abenner
undecided
On this day when we celebrate our better halves, I thought Tom may like to give us a few thoughts on his other better half - the M2. After all, I think he has said he sleeps with it!
Seriously though, Tom, could you tell us a bit as to why you particularly feel the M2 was the pinnacle of Leica engineering?
Seriously though, Tom, could you tell us a bit as to why you particularly feel the M2 was the pinnacle of Leica engineering?
kevin m
Veteran
Can I reply if my name's not "Tom?" 
The M2 is simplicity itself. If you prefer the 35 finder over the M3's 50 finder, then it's arguably the best choice in a meterless M body. The stand-alone framelines for the 35, 50 and 90 frames are uncluttered, and, unlike models later than the M4, accurate. It's arguably the prettiest M body, too, without the dated-looking raised ridges around the finder windows of the M3, and the awkward-looking angled rewind of the M4. And the original engraving hasn't been equaled by any recent Leica body, including the MP.
The only real drawback is perhaps the lack of the late-model take-up spool and a hotshoe, but both can be added if you like.
The M2 is simplicity itself. If you prefer the 35 finder over the M3's 50 finder, then it's arguably the best choice in a meterless M body. The stand-alone framelines for the 35, 50 and 90 frames are uncluttered, and, unlike models later than the M4, accurate. It's arguably the prettiest M body, too, without the dated-looking raised ridges around the finder windows of the M3, and the awkward-looking angled rewind of the M4. And the original engraving hasn't been equaled by any recent Leica body, including the MP.
The only real drawback is perhaps the lack of the late-model take-up spool and a hotshoe, but both can be added if you like.
Ronald_H
Don't call me Ron
I am just a humble M2 newbie, but what Kevin said. I have not been in situations yet where the slower loading hurt, but what can happen if you have an extra spool or two?
And a hotshoe... I don't think I'll ever use flash on my M2 (or any other M) even if I live to be a hundred years old.
Mine is 45 years old, Jeez, I only just realize how old that is, me being 37 this month. One of my cars is 37 years old too, and was probably the oldest thing I owned... before I bought my M2 and a DR 'cron.
Simple, elegant, beautiful and well crafted. What can I say more?
And a hotshoe... I don't think I'll ever use flash on my M2 (or any other M) even if I live to be a hundred years old.
Mine is 45 years old, Jeez, I only just realize how old that is, me being 37 this month. One of my cars is 37 years old too, and was probably the oldest thing I owned... before I bought my M2 and a DR 'cron.
Simple, elegant, beautiful and well crafted. What can I say more?
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HuubL
hunter-gatherer
Can I reply if my name's not "Tom?"
... It's arguably the prettiest M body, too, without the dated-looking raised ridges around the finder windows of the M3, and the awkward-looking angled rewind of the M4. And the original engraving hasn't been equaled by any recent Leica body, including the MP.
C'mon Kevin if the ridges are dated-looking the slow rewind is also
kevin m
Veteran
Sure, it's slow, but it's pretty, isn't it?
Tom A
RFF Sponsor
Seems that I dont have to answer after all! The M2 elicits this type of respone. If you are a rangefinder user. more often than not - the 35 becomes the preferred focal length. I started off with a M3 and a 50f2 in 1957 and though I liked the camera, I always felt that there was a bit of tunnel vision with the 50m. Soon after I got my hands on a M2 with a 35/2 (i think it was either 58 or 59) and I have really never overcome that feeling of finding something that fits my way of working.
Once, working for a newspaper we were sitting around in the "dungeon" - a.k.a. the photographers den. As per usual the discussion ranged from which pub was giving out free beer to the press and comments on various receptionists at the paper to equipment and film. Charlie, a grizzled veteran of press photography (it was rumoured that he actually chewed on the used flash bulbs from his Speed Graphic flash!) pontificated " All right, if you want to be comfortable, carry a M2 with a 35 and possibly a 90. If you want to be really comfortable, carry two M2's with a 35 on one, the 90 on the other and possibly a 50 in your pocket" (He wasen't much of a wide angle man - having started with Speed Graphics). He then added " if you need more stuff - go and work for some other paper".
Somehow I still think that formula works (although I would add a 21 to the kit). Everything else is really marketing by manufacturers and imposed "need". Some Tri X, the two M2's and the 21/35/50/90 should be able to do it all. I might even forego the 90 and take a step or two closer!
