The Leica curse..

Yes

Yes

SergioGuerra said:
Hi there...

I have already owned two Leicas M2 in the past, and both of them were sold in order to buy other things (like a Hasselblad 500c or a 1964 Lambretta eheh).
Right now I own both a mint Minolta CLE and a user Bessa-R to use with my m39 glass, but i miss the M feeling...

My photo budget is really low atm, but sometimes I have urges to sell my CLE kit (CLE + Summicron-C) and buy a user M6 :eek:

Should I resist these urges? :D Would the CLE kit pay me a user m6?

Oh well, thanks for reading my griefs and thoughts ;)
Click to expand...

Yes, you normally regret the things you do not do.

You should be able to find a user M6, but I suggest you shop around to get the maximum feeling/ money ratio. ;-)

There has to be the right one out there with a mark on it to bring it in to the proper user "state". I think you should find a good price for your CLE, people seem to want them, especially Mint.

You can use the LTM gear on the M6 as well. I think it is a buyer's market now, especially at camera shows here.

Regards, John
 
JohnTF said:
Yes, you normally regret the things you do not do.

You should be able to find a user M6, but I suggest you shop around to get the maximum feeling/ money ratio. ;-)

There has to be the right one out there with a mark on it to bring it in to the proper user "state". I think you should find a good price for your CLE, people seem to want them, especially Mint.

You can use the LTM gear on the M6 as well. I think it is a buyer's market now, especially at camera shows here.

Regards, John
Click to expand...

Thanks John for the focused answer.. :rolleyes:

Difficult decisions ahead.. :confused:
 
Cameras are overrated, the action lies in the film and lenses.

There are some cameras that you can depend on like the Nikon SLRs (even DSLRs) and that dependability fosters an emotional attachment to them. With Leica the emotional attachment is more like the one you might have for your girlfriend or a mistress, not the sort of love you might feel for a dependable wife.
 
Last edited:
Hm ... my M Leicas handle and feel the same way as my CL and R4. The real Leica experience is a screwmount Leica... :D;)
 
People might want to use Bessas over most Leicas because of far lighter weight and autoexposure, or for 1:1 viewfinders or extra-wide viewfinders.
 
The M feeling...

I love these threads, you get undying love, virulent hatred, envy and jealousy, comparisons to wives and mistresses, mostly utter nonsense... makes you wonder if Leica builds cameras or objects of passion and lust.

I own a Bessa R2 and Bessa T along with a host of Nikon SLR gear, all very good gear that I use regularly.

But here is why I prefer my M5 to all cameras and rangefinders, because it left me sit on the front row of the opera last night and shoot 2 rolls of film without disturbing anyone or me being tossed out of the theatre. No other camera can operate as silently and unobtrusively as a Leica M while giving you interchangeable lenses.

If Cosina would make a R model with a silent shutter, I would be almost as happy with a Bessa, except I prefer the accuracy of the longer EBL of the M.

It is pretty simple, the Leica M is camera that all other rangerfinders aspire to be, it is far from perfect, but it can produce photographs that no other camera is capable of.

So, yes, I can understand the M feeling...
 
Last edited:
my leica Ms get used in daily outings for street/unobtrusive photography. my bessa T usually has 21mm permanently attached to it. the r2 i take when i'm on holidays/travel. but the oscar barnacks i take when hiking. however, there's no similar feeling than having that solid, streamlined feeling of a leica M. i'm in the process of clearing out my SLRs but wouldn't sell my leicas....
 
maddoc said:
Hm ... my M Leicas handle and feel the same way as my CL and R4. The real Leica experience is a screwmount Leica... :D;)
Click to expand...

Was waiting for the shoe to drop. ;-)

Yet, several IIIf's sat unpurchased at the last show at a very reasonable price.

Hard to realize also that the M mount has been around so long.

Makes you wonder what a IIIg would cost today, with a meter of course.

Regards, John
 
Nh3 said:
Cameras are overrated, the action lies in the film and lenses.

There are some cameras that you can depend on like the Nikon SLRs (even DSLRs) and that dependability fosters an emotional attachment to them. With Leica the emotional attachment is more like the one you might have for your girlfriend or a mistress, not the sort of love you might feel for a dependable wife.
Click to expand...

