Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/08/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]In a message dated 8/26/99 9:34:18 AM Eastern Daylight Time, wilcox@tir.com writes: << In my experience with a limited number of Ms the M6 finder is a little more contrasty looking than an M2 3 or four. Brightness is about the same. This does not seem to matter in use. The M6 finder is also more prone to flare. This does make a difference in use. Ken Wilcox >> When I first purchased my (secondhand) M4-2 from the original owner the viewfinder was cloudy but after a CLA is now the same as my other M's (2's, 4 and 6's) in terms of brightness and clarity. (Like anything else a Leica's condition will depend on the kind of environment it has been subjected to. Unlike many other cameras, though, short of a fire or some other major catastrophe, most everything can be rectified by a competent repairperson.) Most everyone notices right-off that the 90 framelines are of a different style in the pre-M4-P models, but I wonder if anyone else has noticed that the 50mm frame is larger (shows a slightly larger field of view) in the M2-M4-M42 models? Checking it out carefully I determined that the M4-P and M6's 50 framelines show a field size for a 50 focused @ .7m while the M42 and earlier are sized for the 50 @ 1m. This makes sense in the M2 and M4 because the close-focusing distance of the 50 Summicron used to be 1m until the 11817 came out in 1969, but evidently the frame was not resized until the M4-P which had an entirely new set of framelines. For someone using an older Summicron, or the Summilux (which I believe focuses to 1m? How about the Noctilux?) the M42 or M4 would be more accurate at the extreme closeup. It's not very much folks...but Leica trivia is fun ; ) DT