Of course with todays dazzling displays of screens, buttons, batteries , pixels and gigabytes, the M2 is a relic from the past. BUT they are all getting on in age, 40 at the minimum and they still keep clicking away. The manual (I have actually seen one) is about 12 pages, most of which is Leitz trying to flog straps/cases and meters. Once you got the hang of it, you can reload in 15-20 seconds. The batteries never die and fluctuating temperatures rarely affect the performance. So the 1/1000 is probably only 1/750 and if you drop that spool when reloading (and watch it roll into a street drain) you are up the creek without a paddle. Unless you carry "the spare spool", known as gaffers tape!
In short, when you take a picture with a M2 (M3/M4 etc for that matter) - you took the picture (warts and all). You did not command a computer to perform a multi task operation. resulting in an image consisting of 0's and 1's in a chip and on a sensor!
IF the picture is great, you can take full credit (some should go to the M2 and the film manufacturer, but it was mostly your doing). If you screwed up, you can actually figure out why. With digital or complex modern film camera, who knows what went wrong!
The simplicity of the M2 and a 35 forces you to actually think about things like light, angles of view, focus variables etc, and I am convinced that this will make me a better photographer.
Once, working for a newspaper we were sitting around in the "dungeon" - a.k.a. the photographers den. As per usual the discussion ranged from which pub was giving out free beer to the press and comments on various receptionists at the paper to equipment and film. Charlie, a grizzled veteran of press photography (it was rumoured that he actually chewed on the used flash bulbs from his Speed Graphic flash!) pontificated " All right, if you want to be comfortable, carry a M2 with a 35 and possibly a 90. If you want to be really comfortable, carry two M2's with a 35 on one, the 90 on the other and possibly a 50 in your pocket" (He wasen't much of a wide angle man - having started with Speed Graphics). He then added " if you need more stuff - go and work for some other paper".
Somehow I still think that formula works (although I would add a 21 to the kit). Everything else is really marketing by manufacturers and imposed "need". Some Tri X, the two M2's and the 21/35/50/90 should be able to do it all. I might even forego the 90 and take a step or two closer!
Of course with todays dazzling displays of screens, buttons, batteries , pixels and gigabytes, the M2 is a relic from the past. BUT they are all getting on in age, 40 at the minimum and they still keep clicking away. The manual (I have actually seen one) is about 12 pages, most of which is Leitz trying to flog straps/cases and meters. Once you got the hang of it, you can reload in 15-20 seconds. The batteries never die and fluctuating temperatures rarely affect the performance. So the 1/1000 is probably only 1/750 and if you drop that spool when reloading (and watch it roll into a street drain) you are up the creek without a paddle. Unless you carry "the spare spool", known as gaffers tape!
In short, when you take a picture with a M2 (M3/M4 etc for that matter) - you took the picture (warts and all). You did not command a computer to perform a multi task operation. resulting in an image consisting of 0's and 1's in a chip and on a sensor!
IF the picture is great, you can take full credit (some should go to the M2 and the film manufacturer, but it was mostly your doing). If you screwed up, you can actually figure out why. With digital or complex modern film camera, who knows what went wrong!
The simplicity of the M2 and a 35 forces you to actually think about things like light, angles of view, focus variables etc, and I am convinced that this will make me a better photographer.
richard_l
Well-known
I have an M3, M2, M6, and IIf. The only camera prettier than the M2 is the IIf. The best camera, considering convenience, smoothness of operation, and beauty, is the M2.
Pre-load some extra takeup spools, and loading the M2 can be as fast as the M4 (and later models).
Richard
Pre-load some extra takeup spools, and loading the M2 can be as fast as the M4 (and later models).
Richard
craygc
Well-known
I have an M6 TTL and a late model M2. Ive had the M2 takeup spool changed to the M4 type by DAG and this camera is now, by far, my favourite. The M6 rarely gets taken out.
An M2, a 35mm and 21mm lens... a hard to beat combination
An M2, a 35mm and 21mm lens... a hard to beat combination
maddoc
... likes film again.
The M2 as the "purist" camera ... Some day, I want to try one :angel:
Some day, I want to try one :angel:topoxforddoc
Established
I have both a M6TTL and a M2. I only bought the M2 about a year ago and I have one of Tom's Rapidwinders on it. Well, guess what, the M2 gets used all the time and my M6TTL (with RW) sits on the shelf. Like Tom and most people, I use the 35 length most (a pre-asph 35 lux in my case) and HP5. I use sunny 16 and occasionally a hand held meter (sekonic 308B). Ther uncluttered framelines and really smooth action are the key elements to this great tool. My other favourite lens is the 75 lux, but that's another story!
