Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/01/10
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Matthias Ochs wrote: > Hi ! > > I'd REALLY like to get myself an older Leica (M2, M3, or M4) but > unfortunately I've never actually used one so I've come up with some > questions in my mind that you maybe have an answer to... > > 1) Seriously, is an older Leica like the M2 (still) fit to be used - > what are common problems that need checked/work done ? > I am not a "pro" and am not planning to take it to the North Pole but > I'd like to get a 100% usable camera that will not let me down. It is highly usable. I have an M3 to accompany my M6. For longer lenses, it is actually easier to use than the classic M6 (due to longer rangefinder base). If it breaks, it can still be repaired. > 2) How do you determine the correct exposure ? Do most of you use a > Leica meter ? Or a handheld device ? What kind, reflected light meter > ??? > Now, wasn't a big advantage of a RF (Leica) supposed to be it's speed > and unobtrusiveness of operation ? How do you maintain that speed with > the need to take a meter reading ? Do you just take a "general" reading > and that guessing from that, using the expo. latitude of the film ??? I have a Sekonic 508, which has both spot and incident metering. In most situations, it is not necessary to meter every shot, so the lack of a meter on the M3 is not as big a drawback as it first appears. I recall my first use of the M3: a long morning walk in Amsterdam, shooting Fuji Velvia, not exactly a forgiving film. The results were wonderful, almost every shot on the roll was correctly exposed. Here in Northern Europe it is cloudy most of the time, so the light is quite stable ;-) Nathan - -- Nathan Wajsman Overijse, Belgium Photography page: http://members.tripod.com/~belgiangator/index.html Motorcycle page: http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/downs/1704/index.html