Lenses and films can be overrated too, but you do need something to put the lens on. As for dependability, I'd be hard pressed to beat my M3. It's been dropped in a snowbank, had beer spilled on it, dropped several times on the ground (before and after I got it) and hasn't been CLA'd in who knows how long. Several thousand exposures and several years later, it's still ready to go.

My Nikon F2 on the other hand... has had the light seals replaced, a transient shutter problem even after 2 CLA's by recommended techs and the meter finally gave up the ghost for good. As well as the apeture step down lever in the 50/1.4 sieze up. And it's easily half the age of the M3. (or less)

However, I use my M3 when I want to make all of the decisions that go into a photo. Otherwise, I'll let my canon 1v, or even the 5D do the work, but I don't enjoy it as much.

Different strokes for different folks.
 
Last edited:
Keith said:
That's actually a very intesting question Roger and the only thing I can put it down to is some inate desire to do a better job with a lesser tool. (perceived)

Sometimes I think I should sell all my other Leica flotsam and just get a black paint MP because it truly is the one Leica in their vast ensemble that really stands out for me! (god ... did I say that? :p)
Click to expand...
Dear Keith,

Some heresy coming up, and some things you may not want to hear:

I bought my first screw Leica in about 1969, my first M (M3) in 1974, my first new Leica (M4-P) in 1981-2 or so. The M4-P was better in a few ways than the two M2s I had by then, but the finder wasn't as good.

I started using Voigtländers in the 1990s, when they came out, and by the early 21st century I was using the R2 as my primary camera with the M4-P as backup. I did not consider a newer Leica: I never really wanted an M6 -- the finder again, and I didn't think the meter was a big enough advantage to spend the money. When I borrowed an M6ttl for review I really found the 'backwards' shutter speed dial a disadvantage.

Then the MP came out, and I wanted a new Leica again after a quarter of a century. And I got it. Black paint, too.

Here's the heresy: the cumulative small advantages of the R2 made it a more usable camera, for me, than my Leicas: a 'better' camera, if you like. But the MP was the Leica I'd always wanted: the best of the old and the new. That's the bit you may not want to hear! I am seriously considering 'outing' the M4-P and one M2 to get another MP. The only drawback is that my wife would immediately adopt it...

So yes, you did say that, and you might be right: obviously I can't judge for you. What I find interesting is that I often made the same choice as you (R2 instead of M), except when I needed the longer RF base or a 135mm lens or the 35/1.4 (won't fit) or a quieter shutter or easier focusing in poor light. That's why I never got rid of the Ms -- and, of course, there was always the lingering suspicion that the R2 might not prove as durable. So far, it has, apart from a broken and easily reparable rewind crank at one point.

Yes, Leicas are lovely things, but justify neither uncritical adoration nor small-minded Leica-bashing. If you're in it to take pictures, you choose the camera that gives you the best pictures. For me, for a while, for many situations, that was the R2. But the R2 doesn't do anything the MP can't, and the MP does a number of things the R2 can't, or doesn't do as well.

Cheers,

Roger
 
Last edited:
Roger,

I have to agree with you, that I really, really like my Bessa R2. It really is an intuitive little camera. In fact, if the R2 had the same quiet shutter as my M5, I would probably use the R2 as my preferred camera, even though it is more rattly in the advance and of questionable build. For the price, the Bessa R-series are just amazing little jewels.

But I do prefer my M5 for lots of little and big reasons...

My biggest disappointment with the ZI was the shutter. The ZI is a very well thoughtout and useable camera, but it just sounds like a slightly more mature Bessa R. Put a silent shutter in the ZI and it would be a better camera in almost everyway than a Leica, albeit without the higher build quality(and cost) of the Leica.
 
had a leica cl sold it didnt like it at all. have a bessa r that works very well but need a leica lens for it. Never held an M so cant elaborate on it.
 
the M feels sturdy, heavy, timeless construction(designed back in 1950), responsive, proved over time it's mechanical quality (bessa or ikon? dunno)... All the things the competion can't equal in any way. If you don't like it, it is perfectly normal. Leica shooters are normal people you know!
Had the CL for some time, I loved it, found it small and all, but nowhere near the M responsiveness I am found off.
 
The comment about taping an M to your forehead overnight was the BEST thing I have heard in a while... whoever that negative dude was. Sometimes it takes a real fukker to be that funny.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom