Long time Nikon guy just got his first Leica... whee!

Yeah, I haven't posted here in years. My first life (as SchwinnParamount), I posted regularly for the last 15 years or so. What drives me to post now?
I am crazy with lust. My Leica M6 just arrived (Fed Ex... and the Mother Farter left the box sitting on my street mailbox instead of delivering it to my porch. It sat out there for a couple hours until my dear neighbor took it off the street and brought it to her house - and then called me to say she had my Fed Ex delivery). But I have no lens yet. I have a new Carl Zeiss 35mm M-mount on the way but won't be here until the end of January and a TTArtisan 50mm on backorder with B&H. So I have this lovely M6 and no way to make pictures, yet.

And since I've been away, I missed the re-introduction of Acros as Across II. One of the PhoTrio members did a scientific test on Acros and Acros II and reported that II is at least as good as Acros... but at double the cost. F it. I don't care. I loved Acros. So now I am going to get me some Acros II and hope that it arrives before these fancy lenses do.

Meanwhile, shoot. I can't do anything but fondle the M6.

Oh, and I am going to start selling my gently used Nikon gear. Lotsa bodes and lenses. Stay tuned.

Fedex is the worst. I mean the absolute worst.

They left an overnight envelope with a large check in it on the wet ground in the drizzling rain next to my mailbox.

Congratulations on the Leica. Can't wait to see the Nikon gear.

Congratulations on your first Leica.

For decades, I have used a 35mm Nikon SLR system and a 35mm Leica rangefinder system. The two systems complimented each other.

I primarily used my Leica rangefinder with three lenses (21mm, 35mm, and 90mm) when I had to shoot quickly and quietly. Specifically, I used the rangefinder when I needed the quiet shutter for shooting theatre, golf, street, and recording studios.

I primarily used my Nikon SLR when I had to shoot subjects that were difficult for the rangefinder.

I have the following lenses for my Nikon SLR:
a. ultra wide angle (14mm and 18mm)
b. long telephoto (135mm, 180mm, 400mm, 500mm, 1000mm, and 2000mm)
c. zoom lenses (14-24mm, 20-35mm, 28-70mm, and 80-200mm)
d. special purpose lenses (macro, perspective control, fisheye and telescopes)

Battery independence is a feature I treasure. My Leica M6 and Nikon F2 do not need batteries to operate. The M6 only needs batteries to power the built-in light meter. Even then, it will operate manually with or without batteries. My F2 does not have a built-in light meter. It does not need batteries unless I add a light meter or a motor drive. Even then, it will still operate manually with or without batteries.

My M6 does not allow the close-focus that I need for portraits. In fact, my F2 also does not close-focus enough for my shooting style. However, I can mount a macro lens on my F2 to capture the tight face shots and tight hand shots that I need.

My Nikon F2 flash syncs at 1/60 second. My Leica M6 flash syncs at 1/50 second. Since I rarely need a higher flash sync when shooting with these two cameras, I can live with their limited sync speeds. When I am shooting outdoors and trying to balance sunlight with flash, I actually need a higher flash sync. Under those conditions, I use other cameras that flash sync as high as 1/400 second.

My M6 handle dark filters better than my F2. However, this feature does not help me because when I use dark filters, I use them on long telephoto lenses for capturing a solar eclipse or Venus transits across the sun. In my case, the F2's better handling of long telephoto lenses negates the M6's ability to handle dark filters.

My F2 viewfinder has 100% viewfinder coverage. Some SLRs only offer 93% coverage. That means that when shooting flat artwork, capturing the entire artwork without including the frame or boarders is more difficult. The 100% viewfinder coverage of the Nikon F2 provides precision composition.

My M6 viewfinder has coverage that is greater than 100%. This allows me to view objects outside what the camera is actually going to capture. I find this feature very useful for follow moving subject.

The biggest problem I have with the two cameras is that the manual focus rings of the Leica and Nikon lenses rotate in opposite directions. This is usually not a problem when shooting slowly. However, it is a major problem for me when shooting quickly and instinctively.

Leica M6 & Nikon F2 by Narsuitus, on Flickr

Congrats, and welcome to the Leica club!

Welcome back!
It’s good to see old friends returning to APUG.

I use both Nikon SLR and Leica M6...enjoy both systems for different reasons. My advice (not that you asked ) is to get some experience shooting the M6 before selling off your Nikon gear. Make sure you like shooting a rangefinder; many folks don't. If your budget allows, you might want to keep the Nikon gear to enable picture taking that a rangefinder either can't do or doesn't do well--long lens use and close-up work, for example. Regardless, welcome back to the forums and to the Leica fold!

The first thing I noticed when I got a Leica is it not a great run-and-gun camera. Changing the lenses is not as fast--maybe because the barrel is smaller, and changing and loading film isn't as quick either (even with the entire back coming off an F). Otherwise, it is a delight to use and carry around. Great dim-light camera, too because there's no mirror vibration and the viewfinder is fairly bright.

Congratulations on your new Leica. Terrific cameras, my favorite to shoot with.

As others have suggested, hang onto your Nikons if you can. Great for shooting situations that aren't ideal for rangefinders (narsuitus has a great summary above).

Old Gregg said:

I have the same combination and I just now realized that it's true! Funny how I never noticed, maybe because my Leica lenses have focus tabs, so the muscle memory doesn't get confused.

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I do not have a focus direction problem when I use the Nikon because I use Nikon AF equipment.

Sirius Glass said:

I do not have a focus direction problem when I use the Nikon because I use Nikon AF equipment.

