Mamiya M7 vs Leica M6

[Mark_Bishop@ipc.co.uk (Mark Bishop)]

Several people hve been posting about the relative merits of the Mamiya M7, the
various Fuji medium-format raangefinder cameras, and our own Leica M6.

First thought that occurs to me is this: why did Leica let Mamiya get away with
calling its camera the M7? Won't this make life difficult for Leica when they
want to replace the M6?

Second, although I am tempted by the notion of a medium-format camera I have
tried the M7 and found it to have a major flaw: the metering is separate to the
viewing and taking systems. Thus it does not alter its angle of view according
to the lens used: with the 43mm fisheye it is a virtual spotmeter, with the 150m
telephoto (and, it is rumoured, longer lenses to follow shortly) it actually
meters some of the surroundings as well. To my mind this is acceptable if you
have only one lens (ideally the 65mm) but makes a mockery of the automation when
a range of lenses are used.

Also, I have used various MF cameras in the past and been disappointed by lens
quality at large apertures - some, including a Mamiya C330 I once owned, lose
illumination in the corners; others are just unsharp. Perhaps it's just too
large a film area to cover without fall-off.

Seems to me, if you want the ultimate in grain-free results 120 will always have
the edge but if you prefer sharpness, 35mm may still be tops. Myself, I like a
nice tight grain structure, provided the image is crisp and the tonality is
right.