What is is the best USED film Leica M camera for the money?

[PetPhoto]

You're confused because Canon never used the meter stick being referred to above.

your confused as i never said the canon ftb had a moving meter on a stick... i was being sarcastic without making the person i hit qoute on cry... it seems not everyone can read sarcasm, or at least they enjoy reading it the way they want to.

 

[Snowbuzz]

I voted for the M2. Which I no longer own. Bought it in the mid-1980s, along with an M3 which came my way in 1987 via a private sale. Loved those two cameras, the M3 was in a much better working condition than the M2 but as I'm mostly a wide angle photographer, the '2 lived with a 35/3.6 Summaron LTM so one of the oldies which came with an M adapter. Slides I took with those two Ms even with that Summaron and a 50 2.8 Elmar were among the finest I've ever made, mostly I suspect due to their being an advanced yet a very basic tool and I had to take a minimalist viewpoint and try harder to make images I liked.

In the 1990s I set up my own architectural practice. After 18 months there was an economic recession in Australia and I didn't get a contract for a year. Many of my cameras, the Leica kits and several of my beloved Rollei TLRs, had to be sold to keep the business going. Times eventually got better, but by then I was back into Nikons and I never did find an M as good as the two I had been forced to flog off for ready cash. I still regret those sales.

So for me the M2 and M3 are by far the most iconic Leicas I've owned. I have a iif kit now and I greatly enjoy taking it out and photographing with it - but my Ms were truly special cameras and I still miss them.

I'm so sorry you had this hardship requiring you to sell off your M cameras. Hope they come by you again soon.

Interestingly, I bought the Elmar 50mm f2.8 you mentioned in your post because it was cheap (upon returning to rangefinders after a 20-year hiatus). Honestly, the images out of this lens are incredible. I am so pleased to hear that am not alone in thinking that. I recently bought a new Summilux-M 50 f1.4 thinking that the Elmar's replacement had finally come. Uh, wrong. The new lens renders in a totally different way. I sold it just this week.

 

[chuckroast]

I actually prefer the stick/needle metering. Like it on the Canon FTb too. Hate the diodes. That's just me though.

Not quite what he's talking about. The M5 has a "stick" that pops down when you cock the camera with a lens on it. This is used to look through the lens to measure light. The stick jumps back out of the way if you remove the lens or fire the camera. (This is unlike the M6 and other later metered M bodies that use a white patch on the shutter curtain as a light reflector.)

This is also why older collapsible lenses must be used only at full extension, and whey some older wide angles cannot be used at all - they interfere with the free travel of the stick.

 

[chuckroast]

I voted for the M2. Which I no longer own. Bought it in the mid-1980s, along with an M3 which came my way in 1987 via a private sale. Loved those two cameras, the M3 was in a much better working condition than the M2 but as I'm mostly a wide angle photographer, the '2 lived with a 35/3.6 Summaron LTM so one of the oldies which came with an M adapter. Slides I took with those two Ms even with that Summaron and a 50 2.8 Elmar were among the finest I've ever made, mostly I suspect due to their being an advanced yet a very basic tool and I had to take a minimalist viewpoint and try harder to make images I liked.

In the 1990s I set up my own architectural practice. After 18 months there was an economic recession in Australia and I didn't get a contract for a year. Many of my cameras, the Leica kits and several of my beloved Rollei TLRs, had to be sold to keep the business going. Times eventually got better, but by then I was back into Nikons and I never did find an M as good as the two I had been forced to flog off for ready cash. I still regret those sales.

So for me the M2 and M3 are by far the most iconic Leicas I've owned. I have a iif kit now and I greatly enjoy taking it out and photographing with it - but my Ms were truly special cameras and I still miss them.

Indeed. The M2 is still my first and probably most beloved M body and I still have mine. Here an image shot with that camera and a collapsible LTM 50mm f/2 Summicron with an adapter ring. Scan of silver print:

M2s do show up fairly regularly at reasonable prices here in the US ($1200-1300 USD or so) but one does have to consider the cost of a CLA, which run $600+ USD. I was fortunate to find my M2 with slight cosmetic defects but having just undergone a full CLA for $1200 USD.

 

[JohnWolf]

I didn’t vote because I’ve only owned the M4-P, M6, and M2. All wonderful. But for 35 or 50 it’s hard to imagine anything better than the M2.

 

[das]

IMHO, the best value Leica M is a Konica Hexar RF. That is, if you don't want to spring for an M7, which is almost as good. 😉

 

[Timmyjoe]

Indeed. The M2 is still my first and probably most beloved M body and I still have mine. Here an image shot with that camera and a collapsible LTM 50mm f/2 Summicron with an adapter ring. Scan of silver print:

Funny you should mention that combo. I used the same on my original trips to Sturgis about a decade ago. Leica M2, 50mm collapsible Cron, LTM to M adapter. Really an enjoyable combination.