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That's cheating

Sirius Glass said:

I do not have a focus direction problem when I use the Nikon because I use Nikon AF equipment.

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logan2z said:

That's cheating

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No, it is not cheating, my parents raise smart children.

Based on feedback so far, I think I will sell my Nikon gear very slowly. I have an F2, F3, F5, Fe2, FM, EL-2, and a couple others. I have Nikon lenses from about 24mm through 300mm with a couple of macros (55, 105) and of course a couple of 105mm lenses. All of the lenses are in fantastic shape as I always treated them like my children and spread the usage out over all bodies and lenses.

I won't be able to post pictures from the M6/Zeiss 35mm as my darkroom went out of commission after my septic system turned belly up. I won't be back in commission until after the $45k sewer conversion is done. Perhaps I can scan film images (I can get away with 1 roll of 35mm before the downstairs toilet starts bubbling up with backed up septic - Yuck!) and post?

BradS said:

Welcome back!
It’s good to see old friends returning to APUG.

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It's great to be back among friends. Oddly enough, I've never met anyone in person (except once in Portland when we got together to see a John Sexton lecture).

tvdw said:

Don't sell the Nikons. You'll regret it in time once the newness of the M6 wears off.

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lol. That's what I said to myself about my various Canon SLRs when I started to buy the Nikons. Truly, the "new" did wear off on the Nikons eventually, but not before I sold all of the Canon equipment except for the F1-n. I'm going to take a look at my Nikons and find any duplication in lenses and functionality in bodies. For example, the FM seems to be an F2 minus the pro level build.

I’ll sell the Leica before the Nikons.....

In 1953 I moved up from a Nicca to a Leica iiif which finally succumbed to abuse and was eventually replaced with a M4 in 1970.The M4 survived 40 years of hard use until replaced by digital gear about 10 years ago. The M4 was problem free in all those years. After trying Praktica FX3 and Miranda SLRs, I chose Nikon F for macro- and micro-photography and long telephoto shots in 1967, although the M4 was always favored for most other work. Some of the old Nikkor lenses are still useful on digital cameras. Both Leica and Nikon had an intriguing range of accessories, such as the Polaroid film attachment for the Nikon F1. Leica had several devices for micro- and macro-photography and for tele-photography. There was a 100' film back for the Nikon F1. The ingenuity required to make a Leica do the work of a Nikon and vice versa was fascinating.

Jim Jones said:

The ingenuity required to make a Leica do the work of a Nikon and vice versa was fascinating.

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That sentence gave me flashbacks.

I do remember using my Nikon SLR in a sound deadening blimp when I had to shoot quietly like a rangefinder during live theatrical performances.

Thank goodness using visoflex mirror housing to convert a rangefinder into an SLR in order to shoot macro and long telephoto lenses was an expensive nightmare I avoided.

John M Austin said:

I won't be able to post pictures from the M6/Zeiss 35mm as my darkroom went out of commission after my septic system turned belly up. I won't be back in commission until after the $45k sewer conversion is done. Perhaps I can scan film images (I can get away with 1 roll of 35mm before the downstairs toilet starts bubbling up with backed up septic - Yuck!) and post?

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Ooof, tell me having the darkroom did not trash the septic?

Ai Print said:

Ooof, tell me having the darkroom did not trash the septic?

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Luckily it didn't. Age did it. The system was installed when I was 5 years old. That was um... a long time ago. It's just worn out. If you have a fresh septic tank, there are ways you can mitigate the "damage" done by your darkroom chemicals.

John M Austin said:

lol. That's what I said to myself about my various Canon SLRs when I started to buy the Nikons. Truly, the "new" did wear off on the Nikons eventually, but not before I sold all of the Canon equipment except for the F1-n. I'm going to take a look at my Nikons and find any duplication in lenses and functionality in bodies. For example, the FM seems to be an F2 minus the pro level build.

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I find the FM's to be one of the finest Nikons ever.

Ariston said:

Fedex is the worst. I mean the absolute worst.

They left an overnight envelope with a large check in it on the wet ground in the drizzling rain next to my mailbox.

Congratulations on the Leica. Can't wait to see the Nikon gear.

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Lol, you haven't tried DPD in Germany! Typical story: at 3pm you get an email, "your parcel is arriving within the hour", together with a live position of the delivery truck within a few 100's meters of your home. Then nothing comes. At best you get a notice that the package could not be delivered as no one was there (??) and is waiting for you in some store, whose distance is inversely proportional to the square of the weight of the parcel. At worst, it "was" delivered - but you have no clue where and to whom.

Back to topic, Congrats on the Leica! The Zeiss 35mm are truly excellent. I can recommend the 50mm Planar as well. Very good bang for the buck.

Be careful, you are on a slippery slope once you get your first Leica. After 3-4 Leica bodies + 10 lenses (at least 5 of which being 50mm) you'll need a Hasselblad too

Haven fun and I hope your lens(es) come rapidly.

etn said:

At best you get a notice that the package could not be delivered as no one was there (??) and is waiting for you in some store, whose distance is inversely proportional to the square of the weight of the parcel.

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Don't you mean "the distance is directly proportional to the cube of the mass in kilometers"?

Sirius Glass said:

Don't you mean "the distance is directly proportional to the cube of the mass in kilometers"?

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Lol I see, I got everything mixed up again. Thanks for correcting!

BradS said:

I’ll sell the Leica before the Nikons.....

View attachment 262868

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Love the Stephen Shore background as a marker of time for those cameras, BradS. Thanks!