Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/02/15
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]This is only my second posting to the list - the first, about use of R lenses on a Viso III, received no response, so I hope for better luck this time. I am an anthropologist and my research work, which has taken place in settings such as therapeutic communities for abused children, requires me to be an unobtrusive participant. In the past I have struggled to make photographic records of my work using Nikon SLRs, having to be very up-front about taking pictures and waiting for the point at which people begin to get used to my presence. Recently I have made the change to Leica M. I always wondered whether a rangefinder would work better for me, but held back because I thought I would find one harder to use than my do-anything F4S. I now wish I had made the change years ago - using an M2 has completely removed any awkward consciousness of photograph-taking from the situation. Since starting with the M2 and 35 and 50 Summicrons I've added a 90 Elmarit-M and a Viso III with 200 Telyt. I use the telephotos for stage photography - my wife is an actress - and have found the Viso III on the blue dot setting to be wonderfully quiet. I have a question that relates to an M6 0.85 that I have acquired recently. I am surprised to find that the rangefinder image (the one that moves as you change focus) of the M6 0.85 is less bright and contrasty than that of my 1959 vintage M2. There isn't an enormous difference but it is definitely there - the M2 double image is easier to focus. The higher magnification of the M6 is very useful for fine focusing on the 50 and 90 - but I'm a little disappointed by the double image. Does this tally with other people's experience? Or should I be sending the M6 back to Leica for attention? Thank you to all the regular contributors who make this list such an invaluable resource, and also to Erwin Putts, Hans Pahlen and Stephen Gandy whose excellent websites have allowed me to become an enthusiastic Leicaphile so much more quickly and easily than if I had had to hunt out information in old magazines and out of print books. Simon Pulman-Jones London