Leica M6 TTL

Over 50 years of photographing, I worked my way up From a gift Exa to a Rollei 35, Nikonos, EM and then bought a Minolta CLE just before a month's assignment to the Exxon Valdez cleanup. The 6 rolls of Fuji slide film I shot in Alaska was the catalyst that made the remainder of my career. After the CLE the only camera I wanted was a Leica M, but did not want to give up the metering feature. One Sunday morning I caught my M6 with 50mm Summicron and grip on eBay, like new with boxes for $2K and have never been disappointed.
I can't understand the fuss about loading film - because I borrowed a Leica IIIf once during a CLE breakdown and those are HARD to load.
Once the film is in the M6 the camera is a dream to use. With in-finder metering and finger-tab focusing, I was finally able to concentrate on seeing EVERYTHING in the viewfinder, breathing and squeezing off the shot. The lenses are fantastic. The best roll of film I ever shot was one afternoon in NY with the 50mm mounted and the 90mm in my pocket and the evening sun making magic. The heft and balance of the camera give confidence. The nearly inaudible shutter and no motor drive enable stealth. The metering is so accurate there is little need for bracketing.
I was in London and had the evening off. I wanted to re-shoot a picture that I had shot with an Olympus SP and planned to enter in the state fair, but lost (the house knew better and was hiding it). I lurked in a corner opposite the Liverpool Station main stairway and waited for someone wearing red to enter the frame, meanwhile calculating whether to shoot at 1/15 or 1/30 to get the desired sense of motion. Finally a redhead walked by in a pink coat. The photo took first place in the next state fair.
That's just an example of the kind of cinfidence this camera gives you. Forget the plastics, computers, flapping mirrors and obnioxious motor drives. If you want the essence of photography you want an M6.

1) Wide selection of highest quality lenses - both vintage and modern. And there is a huge variety of other LTM lenses you can try for nostalgia. I occasionally use a Russian Jupiter 12 with M adapter with excellent results - total investment $90.
2) No mirror slap to shake the camera or noise to attract attention. With a Leitz 50mm finder mounted on top, you have 1:1 viewing and can shoot with both eyes open - seeing what is outside the frame (but about to enter it), not just what is inside the frame.
3) Compactness - I have an Elmar f2.8 that collapses into the camera and I can then drop it into my coat pocket. Try that with an SLR! I carry 2 bodies, 3 lenses, filters, film, flash, bottom lens mount, and a small tripod in a small Tenba shoulder bag.
4) Reliability - I have a CL as backup, but have never needed it. Change batteries on your birthday and it will never let you down.
5) Service and parts - some of the best repairers in the business are the Leica fixers - Sherry Krauter is mine. Yes, it isn't cheap, but my Rolex costs more to service than my Leica. Great parts support from Leica - for example, my 50-year old Elmar was bought with a pitted front element (common), but John vanStelten ( www.focalpointlens.com ), had no trouble getting a replacement element and putting th elens in like new condition.

Cost.

No self timer.

Zoom with your feet. (Every time I lift the camera to ny eye I can hear my father saying "Get closer!")

Minolta CLE - the only thing that comes close to an M6 + it has auto exposure!
Leica CL.
Olympus SP
Leica M2
Stereo Realist (a different world)

I have never dealt with Leica, but love the support they give the independent service experts I use.

I have been reading reviews on the M6 for quite a while but I never saw one in the flesh until October when I was on holiday in London. I was wanting to look at the Digilux 2 but I spied an M6 and fell in love with it. I already have a Contax G2 kit and wasn't thinking about another film camera but I caught the bug and bought a used M6 in new condition. I then bought a 50mm f2 lens which I love. As the Leica lens are very expensive I have just bought a used 90mm Voigtlander and am thinking of buying a Voigtlander 25mm f4. The M6 is a lovely camera to use, it is not a point and shoot but a deliberate photographic instrument that takes me back to when I started photography 35 years ago. I shoot black and white film with it, develop the film in the normal way and print the photos with my Epson Color 680 printer using a single black ink at 2880 dpi. The camera gets knocked for film loading but I don't find this a problem, it's all part of the manual aspect of Leica photography like the focusing and metering. The fun is now back in my photography. The contax is an excellent camera but in a very different way.

Brings back the joys of photography.

Taking the M6 as it is I see no weaknesses.

Contax G2

Not used

This is a wonderful camera that allows high quality 35mm images to be taken without the intrusiveness of an SLR. It is a camera that forces you to consider the fundamental elements involved in photography with every picture taken. Unfortunately it is expensive.

Small, quiet & extremely portable Discreet TTL metering Minimal shutter lag No viewfinder blackout

Rangefinder patch flare Sluggish meter response Shutter easily damaged by the sun Parallax error (common to all viewfinder cameras) Difficult to focus moving subjects

Leica M2 Konica Hexar AF Olympus MjU-II

Obsolescence is not an issue, but it costs a packet to get anything done.

I initially approached the Leica M through a M^TTL 0.58. Wearing glasses I found that I could see the bright lines easily particluarly with my 35, 50, 75. I added a dioper and the 1.25 magnifier but have since removed both from the eyepiece. Moving from the SLR ( I the camera do everything, including your thinking), I found the M6TTL a little getting use to. Viewing, film loading and making all the adjustments. It couldn't have been too bad as I added the 0.85 for my 75 and 90. Eschewing the diopter and 1.25 magnifier I found viewing easy with time (read practice). Being my first experience with Leica, I was and am completely impressed by the design and solidity of these cameras. They are NOT designed to be obsolete after 1 or 2 years with a new wizbang model SLR, ala Japan. Designed for obsolescense is he mafrketing scheme and has been for them. Back to my lovely Leicas. Now over time they are simply an extension of my vision (Iknow sounds like copy for Leica ad),but it is true. Having started around age 10, now 61 my Leicas ( and lenses ) are all one could ask for in 35mm, given the constraints of design and purpose.

Solid, quality, flawless operation, ease of operation (after practice). The results, my chromes speak for themselves.

None that I am aware.

Leica M7, 0.58 and 0.72.

not needed

Un placer tenerla en las manos. Muy facil de usar, si lo tuyo son las camaras manuales: cargas la pelicula por la parte de abajo como hace 80 años, encuadras, enfocas manualmente, mides la luz y seleccionas el diafragma y la velocidad, disparas y pasas al siguiente fotograma manualmente y cuando acabas el carrete lo rebobinas tu mismo. Con esta camara no sacas fotografias. Haces fotografias. Una camara para toda la vida.

Extrafuerte. Silenciosa y no demasiado grande. Calidad total.

En determinadas situaciones es algo dificil de enfocar mediante el sistema de imagen partida. No tiene autodisparador. La velocidad mas lenta es de solo 1 segundo sin contar la posicion B. No hay informacion en el visor de la velocidad ni el diafragma utilizado. Poco practica con teleobjetivos pues no posee vision reflex.

Canonet 28.

No lo he necesitado.