Best,
-Tim

 

[splitimageview]

This is also why older collapsible lenses must be used only at full extension

I have yet to find a collapsible that conflicts with the meter stick on CL or M5 when it's retracted. I've tested collapsible Summicrons, Nikkors (f3.5 and f2), Elmars, a Fuji Cristar, and Summitars. That's not a list of all collapsibles but it's pretty good representation.

 

[Godfrey]

I've bought (and sold) more than a few Leica M cameras in the past sixty years. My best "deals" in film Ms:

• I'd rate the M4-2 I paid $700 for in/about 2012 (plus a viewfinder service for another $120) a pretty good contender for "the best Leica M for the money" I've purchased. More than a decade on and it continues to work nicely (and still needs a shutter service, but that doesn't get in the way).

• I bought a Leica M6TTL 0.85x last year for about three times that which I think was a fair good deal too, mostly because I like the meter in the camera a lot, I like the higher magnification viewfinder, and I like the larger, easier to use shutter speed dial.

G

 

[chuckroast]

I have yet to find a collapsible that conflicts with the meter stick on CL or M5 when it's retracted. I've tested collapsible Summicrons, Nikkors (f3.5 and f2), Elmars, a Fuji Cristar, and Summitars. That's not a list of all collapsibles but it's pretty good representation.

Interesting. I never tried it, because Leica told me not to 😉 I do know that the older Super Angulons are an issue and had to be modified for use on an M5 - again, because Leica told me so.

 

[PetPhoto]

The only thing i dislike about the M3 i ended up with... the range finder mechanism cant focus as close as my voightlander nokton 50mm can. Really bugs me as "50mm is the ultimate focal length for 35mm film doing portraits"

 

[santino]

The only thing i dislike about the M3 i ended up with... the range finder mechanism cant focus as close as my voightlander nokton 50mm can. Really bugs me as "50mm is the ultimate focal length for 35mm film doing portraits"

It can be modified.

 

[rfaspen]

For film, I've only had M2, M3, MDa, and CL. Used an M6TTL a few times and loved it. I do also have a very non- functional M6, but it doesn't count here (beyond economical repair). Of the above, it's my M2 that shines brightest.

The film M I'm still curious about is the M5. Get over the cosmetics and it seems like a dang good value.
But, I haven't come across one yet and I'm doing film a lot less these days....so I might not get a chance to address my curiosity.

A friend has/had both a Zeiss Ikon and Hexar RF. He *really* likes both of them. Likes them more than the M6 or M7 that he also used. Those are 2 more I'm curious about but may never get to try.

These days it's usually one of my digital bodies: M9, 240, or 10. I like all of those too.

 

[PetPhoto]

It can be modified.

and how would that be done?

 

[splitimageview]

There is a mod that allows the RF cam to move the additional distance. Not sure if there is a thread here about it, but there are threads on other forums.

 

[splitimageview]

Interesting. I never tried it, because Leica told me not to 😉 I do know that the older Super Angulons are an issue and had to be modified for use on an M5 - again, because Leica told me so.

I didn't listen to them. 🙂 Never had one of the offending Super Angulons, so that wasn't an issue, but having many collapsibles, I wanted to make sure they would not conflict. For those that don't want to push the envelope, place an appropriately sized o-ring on the barrel of the collapsible, so it doesn't collapse all the way. The o-ring is essentially invisible.

 

[chuckroast]

and how would that be done?

If you are in the US, check with DAG camera repair. Don can probably do this for a reasonable price.

 

[splitimageview]

There is a mod that allows the RF cam to move the additional distance. Not sure if there is a thread here about it, but there are threads on other forums.

There are indeed threads about this topic on rff. Best way to find them is to google: "focus closer m3 site:rangefinderforum.com"

 

[laurentb]

I voted M4 because I 've got very good value from it .

 

[DownUnder]

No longer in the Leica buying economy. Too expensive for a retiree - also for my needs/wants, not enough bang for the buck.

I now make do with my Contax G1 and four beaut Zeiss G lenses, 21, 28, 35, 90. The 21 is my least used lens, but when I have it on the camera the results are, in a word, exceptional. In every way. (Disclaimer: the lens, not the photographer!)

Not exactly directly relevant to this thread, but someone else did mention a Konica Hexar (another camera I've lusted for in my time), so I decided to risk this post. Those Contax Gs are not quite as good as Leica Ms, but they hold their own in almost all ways. As for the lenses, I wouldn't know, but I've read positive feedback from Konica users, so yes, maybe.