Will M6 reissue mean meter repair parts will now be in stock for the Classic?

[David Hughes]

Well Leica and Panasonic are partnering up on something... https://www.dpreview.com/news/76897...tegic-agreement-joint-development-leica-lumix

That said, an 8mp camera would be extremely expensive at this point since it would be a custom sensor. Much easier to just use a 24mp sensor that is already around.

I thought they'd been partners for a long, long time but it seems not! (I'm thinking of the range from them starting with the Panasonic (?) LX1I ).
Regards, David

 

[jsrockit]

I thought they'd been partners for a long, long time but it seems not! (I'm thinking of the range from them starting with the Panasonic (?) LX1I ).
Regards, David

They have certainly worked together. But now it seems it will be more than rebadging Panasonic models.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Hmmm, 28 to 90mm f/2 to f/2.4 zoom lens, 2s to a 4000th and I said even 8 megapixels because I'd suggested more pixels; I mean what's wrong with that?

Regards, David

I was able to get last M-E 220 new in something like 15 million official residents city. It was fall of 2016 and it was so abandoned, the battery needs one hour charging before camera started to turn on. And it was abandoned by buyers even if exchange rate was kept at pre-collapce exchange rate. It was cheaper than used on ebay.
Why nobody wanted this digital Leica?
Because it was discontinued by 2015 model. While if it is new Leica, it must be latest and "greatest".

So, while here is nothing wrong with relict you are after, it is just no go as new with 5MP (not 8MP) 2/3 inch sensor and without firmware latest bells and whistles like face recogn, 100K ISO, Instagram instant posting and so on.
If as is in 2003, the market is for people still using rotary phones, with only 10% or less been able to afford LCAG greedy prices on rebadged Pana.

 

[Rob-F]

Wouldn't it be great if, after sorting out the film camera, they started think and then making the Digilux-2 again but this time with a few more pixels? Even 8 would be great but nothing else to be changed, please, please...

Regards, David

What I liked most about the Digilux 2: The color! What I liked least: the EVF. I just used the back panel.

As long as we are daydreaming/reminiscing about upgrading the Digilux 2, I think I would hold out for 10MP. That seems like a sweet spot Goldilocks size to me.

How did we get started on the Digilux 2?

 

[leicapixie]

You doth jest! sales, sales, SALES!

 

[Rob-F]

While I wasn't thinking that electronically the new meter would be a match, my concern was whether it would be physically possible to use the new meter in an older body. Will have to wait for the new camera to be introduced to find out.

I'm happy with my M4-P also, with a VC II for those situations when it's hard to discern a good solution on the fly.

PF

I can see how it could be physically possible to replace an early meter PC board with an updated one. Just think of the meter circuitry as a black box that has inputs and outputs. We don't know what's inside the black box, nor do we care. The black box simply receives data from the light sensor and shutter speed dial as its input, processes the data and delivers the appropriate voltage levels to the left and right LEDs in the viewfinder. How it does this is immaterial as long as it interfaces with the camera's existing photosensitive cell that registers the light reflected from the white dot on the shutter, and the LED's in the finder. You might think of it as reverse engineering. This all presumes that the items already present in the camera, such as the LEDs in the finder, have not changed in the new version being made. If they have, that might be another story--and I don't think we know if they will the same, or different.

 

[raydm6]

Will M6 reissue mean meter repair parts will now be in stock for the Classic?

Yes - including the light meters - according to this (Source: Reddit):

 

[raydm6]

And.. an interesting comment by RedDotRepair:

RedDotRepair


· 5 days ago

Verified- RedDotRepair

Hey All, thought I would comment on this. The MP is actually extremely similar to the (old) M6. Many of the parts between the two were actually completely interchangeable. In fact, nearly all of them. They are both steel geared M bodies and that alone makes nearly all the internal parts interchangeable. Shutters, Wind Gears, Advance levers, windows, frame counters, rangefinder unit, on and on and on

Shoot, many parts are backwards compatible all the way back to the M4, M2. The M5 is a different beast.

There isn't any new information here, and the M6 reissue makes little difference on the reparability of the M6. You were always able to put an MP meter circuit into the M6, the problem is: M6 Classic meter circuits are calibrated using pot switches, that's easy enough and all independent technicians can calibrate them to the camera's meter cells. Conversely, The new MP circuits are locked with proprietary software that only Leica can calibrate. This is not available to independent techs.

Basically, nothing has changed in regards to M6 reparability. The new M6 is indeed just a MP with a different design.

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

What's wrong with the M-A and the MP? You have a choice between meter and no meter. Drop the price $500 for a limited time and Bob's your uncle. Then they wouldn't have to build a new camera. Of course I know that's not the way the Leica game is played. The new camera has to be limited edition with slotted screws instead of Phillips head screws to give Leica owners something to boast about. Obviously, the slotted screws more authentic. All the Barnacks had slotted screws.

If Leica use/used Phillips head screws for their cameras, that is disappointing. Arguably, the worst of all the various cruciform drive designs. Is this the case?
I'll take slot drive screws over Phillips every time for camera applications, and there are other alternative cruciform drives far superior to the dreaded Phillips: Posidriv, or JIS, for example.

 

[aizan]

The most credible and plausible comment I've found on the issue is from this interview by Leica Store Wetzlar:

https://youtu.be/o0nfZ4JAy2Q?t=916

The M6 reissue meter cannot be installed in the M6 classic, but they are working on a solution that might work. They don't want to raise hopes, but they don't want to say "no" just yet.

They didn't say anything about the parts ban.

 

[hap]

Even if Leica makes a dumb decision, they will sell out of whatever they make, and pretty soon there will be a commemorative edition, and it will sell out too.

Leica had a monster year last year according to CEO. 400 million $ Biggest year in the entire span of Leica/Leitz. They will sell these things. And I will HODL my older film cameras.

 

[raydm6]

... And I will HODL my older film cameras.

Lol! When we are using crypto slang to describe Leica or vintage camera "investments" I know we are in trouble 🙂

So far, the value of my 35+ year-old M6 Classic is outperforming my crypto portfolio - although that is still above water too.