Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/02/11

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: M6 Viewfinder rangefinder patch flare CONTROL ??
From: "A.H.SCHMIDT" <horsts@primus.com.au>
Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2000 09:33:37 +1100

Stephen Gandy wrote:

> Does anyone else besides me think this particular thread is going the wrong way
> ?
>
> My god people, you buy a $2,000 M6 camera body and then believe it's OK to use
> tape or a rubber band to get it to work right ??
>
> the only thing being controlled is the customer's low level of expectations
>
> Stephen Gandy

Stephen, I think the same as you do.  By now, most of the LUGers must know, that I
am a big Leica fan. However, I believe in not just blindly accepting that
everything Leica produces is flawless.

I had a M6, so i am qualified to air my opinion.

The viewfinder is not up to scratch. The glare seems to come always at the wrong
moment and it somehow distracted me to such an extend, that I missed some shots.

The second ,in my opinion, most stupid feature is having to use the shutter speed
dial
to switch of the light meter. I like to keep my shutter speed set at 1/250 or 1/125
sec.

I am sure Leitz could easy find another way of switching the light meter on or off.
But they don't seem to be to interested.

Well, I did put my money where my mouth is and sold the M6. I used the money to by
a nice shiny M4 with MR meter to add to my M3's. The M4 gives me no complaints
at all. The Light meter is as easy or sometime even easier to use, then the M6
meter, especially when using a tripod.

So, instead of buying a new body, I rather spend my money on a new lens.  Maybe
this is better or worth for Leitz, I don't know.

Having said all this, I believe Leitz could do a bit more, to incorporate small
improvements to the M6. Enough people seem to complain about them.
After all the M6  is about 16 years in production. Regular improvements and
listening to customers should be the norm, Especially for a camera with such a long
production time.

What Leica does not seem to understand is, that if one owns a pre M6 model body,
one does not really have to invest in a M6. The previous models are good enough
to keep on using.   So if I invest in a later model body, I expect to have only
improvements over the model I already own.

Regards, Horst Schmidt