Nikon F2 vs Leica with no meter

[steveyork]

I own a nice Nikon F2 with plain prism and with a Maxwell enhanced F3 screen fitted.

Other than having a quiet shutter and being a little smaller it keeps me wondering why someone would choose one of the meterless M models over a Nikon F2.

Your opinion would be appreciated.

F2's have a lot of shutter vibration. Probably get 2-3 stops of hand held slower shutter speeds on an M leica. I've compared them side by side, with a modern lens on an Nikon F, and the difference in the negatives was significant. The only mechanical SLR I've used that has really good shutter damping is the Leicaflex range. The other reason to favor a Leica M is that the 35mm focal length lens on a rangefinder is much more compact (and lighter). Overall, a Leica M system is lighter too, because your wallet is empty. 🙂

 

[Deleted member 65559]

"Other than having a quiet shutter and being a little smaller " Lot smaller in overall bulk. Much quieter. much smaller lenses. Easier focusing w wide angles. That said I worked for years with an M2/M4 and an F/F2 with a 105.

 

[leicapixie]

I am curious about shutter vibration?
Using Leica-M or SLR, Nikons and others i did a simple test.
Place camera body with lens on table, flat surface.
Place a small coin on body, vertically, need self timer or gentle release.
I was astonished to see what amount of vibrations there were !
All the cameras had vibrations..My Nikkormat was awesome!
Remember though it was the final one and all, repeat all when shutter had closed..

 

[besk]

Modern Photography (magazine) did a test once. The test was to find out the lowest handhold-able speed that would not significantly effect sharpness.

The Nikon F2 had much less vibration than the EM and even the FM/FE series as I remember. I can say that my F2's feel remarkably vibration free.

Maybe I should test it against an M with actual film using the same lens (with an adapter for the M.)

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Modern Photography (magazine) did a test once. The test was to find out the lowest handhold-able speed that would not significantly effect sharpness.

The Nikon F2 had much less vibration than the EM and even the FM/FE series as I remember. I can say that my F2's feel remarkably vibration free.

Maybe I should test it against an M with actual film using the same lens (with an adapter for the M.)

If you attach brick to EM it will match F2. Having mirror inside of brick is sufficient.
I ordered another 20 3.8 for F2. 🙂