The New Leitz - Wetzlar Leica M6 (and the dreaded film scratching issue)

darkosaric · Feb 24, 2023

Sirius Glass said:
Nothing handles or feels like a M camera but I still prefer SLRs instead.

Smoothest winding from all cameras that I have is Nikon F3. Next is M3, then other M's. I don't know how - but with F3 they really nailed it close to perfection. I do prefer original F for use on the road, as I don't need to think about batteries.

Radost · Feb 24, 2023

koraks said:
@Radost @Huss - we get it: one of you likes the CLE, the other likes the M. The jousting has been only somewhat snarky up to this point, so perhaps drop the subject already. You're not going to win each other over - and there's no need to, in the first place. Thanks.

When You are right you are right. Agree.

darkosaric · Feb 24, 2023

Radost said:
You have 8 Ms????
You know they all do the same thing right?
Send me those death CLE I will be happy to get them back working.

I have 4 Ms. M3 is the best, then M1 is dear to my heart, then M4. M6 i don't like, but it is there as future investment (first M i got). they are pretty different in my view. From absolute love for M3 to bear tolerance to M6

Huss · Feb 24, 2023

koraks said:
@Radost @Huss - we get it: one of you likes the CLE, the other likes the M. The jousting has been only somewhat snarky up to this point, so perhaps drop the subject already. You're not going to win each other over - and there's no need to, in the first place. Thanks.

@koraks we get it, you are an SLR dood.

j/k.

Radost enjoys is CLEs. I liked mine - which is why I had two. Shame they died.

The CLE has the best vf for a 28mm lens outside a .58 Leica M. Difference being stepping up to the Leica now is at least 10x the price to get that .58.

Huss · Feb 24, 2023

darkosaric said:
I have 4 Ms. M3 is the best, then M1 is dear to my heart, then M4. M6 i don't like, but it is there as future investment (first M i got). they are pretty different in my view. From absolute love for M3 to bear tolerance to M6

I sold my M3 dual stroke because I just did not like the dual stroke. The M3 single stroke is just so much better and smoother, because there is no interruption in the flow.
Sold my rare red dot m4-2 in a moment of madness - it worked perfectly - as an excuse to get the new M6. I bought the new M6 when the GBP it an all time low vs the $, so paid a lot less for it than people are selling used MPs.
It will be great once it works properly..

Radost · Feb 24, 2023

Huss said:
@koraks we get it, you are an SLR dood.

j/k.

Radost enjoys is CLEs. I liked mine - which is why I had two. Shame they died.

The CLE has the best vf for a 28mm lens outside a .58 Leica M. Difference being stepping up to the Leica now is at least 10x the price to get that .58.

I looked in to a Leica with .58 not easy to get unless older m6. But those have the flairy viewfinder. Maybe in the future when I get bored I can get a black mp with 0.58. Or an upgraded m6.

Huss · Feb 24, 2023

Radost said:
I looked in to a Leica with .58 not easy to get unless older m6. But those have the flairy viewfinder. Maybe in the future when I get bored I can get a black mp with 0.58. Or an upgraded m6.

The one I recommend the most is the M7 w .58. Closest to the CLE - u gots yer AE, u gots yer AE lock, u gots yer metered manual mode, u gots yer TTL flash.
Then the MP.

Problem is .58 has become the most desired VF as people now realize how good it actually is. So be prepared to drop $7K+

mshchem · Feb 24, 2023

I have one of the little Leica ttl flash units for M6ttl and M11. Very easy to use as fill flash, only limiting factor is 1/50th sync speed. Ttl is another vote for M7.

Carterofmars · Feb 24, 2023

BradS said:
After two years of rumors, wild speculation and intense market buzz, It is finally here.

https://leica-camera.com/en-US/photography/cameras/m/m6

I like it. It reminds me of my first M6....looks just like it without the quirks.

Nice work Leica!

I, personally, cannot make a 'NEW' purchase from Leica ever again. It's a long story, but when THIS customer missed the deadline for the M-E sensor replacement on his first new Leica investment, by less than a year, I was told you're outta luck.

No email notifications from Pop-Flash or Leica that there was a recall- nothing. I dropped the hobby for a number of years due to work demands, kids, etc., and wasn't aware of the recall.

Outta luck kiddo.

I cannot invest thousands of hard-earned dollars in that company again. Never.

darkosaric · Feb 24, 2023

Huss said:
I sold my M3 dual stroke because I just did not like the dual stroke

My first M3 was single stroke, this one that I have now is dual. And yes - single is better for me. I got used to it, but I would swap it for single stroke in a heart beat.

Huss · Feb 24, 2023

mshchem said:
I have one of the little Leica ttl flash units for M6ttl and M11. Very easy to use as fill flash, only limiting factor is 1/50th sync speed. Ttl is another vote for M7.

