What was Leica thinking?

x-ray

x-ray

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I just returned from New Orleand where I spent three days shooting Katrina damage and the people and personality of Mardi Gras post katrina. I shot only B&W and carried my new MP & Leicavit with 21 Elmarit, 35 1.2 Nokton, 50 1.4 asph Summilux, 75 Summilux and 90 asph Summicron. My film was primarily delta 100 but shot a few rolls of delta 3200 at night.

Overall the MP is the essence of the M2 and M3, it's solid and even more smooth in operation than my M2. The RF patrch is better than any M that I've ever owned and only will flare when the sun is directly in the VF. I would say Leica has a near perfect camera with the exception of the frame lines. My MP is the .85x VF and I have the full set of frame lines. What was Leica thinking when they left the bottom of the frame line off? It's not too bad in a horizontal composition but it's terrible in a verticall. Without the fourth side of the frame it really makes composition a guessing game. The frames are thinner than my M2 or M6 also and this makes viewing the frames a little more difficult under some conditions. What were you thinking Leica?

Does anyone know whether new frame lines can be installed like the ones in my M6? Can this be done with the .85x and if so who can do it and at what cost?

In the next few days I'll be running film between jobs and in the next week I'll be posting new images.


http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=5045
 
(original post has been deleted)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
akalai, it was a serious question but decided that i will probably get the answer likes yours. So it is gone. Now, carry on...
 
WTL... how much do you think a Canon EOS1DS plus L series lens costs... and have you seen how many most working pros carry.... generally two... a combined numerical total much more than the Leica gear mentioned above. Besides I think the people of New Orleans would be more interested that people are willing to document and show their plight to as many people as possible regardless of how much the gear costs to take those images.... post your comments again and let other sees how serious a question you asked....
 
X-ray, why don't you contact Leica and ask them directly? I have emailed them questions through their site and received answers within a couple of hours.
 
x-ray said:
My MP is the .85x VF and I have the full set of frame lines. What was Leica thinking when they left the bottom of the frame line off?
Click to expand...

Are you talking about all the framelines or just the one for 35mm? If all, there must be something wrong with your frameline mask and it needs repair. If just the 35mm, I had the .72 MP and I think the 28 framelines are the same as 35 on a .85, I don't recall the entire bottom line being missing on the 28 frame, just most of it, but then again I never had a 28mm lens at the time so I never used it. I was never tempted by a .85 Leica because the 35mm frames are too difficult for me to use.
 
In comparing the M6 .72 and MP .85 VF lines the M6 lines are much heavier. In the M6 the 28mm lines are broken on the bottom but the segments are more tword the middle of where the frame line should be vs the frame line segments on the MP are finer and at the corners of the frame leaving a big open gap in the middle where the frames should be. If the broken lines were more in the middle of where the frame would be like the M6 it would make for easier framing. The 50mm grame has the same problem. If you look at the M2 the frame lines are solid except at the corners.

Thanks for the suggestion about contacting leica,.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=5045
 
The 35mm and 50mm frames are very different. The frames on the website are like the M2 and my frames are three sided like the on the Leica site and the bottom line is only the left and right corner. There is a wide gap in the middle, about 70% is not there. It looks like this is the way it was designed.
 
If they're not the same as what Leica is advertising on their website, wouldn't that be the basis for a complaint & a request for Leica to change the frame lines free of charge? It seems to me that this one is spelled f-r-a-u-d, as in false advertising.

Huck
 
I contacted leica NJ today and asked if this was normal. The person I talked to said he thinks the frame lines are different than what is on the website because the MP shares the same mask as the M7 and the M7 shows exposure data in this area. He didn't know if they couild be changed but would check and get back tomorrow. We'll find out tomorrow hopefully.
 
Good luck! Maybe they don't share the same mask & they just put the wrong one in your camera. Have you compare notes with another MP owner, of which there are a few on this Forum? Way, for example, ia an MP owner. How about firing off a note to him while you're waiting tohear from Leica?

Just my 2 cents . . .

Huck
 
The framelines in the MP I have (0.72x finder) are the same. The framelines are solid on three sides while the bottom frameline has a gap in the middle.
 
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Yeah, I have an M7 .85 and it is like this. It never bothered me...in fact, I never noticed it. In the .72 MP I have the 28mm and 35mm frames are like this, but the 50mm frame is solid. As for the whole fraud thing, I doubt they did this with malicious intent. Do you really think a graphic designer in the marketing department sat down and said: "Hmm, we might be able to sell another camera this year if we make people think the bottom line of the frameline is solid..." I am sure they just assumed it was solid and created the image as such. But anyway, I am sorry that it is making your shooting more difficult. It is a total non-issue for me though...
 
AlexC said:
The framelines in the MP I have (0.72x finder) are the same. The framelines are solid on three sides while the bottom frameline has a gap in the middle.
Click to expand...

I'd much rather have a "missing bottom" than 4 missing corners.

x-ray, I guess you don't often use the 90mm framelines on the 0.85, right? For me it's much easier to visualize a straight line between corners. I pratically have no idea where the lines intersect (or at least can't visualize 4 points at once while trying to compose.) I find the 90mm frame very hard to use.

With the 35mm frame's much bigger size, it may be different. But at least it's much easier to compose with any degree of accuracy than the already small 90mm frame. For me at least, the 35mm frame's a breeze to use in comparison.
 
Mazurka said:
I'd much rather have a "missing bottom" than 4 missing corners.

x-ray, I guess you don't often use the 90mm framelines on the 0.85, right? For me it's much easier to visualize a straight line between corners. I pratically have no idea where the lines intersect (or at least can't visualize 4 points at once while trying to compose.) I find the 90mm frame very hard to use.

With the 35mm frame's much bigger size, it may be different. But at least it's much easier to compose with any degree of accuracy than the already small 90mm frame. For me at least, the 35mm frame's a breeze to use in comparison.
Click to expand...


If you use the 1.25 Okular you'll find it much easier. 🙂
 
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