My new M2

nightlight

nightlight

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Hello there,

I don't post often but I'm a big fan of RFF and its posts.

About a year ago I entered the world of RF when I bought the Bessa R2M 250yr edition... love that camera and the Heliar lens is just awesome.

This year I was planning a trip to France and decided I needed a new lens (well I wanted a new lens) and I started to search for local stores in London that would stock them. I've had bad luck with mail order stuff and I really like to see/feel a camera or lens before I buy it.

So I landed in a local shop in London with the intent of buying a Nokton 40/1.4 new for my Bessa. I came out with a 35/2 Summicron! I still don't quite know how that happened.

In parallel, for a while I had been thinking that I wanted a used, user camera; I had been saving up for it as well. Thing is, you see I like my Bessa, but I wanted to keep it clean and scratch-free(don't ask why). The idea of buying a Leica M started to grow stronger and stronger - the M6 was looking like a winner with its in-built metering.

I did try a couple of M6's, liked them a lot but I was attracted to the advance lever of the M3/M2. I started reading a lot on the M2 and the MP but with the current price of the MP, I'd need many more months of savings before I could get one.

A week later I was at the store, tried 2 M2's, settled for the one that was less scratched and felt better, paid in a haze and after a 10-min-lesson on loading a roll, I was outside shooting with my 1964 meterless-M2 (had to look up the sunny f16 rule and I've yet to send my rolls for processing to find out how accurate I was).

I've looked up the prices on this forum and elsewhere online, it looks like I might have paid much more for my M2 but I got it with a year's warranty and I wouldn't buy one online anyway. Now on my list of things to buy, I've got a VC II meter (unless you can recommend me another comparable meter for the price?) and down the road, maybe a soft release. I've seen the cases from Luigi, they look nice but I prefer the idea of having storage for the camera and taking it out bare when I shoot.

Well here's my little story on how I entered the M-world. 😉

Looking forward to posting some pics if I can and see you around!
 
doesn't look as pretty, but I have a gossen digisix meter that I throw in my pocket for when sunny 16 doesn't cut it. It's very small, and easy to use. If you want to mount it in the accessory shoe, it comes with an adapter. (bonus it's both a reflective, and incident meter -- so you have some flexibility)



Enjoy the M2 - can't wait to see your shots.
 
You have what is regarded by a lot of people on this forum as the quintisential M ... congratulations! I've had mine less than a year and have realised that they are a very nice shooter, and since owning it, haven't used my M3 at all! 🙂
 
Keith said:
You have what is regarded by a lot of people on this forum as the quintisential M ... congratulations! 🙂
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I'm one of those people😉 Congratulations on your purchase, have fun. Another meter to consider is a Gossen Pilot 2, quite inexpensive and small, does both incident and reflective metering, but don't count on it in low light. I've grown quite fond of the vc 2, which I keep mounted on the M2
 
Enjoy the M2. I too believe that it is the quintessential Leica. The VC meter has the advantages of being small and of fitting in the accessory shoe, but it will not give you incident light readings as a hand held meter will.
 
Nightlight,

Congratulations on your purchase of an M2. I use the VCI meter on my M2, or use the sunny 16 rule. Most of the time the meter confirms my guesstimate. I still find it useful and always have it mounted on the camera.

Best regards,

Bob
 
Congratulations on your first M2 (rest assured, it will not be your last!). With the 35/2 you really have what you need. Everyting else is just icing on the cake. OK, the icing can be mighty tasty too and it is of course more practical to have one more M2 for the 50 and possibly one more for the 21mm.
The VCII meter is very convinient. I usually carry it in my pocket and only pull it out when I want to reassure myself that I guessed right.
For the next 3-6 month, invest in boxes of film, 100's of rolls and shoot. This will give you the almost subconscious handling that the M excels at. You see something and start thinking" Oh,this is worth a shot" and click, there it is! The fact that you dont have a built in meter speeds up this process. Once you have blinking lights in the finder, you get a bit transfixed and fiddle back and forth with aperture ring and speeds. So, the exposure might be perfect, but the scene has changed. Train yourself to adjust the camera automatically when you are out and about. Just look at the scene and change to what you think it is and maybe even take a shot.
The golden rule is of course - never be caught without the camera loaded and never leave home without it!
 
