Re: [Leica] M6TTL/M6 Leica Pres Visit

[Alan Ball <AlanBall@csi.com>]

Mike,

Thanks for your report and for the transcription of your meeting with
the Leica USA president.

Regarding your experience with the M6 TTL, I cannot help being very
surprised, and would like some clarifications on what happened.

From what you write, you seem to have 2 separate complaints. One about
the rangefinder system, and one about the viewfinder. Am I right ?

On the rangefinder side, you seem to imply that all M6 TTLs you have
checked either did not focus at infinity or were vertically out of
alignment, or showed both defects. 

Could you please describe exactly how you checked the vertical
alignment?

Then you seem to have complaints on the viewfinder itself. I requote
you: "I was looking at a tower.  With your eye, you can see two support
beams run up side by side, parallel with each other.  I put the M6TTL up
to my eye to see if I can discern the two.  Nope, not clearly as with my
eye.  I put the M6 up to my eye.  Two distinct lines running parallel
with each other up the tower as seen through the M6's viewfinder. You
can see the space between them......The M6 just appears to be more
pleasing to my eye when viewing through the viewfinder.  Images seen
through the viewfinder of the M6 are sharp."

This seems unrelated to the focusing issue. To me it looks like a 'pure'
viewfinder issue. It reminds me of what happens when I use the wrong
dioptric correction on an eyepiece or if I wear the wrong glasses. 

While I have not tested the focusing accuracy of any M6 TTL, I've toyed
extensively with more than one, looking through classic bodies then
through TTL bodies and vice-versa, and have not noticed any
'unsharpness' to the viewfinder. During the Leica days at Alpha Photo in
Brussels last week, the Leica salesmen argued on the contrary that the
viewfinder itself was slightly larger on the M6 TTL than on the M6
classic, ensuring a slightly better vision. I cannot say I really saw
any improvement, but I certainly did not see any degradation. But if
Leica says there is a difference, that means they are not exactly the
same....

What you describe is nevertheless so systematic and so obvious that it
should have shown during my own manipulations. It was not the case.

So please forgive me for a question that might seem strange: is there
anything marked on the narrow silver strip on the front of the
viewfinder of your current M6? Are you positively sure you have only
tested 0.72x bodies ? Have you been confronted with a mix of M6 0.85x
and M6 TTL 0.72x bodies (the silver one was certainly 0.72) ?

Thanks beforehand for your precisions.

Alan
Brussels-Belgium

Mike Austin wrote:
> ...<CUT>...
> When I went there this evening to look over this M6TTL that came, we first
> checked the infinite focus.  It looked ok.  Theres something about the
> magnification of the viewfinder of the M6TTL.  Its either the magnification or
> the darkeness that another Lugger mentioned about the M6TTL's viewfinder.  Not
> sure, but you can somehow notice that the viewfinder is different between the
> M6 and the M6TTL.  Infinite focus looked ok.
> 
> Then we checked the vertical alignment.  The vertical alignment just did not
> look right.  We put a 90mm and a 35mm lens on the M6TTL.  Still the same.  The
> subject that we were focusing on just did not appear sharp.  We tried the
> loaner M6.  The images looked sharp.  We grabbed the M6TTL; the image looked
> fuzzy.  We tried again, and again, and again.  It just looked fuzzy.  It was
> not sharp as the M6.  We grabbed another M6TTL, the silver one (not that it
> made a difference what color the M6TTL was).  I recall that the M6TTL silver
> was looking off in the vertical and infinite, but not much.
> 
> Im thinking to myself that is so unreal.  I grab the loaner M6.  Im thinking to
> myself, "Why does this loaner M6 look so much better that the three M6TTLs?
> Why? Why? Why?"  I asked the dealer what his eye was telling him.  It appears
> off.  I took a breather walked around the store a little.  Then decided to bag
> the whole idea of owning an M6TTL.
> 
> I told the dealer lets just bag it with the M6TTL.  I asked that he grab one
> of the M6's that was up on the shelf in the box.  I opened one up, took out
> the M6, put the 35mm lens on it.  Checked infinity and vertical in one look.
> "Unbelievable...How can that be???"  If nothing changed between the
> rangefinders of the M6 and the M6TTL, now come the new M6's viewfinder out of
> the box nails it....right from the git-go??  Checked it again.  Boom, nailed
> it.  Its just like the loaner M6.  But what changed?  Im hearing that its
> the same...the same...just a little taller.  The infinite focus stop feels
> solid.  Boom. Nailed it again.  Vertical?  Its a sharp image.  Sharp.  I
> grabbed the M6TTL and look.  Forget it.
> 
> I was looking at a tower.  With your eye, you can see two support beams run up
> side by side, parallel with each other.  I put the M6TTL up to my eye to see if
> I can discern the two.  Nope, not clearly as with my eye.  I put the M6 up to
> my eye.  Two distinct lines running parallel with each other up the tower as
> seen through the M6's viewfinder.  You can see the space between them.
> 
> I decided to take this M6 instead of the M6TTL.  I dont know.  I really dont
> know.  Everything I see through this rangefinder on the M6 looks right.  I dont
> have confidence in the M6TTLs viewfinder.  The M6 just appears to be more
> pleasing to my eye when viewing through the viewfinder.  Images seen through
> the viewfinder of the M6 are sharp.
> 
> I told the dealer that I feel good about this one.  Lets take this one.  I have
> a bad vibe about the viewfinder on those M6TTLs.  My eye is not liking it at
> all.  I feel good about this M6's viewfinder.  Im sorry, but I just dont see it
> in the M6TTL.  Images in the M6's viewfinder look....bigger, brighter, than
> what is seen through the M6TTLs viewfinder.
> 
> Im going to ride my motorcycle now.  Go take some pictures with this M6.  Lets
> see what happens.  I cant explain it....I really cant.