simplicity and size.

none.

A small sturdy camera with a good lightmeter. Mirror slap is quite loud but doesn't seem to influence the camera's vibration. i personally think there are many other mechanical cameras that feel just as tough and well designed, but those don't take leica's lenses.

Customer Service

none needed.

Similar Products Used:

pentax k1000, nikon fm, fm3n

Build quality, dependability, fantastic metering, Leica back-up, Reliability of results.

A tad heavy, bits and pieces are expensive, sell you home to by a lens !!!

Treated myself after passing exams. Wowee what a beauty, bright v/finder, the controls are just a dream, Lenses are a terrific, results are spectacular..not the camera for happysnappers..Manual focus spot on..

Customer Service

Never Used...

Similar Products Used:

Pentax LX...Canon AE1...Nikon F1

- Built like a tank. - Very bright viewfinder - Excellent meter (spot/area)- Relatively small - Heavy (I find it easier to hold it steady, than a lighter camera) - Well placed controls with large buttons/dials - Mirror slap is well controlled - Leica lenses

- Mirror loc up release needs a cable trigger or paperclip to trigger. - Leica stopped making this camera. -Lenses are very good, but very expensive -Easier to hold with winder attached if you have large hands, but no worse than a Nikon F - Expensive, if you can find one

I have owned this camera now for about a year and love it. Overall the best mechanical SLR I have ever used. Leica lenses are to die for. I mostly use the 50/f2 Summicron which is absolutely brilliant. Brutally sharp, with excellent tonal range and bokeh. 16x20 enlargements are no problem.

Customer Service

Excellent. I managed to jam the advance mechanisim the day I purchased it (user error), but Leica fixed everything in less than 2 weeks at no charge.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon, Minolta, Leica

Build and optical quality, fully manual

Weight, expense of lenses

I upgraded from a Minolta X300 when I decided to take black and white photography more seriously. I wanted a camera that would last forever and make me think about photography, and the R6.2 is it. I recently used it to photgraph a waterfall in temperatures of minus 15 on a tripod set up in a river. There was ice forming on the body, but not a problem. It functioned just as well in very high temperatures in Greece. It is making me a better photographer because my every mistake is visible. This is pure photography.

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Nothing

Weather proof, incredibly tough camera.

Cable activated mirror lock-up...just plain goofy.

So, Leica has dicontinued this body...pity! I love this camera. It is a thinking photgraphers camera, fully manual...slow down and produce way better images. I have used this camera in many climates, from the rain soaked west caoast of Canada to the scorching deserts of California...no problems. I am careful, but stuff happens and this camera has been totally bullet-proof. The controls are very well laid out, operation becomes an intuitive process after a very short time. Viewfinder is bright and lcd display is very good. Film loading is easy and works every time. It is small enough to not be obvious when doing candids of people, as opposed to my R8 which seldom comes off the tripod.

Customer Service

Haven't used.

Similar Products Used:

Leica R8, Pentax LX

Reliable mechanical shutter camera. Quality built camera. Uses Leica lens

Top shutter speed at 1/2000 No longer produced by Leica.

When I bought this camera about a year ago, I'd looked at Nikon FM2n and FM3a. and the R6.2. This camera fits well in my hands. Nice solid feel to it. No problems so far with this camera. Since this is a manual camera, I just set the aperture and pick the shutter speed for proper exposure. I like the exposure indicator in the viewfinder. Once you get used to the arrows in the view finder, getting the correct exposure is relatively easy.

Customer Service

None needed so far

Similar Products Used:

Contax S2 Nikon FM2n Nikon FM3a

Indestructibility. Accuracy. Build quality. Bright viewfinder. Great metering system.

Weight - it''s heavy! Cost when new (but only available second hand now)

I find the previous review completely at odds with my experience. The 6.2 is very robust (only time it has not worked in 5+ years is when I dropped it with a 250mm lens attached - sent it off for repair and it came back within a week). The camera is so instinctively easy to use with great metering and a fantastically bright viewfinder. Yes, you have to think - manual focus, manual setting of exposure etc - but this is the best way to get great experience and keep improving. I love the active decision making this camera produces as opposed to most 35mm which seems to me to be no better than point and shoot. Its solid as a rock!

Customer Service

Very good in UK

Similar Products Used:

Leica R5 and R4 also

The design and ergonimics. A sheer pleasure to hold and use. Metering. Reliability.

The Leica R6.2 is quite possibly the best 35mm manual SLR you can buy on the market. I have rarely ever held anything so ergonomically perfect - balanced, with all controls where they need to be. It has one of the most perfect metering systems I have ever used as well - the spot meter is excellent and has improved my B&W exposure quality significantly. It is a solid, rugged piece of equipment that is intelligently designed. Even the film take-up scheme, unique to this camera, is designed for the working photographer and alls for a simple, clean, single handed insertion and take up of film. A fantastic product. I have most recently used it on an assigned in refugee camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan with dusty conditions and tempretures in excess of 40C. No problems what so ever. Its compact design makes it far smaller than those ridiculous electronic, macho machines - for a real working photojournalist this is a real advantage because it makes the camera very inconspicuous.

On paper, very nice. An abundant array of pro features and ergonomically excellent (although most will find it small and awkward to hold, especially coming from a steroid-injected pro Japanese SLR).

Unreliable. I''''m not even sure I would trust it as a paperweight. I''''m back to a pair of Nikon F100s with 28/1.4 and 85/1.4 lenses.

The R6.2 is (or was, since it was recently discontinued) the best concept in mechanical SLRs in recent memory. Its competition was primarily the Contax S2/S2b and Nikon FM2N. The problem was that while the concept was good, it was poorly executed. I had two of these. The first one, #2170213, had its mirror disconnect off its assembly during a shoot and required a trip to Leica USA. Although it was under the no-fault "Passport Warranty", Ms. Olesin at Leica Service insinuated that there was no way the mirror could have detached itself, it must have been something I did. The camera was subsequently repaired and returned to me, and I sold it. I replaced it with another unit, #2277176, and hoped for better luck. As soon as it arrived I took it out of the box to test its functions. About the 6th or 7th wind (as I was testing the shutter speeds) the film advance jammed. Off it went to Leica USA, who to their credit replaced it immediately with a brand new in box unit, which I also subsequently sold. Score: 0/2. Pity that the "rugged enough for any adventure" excelsior of mechanical SLRs wasn''''t rugged enough to even make it out of my front door alive. The Leica lenses are fabulous, but without a reliable body to put them on, all the fabulosity in the world won''''t mean an iota.

Customer Service

Can be pretty annoying and very slow... up to three weeks (or more) for a simple tuneup.

Similar Products Used:

Leica R7, R8, Canon Elan II, Nikon N90s

None

None

Like a jewel. It''s a kind of Art. I admire its craftmanship. It has differnt aura compare to other sililar products like FM2, F3HP...

Customer Service

None

Similar Products Used:

Nikon FM2 Nikon F3HP