I own the VC II, but don't use it too much, partly because the ASA and aperture keep getting knocked out of position (i don't know how typical a problem this is - mine was one of the very first). Also, should you ever get a WA finder, for a 25mm or 21mm lens, you'll then need a double accessory shoe adapter .

SO I'd consider the Sekonic 208, it does incident metering, it's absolutely tiny, some people find an analog meter a bit quicker in use - and the Sekonic is half the price of the VC II.

And enjoy the camera, that is a classic combination...
 
i highly recommend the gossen digisix meter. easy to use and very small.

i have a bessa r3a, an m3 and an m2 and haven't taken my m3 or bessa out of the cabinet for a long time now. in my opinion, it's the finest 35mm camera ever made.
 
Its funny because the more and more I hang around the RFF i realize that I am wanting a user Leica M camera sooo much.

Especially conidering I can get a used body for maybe ~$700 or so...

I am only a student but I would really love to have one. I love my FSU rangefidner but I keep finding that I wish it had brightline viewfinder and a few other features which most of the newer rfs (and older leica obviously) have.

must....resist....temptation...
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I look forward to posting some pics as well. Next I will start looking into processing my own BW rolls and possibly getting a scanner to put it all on the web 😉

Thanks for the recommendations on the meters as well, I'll look up the Sekonic, Gossen and VC meter (that one is looking pricey over here, 140 GBP).

jbf: Talking about temptation, strangely enough, since I've entered the world of RFF, I get less GAS attacks than when I went digital 2 years ago. Things are about photography here, not about what's better than something else and that's a good thing.
And yes, you need a Leica M 🙂 Good thing you aren't in the UK, things tend to be pricey over here.
 
As for the lightmeter, I'd go for a Sekonic . Sekonic 208, 308 ..etc. I have the Sekonic L 308 S and couldn't be more happy: it's cheap, easy to use, accurate, not as small as the Digisix but more handy.
 
FrankS - Enjoy, that sounds nice!

Marc-A - I see you are based in Paris, I am going there tomorrow morning - are there any nice camera shops to visit that specialise in RF? Or that sell the Sekonic meter?

thanks!
 
nightlight said:
Marc-A - I see you are based in Paris, I am going there tomorrow morning - are there any nice camera shops to visit that specialise in RF? Or that sell the Sekonic meter?
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Bad moment to visit camera shops in Paris ... I mean, because of vacations. Photo Suffren has closed this week until the 20 August. You should have a look at Boulevard Beaumarchais; there are several camera shop out there.
Here are some addresses (bd stands for Boulevard and av for Avenue):

LEICA CAMERA PARIS (that's explicit)
52, bd Beaumarchais
75011 PARIS

DOUBLE EXPO (especially for Leica stuffs)
88, bd Beaumarchais
75011 PARIS

OBJECTIF BASTILLE (I think you'll find what you're looking for in this one)
11 rue Jules César
75012 PARIS

PROCIREP - COMPTOIR DE L'IMAGE (good one)
14, av Auguste Blanqui
75013 PARIS

OBJECTIF BOETIE (don't know it)
6, rue de la Boétie
75008 PARIS

PHOTO VINCENT (don't know it)
54 bd de Latour Maubourg
75007 PARIS

As you're a londoner, you know that European prices are higher than US/Japan prices; just for your information, I ordered my Sekonic from Japan (on eBay) for around 100€. In a shop in Paris, it's probably around 200-250€.
Have a nice trip, enjoy your stay 🙂
Marc
 
Marc, merci beaucoup!

yes prices are so steep here in Europe. I'll try to checkout the places you've mentionned. If i can't get a reasonnably priced meter i'll probably start the online search for it. In any case,thanks a lot for the addresses.
 
And the sirens song gets another one! Tom is right about shooting and learning, there are several different threads that help you with learning to judge the correct exposure. One place you might look is here:

http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm

Do a search for other threads. I carry a small sekonic 318 that I carry with my Nikon S3. The 3X8 series of meters is small, takes several attachments (reflected or spot metering) and is easy to use. Next year I am going to do some real shooting without a meter. While the meter works well in my Bessas or M6, I find I think about what the meter is reading to make sure I get the "right" exposure.

Bessas are wonderful cameras, but there is something about a Leica M and the way it mends into your hand. Few cameras have ever felt that good to me.

Welcome, now go and shot!

B2 (;->
 
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