M6 vs. G1

[Jorg Nolte <jon@trc.rwcp.or.jp>]

<I'm no expert, but I did look at the G1 when contemplating a Leica.
<It took about three seconds to see that the camera was beautifully made. It
<took about one and a half seconds waiting for the auto focus to change my
<mind about buying one. Too bad.
<The good news is that I did buy a Leica M6 and love it.
<

I'm owning a M6 with 3 lenses (2/35, 1.4/50, 2.8/90) since a while.
We recently bought a G1 with (2.8/28, 2/45 and 2.8/90) in Tokyo.
I know this is completely redundant, but
we bought the G1 basically for my wife, who is accustomed to the T2.
Since the G1 is slightly cheaper in Japan than in Europe,
I thought I could trade it later without much loss
in case it turns out to be of not much use for us.
The G1 is nicely constructed and operated as easy as the T2.
I also liked the idea of
having a point & shoot variant "with Leica-like quality".

So far so good.
Although I think, the G1 *is* a really nice camera,
I would clearly vote for the Leica M6.
The Leica is much more *quiet* and still *the* camera for available
light photography.
The G1 is not particularly loud, but it makes significant noises
and uses a disturbing red light beam for focussing in low light.
Compared to modern AF reflex cameras,
the autofocus of the G1 is rather slow and
of limited use with the f2.8/90.
The AF system is therefore *not* suitable for action photography
of fast moving objects.
On the other hand the AF-system is significantly better than
the system of most P&S cameras.
With 2.8/28 an 2/45 it works sufficiently well (no real wonder :)
but I found many photos out of focus with the 2.8/90 used at full
aperture.
The reason for this may not necessarily be the inability
of the AF-system itself but simply the fact,
that you cannot control focus visually like in an AF reflex camera
(and the MF Leica !).
The G1 offers you a scale in the viewfinder,
where the measured distance is shown.
Although this is a convenient feature,
you will surely not look at this scale, estimating distance
and see whether the AF system could have been right when you are
taking snapshots (otherwise it is useful, of course).
The G1-viewfinder is very good, although I like the Leica one better.
The former is a little zoom lens, the letter maps in different frames.
I like the latter concept more, because I can watch the surrounding
at the same time. The G1 is more like a reflex viewfinder.

The quality of the G1-lenses is high and --- just from looking at my slides,
no serious tests --- the lenses seem to be of comparable quality
to the Leica equivalents.
Only the 2.8/90 seems to be not as good as the Leica one
(the new Elmarit? 2.8/90 is extremely good).
In general, the M6 Lenses are more compact than the AF lenses of the G1
and are available in higher apertures. Lens changing is much more easy with
the Leica. The G1 bajonet is rather unconvenient and requires a lot
of training.

For people who like to have an easy to use camera with high
quality lenses and some flexibility, the G1 is surely a recommendable choice.
Especially, when considering the price.
On the other hand, people doing available light photography should
clearly choose the Leica despite the higher price.
You'll hardly find a better camera for this purpose.

---Joerg