Leica cameras

[cliveh]

Have Leitz ever made a camera which is an improvement on the M2 in terms of design and function? If so, in what way?

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Very loaded question. I will watch this with interest.
Just as a curious question - what do you hope to find out?

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

They can improve Leicas?
That should be good. We've been waiting decades...

 

[Chan Tran]

Have Leitz ever made a camera which is an improvement on the M2 in terms of design and function? If so, in what way?

You know they introduced the M3 first before they made the M2. So you can see their kind of improvement.
Just kidding. But you can see the way they reintroduced the rewind crank on the MP and selling the attachment for it. Removing the meter from the M5 when they introduced the M4-P and selling the add on meter. That kind of things.

 

[Pioneer]

Improve a Leica

I think Barnack got pretty darned close to what was needed back in the 30s, and everything since then has been downhill. But what do I know? I still love my K1000! Simple, reliable, very easy to use, doesn't get in the way of the shot. I think that is what Leica was about in the beginning.

 

[daleeman]

You know they introduced the M3 first before they made the M2. So you can see their kind of improvement.
Just kidding. But you can see the way they reintroduced the rewind crank on the MP and selling the attachment for it. Removing the meter from the M5 when they introduced the M4-P and selling the add on meter. That kind of things.

Bunch of drunk engineers named it an M3, then upon the build of a new body, stlll drinking German beer, called it an M2. After they sobered up, they knew they would be out of a job if they hit M0 so they went to M4 and above on the models.

They are not to blame, while drinking German beer, I could not count either

 

[msbarnes]

Leica M9 if you like digital
Leica CL if you like small
Leica M6 if you like light meters
Leica M4-p if you like 28mm viewfinders

Well they are all "improvements" in different ways but for different people

As for me, Leica M3 is king.

 

[Paul Goutiere]

There are few things we can really count on in this world like death, taxes and the Leica M2.

 

[GuyS.]

Any manufacturer which still produces new film camera's gets the thumbs up from me. The current MP is a wonderful piece of kit.

 

[Brian Puccio]

Leica M9 if you like digital
Leica CL if you like small
Leica M6 if you like light meters
Leica M4-p if you like 28mm viewfinders

Well they are all "improvements" in different ways but for different people

As for me, Leica M3 is king.

M6 TTL .58 if you like 28mm viewfinders and wear glasses or otherwise have trouble with 28mm framelines.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Have Leitz ever made a camera which is an improvement on the M2 in terms of design and function? If so, in what way?

Leicaflex SL. Better metering, better viewfinder, easier to hold still, no need for auxiliary viewfinders.

 

[Nick Merritt]

A cheeky response, but true! I guess I'm not sure what the original poster was getting at. Would an M2 successor with the same simple framelines, but maybe with a meter, crank rewind, same frame counter be the goal? No such camera exists.

Leicaflex SL. Better metering, better viewfinder, easier to hold still, no need for auxiliary viewfinders.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

A cheeky response, but true! I guess I'm not sure what the original poster was getting at. Would an M2 successor with the same simple framelines, but maybe with a meter, crank rewind, same frame counter be the goal? No such camera exists.

It's a case of a poorly posed question.

I like rangefinders, I've had a couple M3s, but an SLR is a more versatile camera for me. The original Lecaflex lineup are the only SLRs Leica made that I would consider owning as a day to day user, they lost it with the R3 and never got it back with susequent models.

 

[Alan Gales]

I never could understood Leica. Sure, the M series lenses were sharper than the Zeiss lenses on my Contax 139 because they didn't have to design them around a mirror. The problem was, for the price of a Leica I would rather have invested my money into a medium format camera.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

I never could understood Leica. Sure, the M series lenses were sharper than the Zeiss lenses on my Contax 139 because they didn't have to design them around a mirror. The problem was, for the price of a Leica I would rather have invested my money into a medium format camera.

The difference between the rangefinder lenses and the SLR lenses is really only in the wide angle lenses. Even between the R Leica lenses and M series lenses. Once you get over 50mm in focal length, those differences (due to the retrofocus design) vanish.

 

[Bill Burk]

I was reading a speech by Willy Fleckhaus, art director for Twen in Germany in the '60s

His topic was "Overdesigned" and I kept thinking about the Leica M2 when reading the explanation of the topic...

"I am here speaking about over-designing. I heard this phrase in America and was very impressed with it, because it is not possible to translate it into German."

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

...Willy Fleckhaus.... "I am here speaking about over-designing. I heard this phrase in America and was very impressed with it, because it is not possible to translate it into German."

That's seriously funny, Bill! Engineers have a very special status in Germany, from what I understand.

The cameras may be engineered to oblivion. A few years ago, when I first tested a Leica, I was a little bit perplexed that I couldn't tell much of a difference between a 50mm Summicron and a Pentax 50mm lens, judging from prints I made on a Leitz V35 enlarger. Same film, same developer, same paper, same contrast... and basically the same resulting print.
But, and this is a big deal for me, I absolutely love using the Leica, and by comparison the Pentax SLRs (and many others I have tried including Nikon, Canon, Olympus, etc), are downright clunky by comparison. It is just an elegant piece of machinery that puts me in a state of mind that is more conducive to creating good negatives than any other camera I have tried. It's a matter of feeling at one with the camera.

I realize that not everybody will like a Leica camera. But to me, my M2 is a dream machine, and I cannot imagine a better tool.

 

[rolleiman]

It's a case of a poorly posed question.

I like rangefinders, I've had a couple M3s, but an SLR is a more versatile camera for me. The original Lecaflex lineup are the only SLRs Leica made that I would consider owning as a day to day user, they lost it with the R3 and never got it back with susequent models.

Not even with the R6-2..?

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Not even with the R6-2..?

"never got it back with subsequent models"

 

[E. von Hoegh]

I was reading a speech by Willy Fleckhaus, art director for Twen in Germany in the '60s

His topic was "Overdesigned" and I kept thinking about the Leica M2 when reading the explanation of the topic...

"I am here speaking about over-designing. I heard this phrase in America and was very impressed with it, because it is not possible to translate it into German."

No need of translation, it's inherent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens-Halske_Sh.III