Yup, my Sd24 is fantastic w the M7.

koraks · Feb 24, 2023

Huss said:
we get it, you are an SLR dood

You bet
RF's never grew on me for some reason. There's still hope though; I'm not that old yet.

Huss · Feb 24, 2023

Leica ambassador Jono Slack just posted his new M6 review. I guess he didn't pay attention, but if you click on his pics, the scratches are shocking. Way worse than mine. Unbelievable that they are selling this camera.

The New Leica M6: Rebirth of a photographic legend

Leica - The New Leica M6: Rebirth of a photographic legend Some history and first impressions of the new Leica M6 camera

www.macfilos.com

faberryman · Feb 24, 2023

Huss said:
Leica ambassador Jono Slack just posted his new M6 review. I guess he didn't pay attention, but if you click on his pics, the scratches are shocking. Way worse than mine. Unbelievable that they are selling this camera.

The New Leica M6: Rebirth of a photographic legend

Leica - The New Leica M6: Rebirth of a photographic legend Some history and first impressions of the new Leica M6 camera

www.macfilos.com

It doesn't look like the meter in his M6 works very well either.

I went to his website to check out his photos. He has his galleries set up by which Leica lens he used to take the photo.

Jonathan Slack Photography

www.slack.co.uk

Kodachromeguy · Feb 24, 2023

Huss said:
I sold my M3 dual stroke because I just did not like the dual stroke.

In 1982 or 1983, I had a late dual-stroke M3 converted to single stroke. Is this conversion no longer possible?

mshchem · Feb 24, 2023

Huss said:
Leica ambassador Jono Slack just posted his new M6 review. I guess he didn't pay attention, but if you click on his pics, the scratches are shocking. Way worse than mine. Unbelievable that they are selling this camera.

The New Leica M6: Rebirth of a photographic legend

Leica - The New Leica M6: Rebirth of a photographic legend Some history and first impressions of the new Leica M6 camera

www.macfilos.com

Huss, I'm not seeing the scratches. Maybe I see a bit in the sky??

mshchem · Feb 24, 2023

Huss said:
Leica ambassador Jono Slack just posted his new M6 review. I guess he didn't pay attention, but if you click on his pics, the scratches are shocking. Way worse than mine. Unbelievable that they are selling this camera.

The New Leica M6: Rebirth of a photographic legend

Leica - The New Leica M6: Rebirth of a photographic legend Some history and first impressions of the new Leica M6 camera

www.macfilos.com

Oh crap, I'm seeing them now. Holy cow!

mshchem · Feb 24, 2023

The first few pictures that are in the group of 6. The vertical shots are really scratched. The shots in the main body of the article look good.
The scratched ones looks like he dipped a film squeegee in sand.

snusmumriken · Feb 24, 2023

mshchem said:
The first few pictures that are in the group of 6. The vertical shots are really scratched. The shots in the main body of the article look good.
The scratched ones looks like he dipped a film squeegee in sand.

Slightly puzzled as to why they aren’t evident on every frame?

Patrick Robert James · Feb 24, 2023

Could be the processing too. Hard to say the camera is actually causing that, to be fair.

Huss · Feb 24, 2023

snusmumriken said:
Slightly puzzled as to why they aren’t evident on every frame?

they werent evident on every frame on mine too, but Leica confirmed my pressure plate was defective. mine modtlt happened near the end of rhe roll.

Huss · Feb 24, 2023

Patrick Robert James said:
Could be the processing too. Hard to say the camera is actually causing that, to be fair.

Looks really similar to mine and Leica told me bad batch of pressure plates.

Huss · Feb 24, 2023

Kodachromeguy said:
In 1982 or 1983, I had a late dual-stroke M3 converted to single stroke. Is this conversion no longer possible?

I checked into it and I think I was quoted $500 by Ye

summicron1 · Feb 24, 2023

Kodachromeguy said:
In 1982 or 1983, I had a late dual-stroke M3 converted to single stroke. Is this conversion no longer possible?

selling a camera becasue you don't like the stroke count seems excessive, but whatever. I dunno who does it these days -- I sent my double stroke in for a CLA in the early 80s and they single-stroked it just as a matter of course, no extra charge that I recall. Just changes the gearing, i think.

snusmumriken · Feb 25, 2023

Huss said:
they werent evident on every frame on mine too, but Leica confirmed my pressure plate was defective. mine modtlt happened near the end of rhe roll.

Can anyone explain how this would happen? Pressure plate causes scratches but only at the end of the roll (presumably the last frames exposed?).

I’m not (necessarily) questioning the diagnosis, I just can’t picture what is happening mechanically.

The New Leitz - Wetzlar Leica M6 (and the dreaded film scratching issue)

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