Leica M7 a la carte arrived yesterday!

[aluncrockford]

Thanks for showing us the camera, it is something that will last for years and is a fine long term investment, I hope the images made and the experience using it will bring you the greatest of pleasure .

 

[Tom Stanworth]

I found 2F/2F's post quite irritating. Its awfully tiring when people make such judgements of other people on a forum like this, when the OP certainly did not post a provocative or obnoxious comment in the first place. At no point was he sneering at those with lesser cameras...

I do hope 2F/2F does not enjoy any material pleasures or basic comfort whatsoever because I am pretty sure that based on his own reasoning I can explain why he is a selfish human being. Or alternatively we can just leave each other alone

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

There are all kinds of expensive things in the world. At least the purchase of a new a la carte Leica does something to keep these excellent film cameras in production and demonstrates that such things are still valued.

Are we so surprised when someone buys a top-of-the line DSLR or MF DSLR and a couple of high-end lenses? Such investments in mass-produced electronics are substantially greater, I suspect, than the cost of the camera in question.

Congratulations on your acquisition.

 

[Dinesh]

I am 20 percent jealous and 80 percent disgusted! Kind of like when I see a beautiful Ferrari on the road, but then actually think about the fact that someone spend more money than I'll make in 20 years on that car just to drive it in stop and go traffic on the 101, passing thousands of hungry homeless people on the way to wherever it is he/she is headed.

Irony.

http://www.dpug.org/forums/f41/wtb-d700-2323/

 

[MaximusM3]

I am 20 percent jealous and 80 percent disgusted! Kind of like when I see a beautiful Ferrari on the road, but then actually think about the fact that someone spend more money than I'll make in 20 years on that car just to drive it in stop and go traffic on the 101, passing thousands of hungry homeless people on the way to wherever it is he/she is headed.

Always get a chuckle when I read such arguments. The truth of the matter is that if you could afford to buy a camera you wanted, regardless if it was needed or not, you likely would. It's not fair to judge others who can just because you can't. I know people who drive Ferraris and also donate time/money to soup kitchens in NYC.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I'm really happy for you that you can buy and use such a gorgeous camera!

What a beauty! And best of all, it's not going to a collector who's going to let it collect dust ad infinitum. It goes to someone who will cherish it and use it, just for the joy of doing so.

Good for you, man.

- Thomas

 

[Sirius Glass]

Case 1:

M7 a la carte Black Paint with .85 viewfinder, MP-style film advance, .85-4 framelines and no engraving. Took 5 weeks and 2 days.

Case 2:

I am 20 percent jealous ...

Case 1: Enjoy, I wish it was me.

In case 1 and in case 2, I have this one reoccuring thought:

It is during events and times like these that I wish that I had been born independently wealthy instead of being so increadibly handsome and humble! => Sirius Glass​

 

[segedi]

sandermarijn - I found a good deal on the Summarit and hadn't really considered the other Leica's. At the time I was debating between the Zeiss f/2 and 2.8. And it is a really nice lens. I really like the focus tab - an older pre-asph 35 'Lux that I had tried out was harder to focus. It's super light as well.

First frames... I took a few portrait shots of my step daughter with her newly curled hair. She's shaving her head on Sunday to raise money (and probably a few eyebrows) for cancer research. My wife thought it would be nice to have a photo of her before the shave and i agreed.

Film: Kodak Portra 400 - new film for the new camera
Lenses: 90mm Summicron, 50mm 'Lux ASPH, Zeiss 50mm Planar
Model: My step-daughter

I used the auto mode and some wide apertures and even fiddled with exposure compensation. Stay tuned for pics.

First impressions:
Shutter sound - it's not quite the dull clunk of the MP, but is really quiet. Way quieter than a Bessa R#x.

Viewfinder - I made the right call for my style, the .85 with a 1.25x makes it 1:1 (well slightly over but I can't tell the difference!). And it's bright! Really clear and makes focus a breeze. Especially with the 90mm and is great for the 50mm as well. The red LEDs are also easily readable but not a nuisance.

DX Reader - Works well. It picked ISO 400 - not rocket science but it works. I'm not likely to turn it off too often as I don't roll my own.

