My new Leica M6 is here

J

javimm

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Hi. Some days ago I opened my first thread here, looking for advice to buy a M4 that was on Ebay. After letting the auction go, I went to the classifieds here and found that a Leica M6 was being sold by Tom (tom_f77). I bought it and it's here!!.
I'd like to say thanks to Tom for this transaction. Everything went smoothly, and the camera is in great shape and he even included some extras 😉 . Highly recommended seller if you buy from him. Very happy of how everything went.

Anyway, back to the camera. Here are a couple of pictures:

1.jpg


2.jpg



This is my first RF ever, and my first all manual camera, as I went straight from using a Nikon SLR and some compact film cameras (Olympus) to a Canon DSLR (which I enjoy a lot, by the way). I need a lens, and probably end up buying a CV 50 Nokton, as Leica glass is beyond my reach now. I'm planning to do all myself, development and enlarge in a wet darkroom (no scanner here neither). I'll be posting questions as soon as I save the money to buy the rest of the equipment, but for now, I'm enjoying how good this camera feels in my hands.

Lots of new things to learn now... developing first. I'm planning on using Trix-X or HP5 in HC-110. But have to get a lens and the developing tools first😀

I'm excited.

Javier.
 
I picked up an M6 about three months ago. You will love it!
Kurt M.
PS I had to check my shelf, yours looks just like mine.
 
Javier,

Congratulations on a wonderful choice. I got an M6 when they first came and was have never regretted it.

I would recommend two things. First, put on some small ovals of thin black leather between the straps and the lugs. This protects the camera body from the O-rings which can from time to time scratch the body. I know there is a bumper there, but one never knows.

Second, skip the 50 and go with a CV 40/1.4. Have it modified to bring up the 35mm frame lines (easy to do, about $25 USD most places or you can do it your self). You will find the 35mm frame lines of the M6 to be a great match for the lens. The quality of the lens is wonderful. It’s a bit wider than a 50mm, almost a 35mm, fast and small. It’s almost as fast the as 35/1.2 and MUCH smaller.

B2 (;->
 
Thanks all.

To Bill. I overlooked the 40 as the M6 doesn't haver framelines for it. But it seems to be a quite natural choice. In between 50 and 35 and it really is small, as I'm seeing in cameraquest. I haven't to buy an adapter for M mount, and that's a plus. 1.4 is a plus too. How does this 40 perform, optically?. Any problems with it?.
Could you please elaborate on how to modify it to bring the 35 mm frames?. I live in Spain and I won't be able to send it to anybody to modify it.

Javier.
 
Many feel that the out of focus areas with the CV 40mm are harsh/busy when used wide open. You can find relatively inexpensive 40mm Leica or Minolta glass for the CL or CLE (respectively). I hope I'm not throwing water on the fire! I don't have any of these lenses.
 
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The Voightlander 35mm f1.7 Ultron has made a lot of photos that look beautiful on Flickr. If you can boost your budget a little more I would consider a Zeiss lens, the planar or 35mm biogon. These lenses have a different fingerprint than Leica but there is a certain poetry to them---the same thing that draws me to Leica glass.
 
Congrats! I'm in the same boat pretty much. I bought my first RF & first Leica in May. I went two weeks before I found an affordable lens. It's trying when you have the body in hand and no glass to shoot with! Goodluck with it.
 
To sirius: I read about the bokeh issues of the 40 Nokton, but it seems a controversial topic. Some say it has "busy" bokeh under certains conditions, but not in other conditions (I'm referring to some comments here, in RFF). I can't judge it, of course. Time to do some research here and in flickr.

For now all this lens talk is mere speculation. Just thinking of what I'll get when the money is earned. The 35 ultron was another I was considering to buy. 35 Ultron or 50 Nokton, was the 1st lens I was going to buy. Haven't read about the Zeiss. Well, have time to think until the day comes (or selling some unused stuff) 🙁.

To Tom:
I don't want to make you feel bad, but I'm really liking the M6 and had to let everyone know. 😀
 
Congrats! You'll have a lot of fun with it.

Also, don't overlook the CV glass, a great way to get a lens for those focal lengths you don't usually use (or always use!) without breaking the bank.
 
Congratulations on your purchase Javier. This camera is tailor made for Tri-X, and HC-110. Mine also loves Neopan 400 in HC-110. Enjoy it and you will not regret it.

Regards, John.
 
John Bragg said:
Congratulations on your purchase Javier. This camera is tailor made for Tri-X, and HC-110. Mine also loves Neopan 400 in HC-110. Enjoy it and you will not regret it.

Regards, John.
Click to expand...


The M 6 is a fantastic camera. I used it since 1984. You can't stop photographing now!🙂
 
Congratulations Javier. It looks a real beauty. I love my M6. I too only got into rangefinders some time ago, but I went a litle mad collecting and trying many. I started with the Bessa R2, added a few old Leicas and Zorkis etc (which I find not easy to use), then finally bought the M3 wich is a beauty, folowed by the M4-P which is great to use and then the M6. I also have the Bessa R3A, Minolta CLE and Konica Hexar RF, all of which a great M style rangefinders with autmatic exposure.

Without any doubt if I could only have or use one it would be the M6. I don't miss automatic exposure at all when using it. It is beautiful to use and beutiful to look at. Take some beautiful phoos with it too!

Good luck

Nick
 
I think you'll like using it a lot. I've owned a bunch of M bodies and it is really my favorite user. Yes, I can think of reasons why an M3 or an M4 or an M5 or an MP might be better...but I have owned all of them other than the MP, still own and use an M3 and an M4 with the M6s, but the M6 is the one I reach for first.
 
Javier,

Modification of the 40 (CV, Leica or Minolta) is reasonably easy. You need to find the correct tab and file it down a bit. There is only one of the four tabs (the bayonets that the lens mounts on) that needs to be filled down. The 35mm frame lines are in view when no lens is mounted, half way there I think is 50mm and 90mm comes up when the arm is pushed all the way over the other side.

IMHO, how a lens renders a scene is very subjective. What is great to one person is mierda to another. While the "look" of the lens is important to me, the speed, size, sharpness, contrast and price are too.

In the mean time, while you figure out what you want to do, drop me either a PM or an email, I have an idea for you.

B2 (;->
 
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