With near 'mint' M6's currently so cheap .. what are the pros and cons of the camera?

[Keith]

...hard core M3 users with D76 dripping of their fingers!

What a great piece of descriptive imagery ... that will stay with me for a while! 😀

 

[Jaans]

Keith, these days I am having trouble with leaky Jobo tank lids and the residue fixer they deposit on my fingers. I developed (no pun intended) a minor skin irritation that was fixed (no pun intended) with some skin ointment and a plastic pink glove for my right hand^^ My grandma would be proud.

Gotta love the smell of of stop bath in the morning, stronger than my Peruvian coffee!

Cheers,
Jaans

 

[newspaperguy]

Hi Keith. Some comments from another fence sitter...
I continue to revere my Canons and Bessas, but mostly use my OMs. Occassionally, I will still grab an AF Nikon, but my Om-2n and OM-1 MD are still closest to my heart. The best thing I did with these was to have John Hermanson install the 2 series focusing screens* in them - WOW! What a difference, I can see again. JUst something to consider.

*Actually, one OM 2-13 screen and one Beatty screen. They are similar in the improvement they make. No exposure problem with the OM-2n, but the meter in the OM-1 had to be 'tweaked'

 

[Pablito]

You can still take pictures even if the screen is cluttered with framelines that you don't want. But there is a certain elegance to a screen as clean as possible. For the same reason, the Mamiya 6 sells for more than the Mamiya 6MF (multi-format) simply because of the extra framelines in the latter (even though the MF model is newer).

I was about to have my M6's 75mm lines removed by DAG when the 75/2.5 came along. Although I have since bought an R3M to use with the 75, I want to keep the old M6 useable with the focal length I thought I'd never want.

Yes, I know there are more important things to think about!

On the other hand, the "unwanted" frame lines for the longer lenses show more or less the metering area when using the wider lenses and that can be useful. Some of the frame lines are much easier to remove than others, can't remember which ones they are. Assuming one wants to keep 28, 35 and 50.

I did not know the Mamiya 6 sells for more thanthe 6MF. With my luck if I ever decide to sell mine, the trend will be reversed and folks will be happy to pay a lot more to for the MF capability....

 

[photocrazy]

Used to have two M6 classic, one black and one chrome. The chrome went through repairs twice. First, the viewfinder selector didn't work and after repair, the frame counter malfunctioned. I've heard certain batch of M6s did suffer from inferior quality. The biggest issue I had with M6 is the flare on the rangefinder patch. So annoying. And also I have see some M6 developing bubbles. In the end, I parted M6 and moved up to the MP which feels better.Particularly the rangefinder and shutter. Still M6 is a very capable camera.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tongfoto/sets/

 

[johnny9fingers]

I seem to have a selection of rangefinders that I'm seldom using and I'm not quite sure why this is. Ikon, R4A, M2, M3 a Nikon S2 and a couple of Leica screwmounts just sit in the cupboard while I invariably seem to pick up my 'evil' OM or move up to MF for the bulk of my serious shooting. 😕

I often do feel like actually using a rangefnder and shooting with an M but can never quite seem to decide whether to go with the M3 or M2 ... and often as not after deliberating endlessly which will do the better job I decide it's all to hard and chose the OM-2 or OM-1 ... the Zeiss and the Bessa never seem to enter this process for some reason. This is a strange dichotomy because I really do like the feel of my M2 as I do my M3 ... I also enjoy shooting with my M8 when I get the chance and believe that Leica got it pretty right over all with their balance of simplicity and good ergonomics with the M design!

I'm currently musing over the possibility that I'm muddying the waters somewhat by having all these choices and maybe reducing it all to one competent, versatile, metered M mount body may resolve the issue! Which brings me to the M6 and which particular model may cover my needs! I seldom shoot wider than 35mm and although I do own 25mm and 15mm lenses I don't use them much but would tend to keep the R4A anyway for the occasions when I just might get the urge because I realise the Bessa has no peer for these focal lengths. For someone who shoots mainly in the 35mm to 50mm range with an occasional foray into 90mm what M6 body is ideal ... is finder flare an issue ... how good is the metering etc etc? An MP would be nice but I really don't want to spend that much money and I doubt that selling the Ikon along with the M2 and M3 would provide me with sufficient capital to actually buy a low milage example!

Long term M6 owners, please share your thoughts. 🙂

Hi Keith, I second Michael in saying what you may be looking for is a Hexar AF. Stunning lens, blazing fast auto focus (even in pitch black darkness) and wonderfully accurate metering. It's a perfect compliment to the OM's. My bag has the Hexar, OM-2 & OM-1n, with 28/2.8, 50/1.8, & 85/2. This combination covers pretty much any situation I will encounter. Well, maybe I still need a 300/4.5 😉

 

[filmfan]

Ohhh leica talk... Just get the damn thing and try it out. Sounds like you can afford to sell off the ikon anyways.

 

[Rob-F]

Keith, be aware that the framelines in the M6 and later models are all undersize to some degree. They are designed to be closest to what the lens sees at some very close distance, like about .7 meter or 1 meter. When working at longer distances, they under-represent what you will get on film. The 50mm frame is the worst, being equivalent to about a 60mm field of view. The 28mm frame, on the other hand, seems pretty good. The 35mm frame is a good match for a 40mm lens at all but the closest distances.

I mention these things because I have an idea that accurate framing may be part of why you like an SLR.