Re: [Leica] New M6 user

[Alan Ball/LUNA<AlanBall@csi.com>]

Hi, welcome to the club...

I am also a Leica M newbie. On the LUG time scale anyway (I purchased my M6 
in January). Being a cynical newbie, I think I managed to avoid the "new 
convert" syndrom and remain capable of some distance between that object of 
infinite financial burden and myself  ;-)

So, a few words that I hope might help you in your journey:

1) The M6 metering system is antiquated but pretty reliable. If you have 
used center-weighed metering on your Nikons, you'll manage with the M6.

2) The M6 is antiquated in many other aspects: there seems to be some 
dialectical relationship between frustration and pleasure entailed by this. 
I wish it was radically modernized. Most people on this mailing list feel 
this would be an act of treason.

3) Black is less expensive than chrome and is much lighter. Chrome is only 
worth the pain if you want a chrome M6 with a chrome lens. Which is the 
authentic ? The LUG sect is divided on this issue.

4) 35mm f2 asph that superior ? Maybe, if your hobby is to shoot resolution 
charts, you might, in certain cases, be able to recognize on your slides a 
slight advantage at f2. But most probably not. Of course, if you go on 
reading this list, you'll gradually feel more and more insecure with a lens 
that is not part of the latest generation. I resisted till last Saturday.

5) Never mention flash here. My advice is to go for a powerful Metz unit 
for daylight fill-in (the auto thyristor management of the 40 MZ-3 can be 
tweaked even at apertures as large as f1.4 with reasonnably fast film, 
which is not the case for SB24/25/26/28 for example). Having written that, 
I must confess I hardly ever carry that flash around: too big. A small 
flash is useless, due to the antiquated x sync of the antiquated shutter.

6) There are many pictures you will NOT be able to take with the M system 
and that you can take with your Nikon system. Make sure you never do macro 
or tele work before jumping in. Once you have jumped in, it will be too 
late, you'll just "have to have" a Leica R setup for those applications....

7) A very good picture, I mean a really good one, like the one out of every 
ten rolls, sometimes works even better when it is shot through a 
contemporary M system than when it is shot through any Canikmintax. But not 
radically so. And a boring, useless image remains so even if you use the 
most expensive options of the much too expensive M system.

Why buy a M system then ? My answer is because it is compact, simple, 
reliable, efficient and fun. And because the focusing ring, the aperture 
ring, the advance lever and the shutter release are so smooooooth. Maybe, 
just maybe, the intimate knowledge of using near perfect optics might make 
you feel better and more confident at shooting time, and maybe, just maybe, 
this will encourage you to work more and to shoot more, and maybe, just 
maybe, working more and shooting more will give you the pleasure of 
creating more really good pictures. Just maybe.

Alan
Brussels-Belgium.




Fstop008@aol.com on 15/06/98 10:12:54
Please respond to leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
To:     leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
cc: 
Subject:        [Leica] New M6 user

I have seen the light --literally. After having used the Nikon system for
years I want to own an excellent manual focus, manual exposure camera 
that's
light weight and very high quality. I am about to dive into an M6 outfit 
but
have some reservations: Is the light metering system antiquated technology?
Why accounts for the price difference between the silver chrome and black
lenses; is the difference worth the price? Are the new 35mm f2.0 ASPH that
superior to the older version. What flash outfit works well with Leica,
kmowing it won't have the same capabilities as the Nikon. 

As you can see I have a million questions. Any support would be 
appreciated.