Charlie
Charlie
Roger Hicks
Veteran
The M2 is like a café racer motorcycle from the 50s: stripped to the essentials. Both mine have the rapid loading spool kit, and one has a crude bolt-on rewind crank that must weigh less than 10g. Admittedly Tom's Rapidwinder increases the bulk and weight of one of them, but I regard that as a bit like putting rear-sets and a big alloy tank on a motorcycle: it does wonders for the handling and comfort for long distances at high speed.
Cheers,
R.
Cheers,
R.
Nokton48
Veteran
I bought a beater M2 from the Netherlands three months ago, and it's now replaced my two Bessa-R's, and my T. I bought an M2 Rapidwinder from Tom A, and a Wasserman rewind knob from the classifieds, and I'm convinced it's the best rangefinder combo I've ever owned. Except, twenty years ago I did own another one, but had to sell it when I needed the money, and it developed a shutter problem. I (also) prefer the 35mm focal length, right now I own the 35 CV Ultron, the 35/2.5 CV, and a Russian Jupiter 12 from Fedka. I use all three of these quite happily on the M2. Oh, and I did buy an extra film spool, which I keep loaded with XX Eastman Movie Film.
Tom A
RFF Sponsor
Roger Hicks
Veteran
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Ben Z
Veteran
Sorry I can't offer anything on the motorcycle discussion, other than to say that I still have a cycle authorization on my driver license. That and a couple of scars are all that remind me of my last time on a motorcycle. OK, maybe I should say, remind of my last time off a motorcycle
On the subject of older vs newer M bodies, I can just say that when I decided to pare down my number of M film bodies, it was a no-brainer for me choosing between the M6's and M4's. I don't find the MR4 meter much less convenient than the built-in meter, but the finder, the fit-and-finish, and the overall smoothness of operation (thanks, DAG) of the M4 harks back to an era of craftsmanship that probably will never return.
On the subject of older vs newer M bodies, I can just say that when I decided to pare down my number of M film bodies, it was a no-brainer for me choosing between the M6's and M4's. I don't find the MR4 meter much less convenient than the built-in meter, but the finder, the fit-and-finish, and the overall smoothness of operation (thanks, DAG) of the M4 harks back to an era of craftsmanship that probably will never return.
Tom A
RFF Sponsor
I tend to look at the M4 as "design by commitee". "Lets put everything in the camera, frames, rewind etc". That said, they are nice cameras, though I tend to bend the rewinds by bumping them against "things' (car doors in particular). Good as it is, it ain't no M2 and to put a Rapidwinder on it, you have to install a drive. On the M2, it just pops on.
As for build quality, I agree. These all mechanical cameras, with decades of skilled workers behind them are probably the apex of manufacturing by hand. A skill that today would be prohibitively expensive.
This said, I have to admit that the MP's are coming close to this quality. Smooth as silk out of the box and very durable - but the price is high and it just proves my point about manual assembly and checking.
As for build quality, I agree. These all mechanical cameras, with decades of skilled workers behind them are probably the apex of manufacturing by hand. A skill that today would be prohibitively expensive.
This said, I have to admit that the MP's are coming close to this quality. Smooth as silk out of the box and very durable - but the price is high and it just proves my point about manual assembly and checking.
kevin m
Veteran
Mine just arrived yesterday. I'd forgotten how small they are, and how solid and beautiful. Just a lovely, lovely camera. They really never will make them like this again!
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abenner
undecided
Kevin - that's a great looking M2, but I can barely see past that huge Canon. Get a little Leica 35 on there and let us see her face!
Ben Z
Veteran
Man that is a pristine looking M2. What kind of strap attachment thing have you got going there? Looks like leather protector flaps on backwards and the plastic Leica end guards not pushed to the lock-on position...is it secure?
like2fiddle
Curious
Ok, now you've done it! Here I am taking a break at work and reading this thread , the M6 is in the bag at my feet, but now I'm guiltily lusting after my M2 which is sitting at home with that beautiful old Summaron just waiting to be taken out and used - but I can't leave until at least 5pm! --- and I hadn't even thought about that M2 since yesterday morning, it's all your fault
, the M6 is in the bag at my feet, but now I'm guiltily lusting after my M2 which is sitting at home with that beautiful old Summaron just waiting to be taken out and used - but I can't leave until at least 5pm! --- and I hadn't even thought about that M2 since yesterday morning, it's all your fault