Exposure compensation - This is the weakest area of the M7 in my opinion. When in Auto mode, my Bessa R4A really shines, it's very easy to change on the top dial. M7, not as easy as it requires two hands (for me anyway), but at least it's there. Although in situations where I'm concerned I will probably throw it into full manual mode and then just take care of exposure on the shutter dial or aperture ring.

Shutter Speed Dial - I really like that it is 1. bigger than the MPs and 2. more easily reachable. With a bit of practice I can make this an aperture priority camera because dialing in the shutter speeds is fairly easy. Heaps easier than on an MP.

Shutter Release - Very nice. Seems to have a shorter throw than the MP, and for me that's a good thing. No spots of resistance and works like it should.

Feel - It's solid, heavier than an MP seems, but a heck of a lot lighter than a DSLR, and handling is great as well. There is also something about mounting a lens that just feels right. With some other cameras sometimes it isn't apparent it is mounted all the way. The Leicas just click into place. Big deal - maybe not - but it adds to my pleasure in using the system. And I think enjoyment contributes to my photographic output.

Final thought - it's a more capable camera than I am a capable photographer. But the amount of use I'll get out of it should change things in my favor

 

[segedi]

OddE - They must have taken the "less is more" attitude towards their pricing
But I can understand them wanting something for removing their branding. A lot of Web site templates and software charge a fee if you remove their branding as well.

I don't really want it to draw too much attention by passers-by on the street either. The most attention I have ever got with a camera is when using a 6x12 pinhole - that really drew more conversations and comments than I had expected. And while I was taking some notes on exposure in front of some parked cars, an older woman thought I might even be giving her a ticket!

 

[ic-racer]

Wow thats nice! I want one!

 

[2F/2F]

You are all missing the content of what I said.

It was not a judgment of a person, as several have stated, nor was it an insult.

Nor was it an argument that buying useful tools is ridiculous if they are expensive. I bought a used D700 and grip for $2,200 because it was required for work to replace my 8-year-old digital, and I am in the same league as someone who gets a $5,000-plus custom-made 35mm film camera in 2011 and then presents it without even speaking of what he is going to do with it? Sure sounds like irony to me.....

It was a tongue-in-cheek way of saying, "It's a nice camera, but you'd better go out and take some damned good pictures with it so you are not like one of those aloof, disconnected, show-off mamones who drives in bumper to bumper traffic with a Ferrari."

It was also a commentary on the stupid prices of new Leicas, and my disbelief that anyone buys them.

No need to get all crazy, folks.

 

[mhcfires]

It was also a commentary on the stupid prices of new Leicas, and my disbelief that anyone buys them.

No need to get all crazy, folks.

AW Right! I would still rather have another M2.

 

[vpwphoto]

Cheers to you.

I buy used Cadillacs, so I appreciate those who buy my car first!

I toyed with the build your own Leica web site, just couldn't pull the trigger. Why? Because I couldn't afford the lenses I wanted. Right now I shoot a Sumi on a Russian clone...

Cheers..

I just went over to "build" my MP.... I went with a M7 knob, chrome, brown ostrich, and .72 x 3. I went with engraving... this would be my walkabout camer... I wear no bling, this would be my only bling... Um it's $1000 more than last I looked... passed again. Green Leather tempting...

 

[ambaker]

You are all missing the content of what I said.

It was not a judgment of a person, as several have stated, nor was it an insult.

Nor was it an argument that buying useful tools is ridiculous if they are expensive. I bought a used D700 and grip for $2,200 because it was required for work to replace my 8-year-old digital, and I am in the same league as someone who gets a $5,000-plus custom-made 35mm film camera in 2011 and then presents it without even speaking of what he is going to do with it? Sure sounds like irony to me.....


No need to get all crazy, folks.

You only spent $2,200? There are some who might see that as a huge expenditure. You spent 4 times the money I did on my latest camera. There are plenty of people in the world who live on much less than that per year.

It is all a matter of perspective.... To me, $2,200 is a huge amount of money for a camera. To you it is not. The OP only paid a bit more than twice yours.

