were the best...

Daniel.

 

[tajart]

my leitz roundel badged leica m6 says on the top plate engraving "ernst leitz wetzlar gmbh"
what i've heard about this vintage is that it was the first version of the classic m6.
i had mine up for sale a while ago but then my wife said i couldn't sell it. she's funny that way.

 

[FrankS]

I'm so sorry to have to tell you this Daniel, but your Leitz M6 is sub-standard compared to the Wetzler ones. Didn't you know about the difference when you bought it? I feel so bad for you that I'm willing to take it off your hands and even give you a few hundred for it just so you're not completely screwed. It's just the kind of guy I am. 😉

Seriously though, I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

It makes no difference, unless you're a collector. Like Frank said, I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[FrankS]

Daniel, please don't become one of those Leica gear hand-wringers!

 

[peter_n]

You use the cam right Daniel? I wouldn't worry about it - they're all good cameras. 🙂

 

[snaggs]

haha, I dont care, I like it.. Im just curious since it seems that some people can tell you about the difference between two screws based on a serial number!

Btw, so it isnt wetzlar even though is says it is ? "ERNST LEITZ WETZLAR GMBH" ?

Daniel.

 

[RubenBlaedel]

My M6 says Leitz on the red badge and it performs and have always performed like it should.
It is more import what lens you put in front of it and even more imortant what you put in front of the lens 🙂
-- ruben

 

[Doug]

Hi Daniel... If it says Wetzlar on it, then it was made in the old Ernst Leitz plant in Wetzlar. Very traditionally acceptable, and some even think all "real" Leicas were made there and only there. Mine was too, so I guess that's fine with me, not sure how much it matters except for historical interest. 🙂

 

[saxshooter]

About 10 years ago I had my Wetzlar M6 with "Leitz" badge serviced by Leica in N.J. I had black gaffer's tape over the Leitz badge (and other white lettered engraving) when I sent the camera in.

Only when I removed the black gaffer's tape months later after the service I discovered that the "Leitz" badge had been replaced with a "Leica" badge!

Go figure.

 

[RubenBlaedel]

Claim your Leitz badge back Saxshooter and sew them if the do not come up with it 🙂

 

[chug]

If you want to know the difference of the M6's, here is the link at Cameraquest 🙂

http://www.cameraquest.com/m6dif.htm

Cheers

 

[Ben Z]

I have 2 M6s, one is a Wetzlar and the other one of the last of the classics. There are some insignificant differences and a few significant ones. The frame counter on the Wetzlar is the all-metal design carried over from the M3 vs the cheapened one with plastic parts. OTOH the strap lugs in the newer model have 2 attachment screws and are not prone to being torqued loose. The meter in the Wetzlar has 1 stop less sensitivity at the low end and the diodes do not blink if the lenscap is left on. My Wetzlar had the newer meter circuit installed before I got it. The Wetzlar has the felt light traps in front of the curtains, which are more prone to develop light leaks than the folded mylar strip in the later one. So other than the film counter (which if it becomes a problem iis easily fixed with a reverse-threaded stop screw), most of the changes, despite the allegations of "cheapening" and "cost-cutting" seem to me to fall under the heading of minor improvements, which is what you'd expect from a top-quality manufacturer during a long product run.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Let the Leica-obsessed obsess about these excesses. Whether Leica, Leitz, Wetzlar or Solms, it's still a Leica.

BTW, I have a 'cron 90 that has a base with DOF markings for f22, yet it the aperture ring only goes to f16. According to Don Goldberg, there's a run of 'crons for which Leica didn't have enough parts, so they must have used barrels with slightly different markings for their products. The lens, however, performs admirably well, as can be expected from a 1960 Canadian vintage product.

The oddities never end... 🙄

 

[saxshooter]

Ruben: Ha, I wish. Apparently removing the roundel destroys it and it has to be replaced with a new one. Guess Leica New Jersey didn't have any Leitz ones...

Many metal parts in M6's during its production run had been replaced by plastic ones. I remember after one passport servicing of my 178xxxx non-Wetzlar M6 my black cup around the shutter release was scratched and showed silver beneath... it was replaced with a black plastic one. Didn't ask them to do it, they just did.

 

[Ben Z]

If I were you I would put that plastic shutter release cup up for bid at the next Christie's or Westlicht Leica collectors auction, as it would have to be the only one in existence.