Which M camera?

["Charles E. Love, Jr." <cel14@cornell.edu>]

I owned and used an M5 for quite a while.  In its favor, it had a much
better light meter (IMHO) than the M6, because it was a true spotmeter.  The
M6's "limited area" meter covers too large an area for precision in tough
situations, and anyway the total area it covers is somewhat vague--there's
no excuse for Leica's not developing a way to indicate meter coverage in the
viewfinder.  BTW,  to me the idea of carrying a separate light meter with an
M camera just defeats the whole purpose and idea of the camera--its strength
is portability and quick, unobtrusive shooting.  If I still had an M3 I'd
put one of the clip-on meters on top of it--they measure an area equal to
the 90 mm. frameline.  

The M5 also had much more viewfinder information than the M6 does.  In
addition, its shutter speed adjustment hung over the edge of the camera,
making it much quicker to use than the M6's (though it sometimes was awfully
loose and too easy to move).  I also thought the M5 was good to hold,
although many didn't agree.  Finally, it is possible to convert an M5 finder
to M6 specs so you can use the 28 and 75 (though the lines overlap a little
into the viewfinder information area).  

However, to me the problem with the M5 is that it's just too big.  M lenses
are tiny, and seemed lost on an M5.  The M5's large size just doesn't fit
the whole idea of the M series--it's as big as an SLR.  Still, if they made
one today that was the same size as an M6....?

Charlie
Charles E. Love, Jr.
CEL14@CORNELL.EDU