[Leica] Long term M7 satisfaction?

[Mitch Zeissler]

Thank you for the excellent write up, Ted!  I sincerely appreciate it.

Mitch Zeissler
===
   Website: http://exploratorius.us/

> On Jan 14, 2015, at 4:37 PM, Ted Grant <tedgrant at shaw.ca> wrote:
> 
> The infamous M7 is/was just incredible to use!
> 
> When Sandy Carter and myself were about to produce the medical book, "WOMEN
> IN MEDICINE. A Celebration of Their Work!" The M7 had just come on the
> market and my 3 M6 bodies were needing an upgrade. So I felt!
> So I ordered an M7 body to give it a try. 
> 
> 'Given 100% of what we shot in and about the hospitals was going to be
> "STRICTLY LEICA AVAILABLE LIGHT IMAGES." We did a bit of a test shoot all on
> automatic! 
> 
> I set the T-Max @ ASA 800. Shot a couple of walk about rolls. Then around
> the house another  and darkroom, some outside at dusk. Later. we had 5 rolls
> exposed, various LEICA lenses used and all kinds of light and intensity
> conditions........... "ALL FRAMES SHOT WITH CAMERA SET ON AUTOMATIC! No
> fancy ass changes! NADA! These were all shutter speeds set by camera and my
> glimpse in viewfinder if I felt comfortable with what I saw. "CLICK!" tHAT
> WAS IT!
> 
> Souped the 5 rolls together in deep tank in D76. And surprise of all
> surprises every frame was perfectly exposed. The detail wasn't relevant!
> They were just test throw-a-way rolls.
> 
> When dried they were contact printed and a few selected for 8X10 prints and
> some 11X14 for book  reproduction to see what they looked like in big print
> size. ALL ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!
> 
> The next morning I phoned Leica, immediately ordered two more bodies and
> left for Phoenix USA the next day when they arrived! And the book began
> shooting with 5 incredible lady doctors that Dr. Steve Barbour had arranged
> for me to work with for a couple of weeks!
> 
> Those of the LUG CREW who later purchased book copies after publication have
> all been complimentary about the images that obviously were all M7 captured!
> If one has any questions about the M7 quality "ASK ME!" Or better still
> purchase a B&W all Leica camera created book copy from me! Yeah I know it's
> a bit of plug for Friday sales! ;-)
> 
> By the way Sandy Carter also bought a couple of M7's of her own. So every
> image in this beautifully printed B&W book are all LEICA / available light
> images if you really would like to see what you can do with a LEICA and the
> light you see with everyday whenever! SOME EXAMPLES in the LUG Gallery or my
> webpage:  TEDGRANTPHOTO.COM
> 
> OH YEAH. I shot 500 rolls during the coverage for the book. All shot at ASA
> 800! And every exposure was "camera selected" a few minor adjustments
> depending what I saw in the viewfinder shutter-speed and my gut told me to
> make the slight change. :-) Damn fine film camera.
> 
> Then I switched to M8 and basically shoot in the exact same manner! KISS!
> "SEE-CLICK!":-) 
> 
> cheers,
> Dr. ted 
> 
> 
> 
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