On one thing we both agree. No need to get all crazy...

 

[2F/2F]

You only spent $2,200? There are some who might see that as a huge expenditure. You spent 4 times the money I did on my latest camera. There are plenty of people in the world who live on much less than that per year.

It is all a matter of perspective.... To me, $2,200 is a huge amount of money for a camera. To you it is not. The OP only paid a bit more than twice yours.

On one thing we both agree. No need to get all crazy...

I agree with you. $2,200 is a huge expenditure for me (despite the fact that you stated that it is not). It is the most I have ever spent on any camera by 2x. I hated spending that much on anything short of a house or a car, believe me. But it was a livelihood necessity, as I was losing my jobs from my usual employers by not having a "better" camera. I can count five gigs for sure (maybe more; I don't know) at $400 a pop, that I know I wasn't hired for by one boss, simply because my old camera had "only" 6 Mpix files...as if that was so much worse than my boss' 13 M pix or whatever with her 5D's. But, whatever. She isn't up to snuff technically, but she gets constant work, and hires me, and she is a really swell person, so I like working for her. And in a few months, the thing is paid for by the work I will stop missing out on by having it. And future lenses, even brand new AI-S ones, are several hundred each, not thousands. Therefore the camera actually saves me even more money by allowing me to buy cheaper lenses than I could get for my old one. The high ISO ability allows me to buy slower lenses than I relied on as well, saving thousands more in the end. So, it wasn't an extravagant luxury/hobby expenditure. It was a long-calculated and intelligent business investment. Can't you see the difference? And the only reason I brought it up was to squash the ridiculous comment that my first post was ironic considering my recent purchase.

Also, I would venture to guess that the pretty puppy was more than "a bit more than twice [mine.]" The M7 is five grand, stock, with no lens. Add customization and a lens, and you are probably talking close to 10 grand...for a film camera, A.K.A. an amateur hobby camera for most users in 2011. And then it is just plopped down on the forums for us all to be impressed by. Sorry, but if you cannot see the difference, I don't know what else to say.

I have already settled this with the OP. We're fine. Now it is just deflating silly comments from others who just don't get what I said. If you want to make them, let's just take it to PM so as to not derail this thread any longer.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I agree with you. $2,200 is a huge expenditure for me (despite the fact that you stated that it is not). It is the most I have ever spent on any camera by 2x. I hated spending that much on anything short of a house or a car, believe me. But it was a livelihood necessity, as I was losing my jobs from my usual employers by not having a "better" camera. I can count five gigs for sure (maybe more; I don't know) at $400 a pop, that I know I wasn't hired for by one boss, simply because my old camera had "only" 6 Mpix files...as if that was so much worse than my boss' 13 M pix or whatever with her 5D's. But, whatever. She isn't up to snuff technically, but she gets constant work, and hires me, and she is a really swell person, so I like working for her. And in a few months, the thing is paid for by the work I will stop missing out on by having it. And future lenses, even brand new AI-S ones, are several hundred each, not thousands. Therefore the camera actually saves me even more money by allowing me to buy cheaper lenses than I could get for my old one. The high ISO ability allows me to buy slower lenses than I relied on as well, saving thousands more in the end. So, it wasn't an extravagant luxury/hobby expenditure. It was a long-calculated and intelligent business investment. Can't you see the difference? And the only reason I brought it up was to squash the ridiculous comment that my first post was ironic considering my recent purchase.

Also, I would venture to guess that the pretty puppy was more than "a bit more than twice [mine.]" The M7 is five grand, stock, with no lens. Add customization and a lens, and you are probably talking close to 10 grand...for a film camera, A.K.A. an amateur hobby camera for most users in 2011. And then it is just plopped down on the forums for us all to be impressed by. Sorry, but if you cannot see the difference, I don't know what else to say.

I have already settled this with the OP. We're fine. Now it is just deflating silly comments from others who just don't get what I said. If you want to make them, let's just take it to PM so as to not derail this thread any longer.

You know, I don't like being called stupid by you in any forum. Don't come near me with your derogatory comments, and then laugh it off by saying it's the rest of us that are stupid because we don't understand what you really mean. That's the lamest shit I've read in a long time. You are officially on my ignore list.

 

[lxdude]

It was a tongue-in-cheek way of saying, "It's a nice camera, but you'd better go out and take some damned good pictures with it so you are not like one of those aloof, disconnected, show-off mamones who drives in bumper to bumper traffic with a Ferrari."

If that's the case, then your tongue was in your cheek so far that nobody could understand what you were saying!

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

Im located in NYC, and I always cringe a bit whenever there's a kid who whips out a Leica or just carries it daintily on their shoulder like an expensive purse, without ever picking it up to take a photo. If you go somewhere like Union Square, Leicas seem to outnumber all other rangefinders :O and everyone else who doesnt have one has a gigantor DSLR, and if its Canon it has to have an L or kit lens on it. I saw 1 other film user the other day with a plain olympus slr around the golden hour shooting. =[

 

[segedi]

For some reason, the craziness of this thread reminded me of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxC8zycxa4g

 

[Tom Stanworth]

Sure, I know what you mean, but the problem is you never know who these kids rally are. Some of them might be the next Magnum nominee, or one right now. Some really good photographers dress nicely and don't dart about framing everything like someone new to photography. Added to which, some of them probably own Leica Ms because they feel they are the best tool for the job and for all you know, they got back from Misurata a few days ago and are enjoying some shopping with their girlfriend!

I stopped trying to figure out who was what a while ago. You just never know:

You have a 65 year old man talking almost nonsensically (with an American accent) to a store owner about an expensive Leica film compact that has broken (in London). It sounds like he has no idea about cameras and actually asks the store owner whether 'FP4, I think that's its name' is made by Ilford or Kodak. Is he a rich tourist with no idea and expensive taste in cameras, or is he a famous photographer with 40 years of iconic photographs. He was the latter. He also turned out to be hugely helpful to others in photography, helped me a great deal and was the antithesis of the stereotype some associate with expensive Leicas. A very generous, experienced, and helpful man.

Im located in NYC, and I always cringe a bit whenever there's a kid who whips out a Leica or just carries it daintily on their shoulder like an expensive purse, without ever picking it up to take a photo. If you go somewhere like Union Square, Leicas seem to outnumber all other rangefinders :O and everyone else who doesnt have one has a gigantor DSLR, and if its Canon it has to have an L or kit lens on it. I saw 1 other film user the other day with a plain olympus slr around the golden hour shooting. =[

 

[Dinesh]

,,,,,, And the only reason I brought it up was to squash the ridiculous comment that my first post was ironic considering my recent purchase.

Why would you require high iso's in that glass house you apparently live in?

 

[2F/2F]

You know, I don't like being called stupid by you in any forum. Don't come near me with your derogatory comments, and then laugh it off by saying it's the rest of us that are stupid because we don't understand what you really mean. That's the lamest shit I've read in a long time. You are officially on my ignore list.

I did not call you or anyone stupid, nor did I laugh anything off, nor did I do anything lamely (i.e. in a crippled manner).

 

[2F/2F]

Why be pissy?

Because it's who I am, especially in a "comfortable" (i.e. non work) environment, and people who know me actually see the humor in it. Giving someone some snark and grief like I did is the least I could do in the situation, given my feelings about it! The literalism and sensitivity with which a lot of people take things is a real road block to just having some crabby fun around here. If I intended to seriously blast someone about something important, I would have made an actual academic attack, not just posted something grumpy and pissy. I think people blow through these posts too literally without actually stopping to comprehend tone, personality, and dry humor sometimes, not to mention actual content too. I am not saying my post was not stinging or that it doesn't reflect my true feelings. But it was not an egregious personal attack on anyone, and I would not have made it in a situation in which I thought it would seriously be taken like some people here have taken it. And none of the arguments against what I said make any sense, so I responded to them as to why they do not. A short, grumpy, off-the-cuff commentary intended to give someone some harmless grief need not be discussed to death like this.

 

[Diapositivo]

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

(a poet of yore)

peace, brothers

 

[Sirius Glass]

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

(a poet of yore)

peace, brothers

Hey, man, can't we all just get a bong?