M6 Test Results

["Ferdinand U. LuDo" <fld@mozcom.com>]

Hello Luggers,

I'm very fortunate & grateful having used an M6 over the weekend. A friend
who owned one lended it to me for 3 days w/ 35/1.4 Summicron and 90/2.8
Tele-Elmarit Lens.

I shot a roll of Kodak Gold 100 Print film with it. Having to wait for a
day to get the film processed, I finally got it this Morning.

As expected, I had a few misfocus shots. Again that was the first time I've
seen and held and used an M6. 70-80% of the shots were sharp. My
observations as follows:

a.) in terms of sharpness, there is no doubt its very sharp. Compared side
by side with my eos1n w/28-70/2.8L on tripod & Leica M6 without tripod,
both are equally sharp. I had some shots on the M6 with the tripod and its
not much difference than without the tripod @ 1/125- faster speeds. I'm
happy that this camera does not need to depend on the tripod to get sharp
shots.

b.) Yes, definitely although its as sharp as my Canon gear, BUT the color,
contrast are trully trully outstanding ! simple pictures that don't seem
appealing, are transformed into art, beautiful & Just different ! 

c.) On the 90/2.8 @ 2.8 aperture shooting potrait, the background just
separates from the subject in such a creamy way !! details of the person
(e.g. clothes, facial expression, color of skin,etc... just appear so
dimensional that its frightening.) that is of course if your subject is in
focus, otherwise, if its out of focus, its really soft.

d.) For some reason thou I had one beach shot @ approx 1:30 in the
afternoon. Damm hot.. i took a picture of a sailboat @ the beach, the
colors of the sail were beautiful, the sky turned blue but the sand grey.
Although many claim that it was a postcard type of shot. I wonder why it
turned grey. Because of that, it came out beautiful.

e.) on low light levels using available light, pictures are really natural
esp @ 4-5.6 apertures using 1/30 of a second,-- they are really beautiful !!

f.) the metering is darn accurate considering its center weighted !

NOW comes the question, "Would I buy one ?"

Using it was cumbersome and each shot took much more time due to focusing
and adjusting the aperture. It other words, it takes more time to shoot one.

I don't mind that ....I can live with it & it takes getting used to.

My concern:

Because of the number of complaints I have heard about the M6's
reliability, adjustment, etc... I'm very much hesitant. One reason why i
did the survey is to find out how reliable the M6 is. Unfortunately about
20%-30% of Leica M6 owners @ some point in their M6 ownership had some
problems. Some minor some major, but the bottom line, if something goes
wrong with here down here in the Philippines, its goodbye since there is no
dealer/store that carries the M6 & if I do get one, I have to import it
from either Hong Kong or Singapore.

So let me ask you luggers,

a.) what are the chances of getting an M6 that would immediately need
attention (adjustment, etc.) in the 1st 6 months of ownership ? in other
words, after I buy one, what are the chances of it going wrong or having
defect ?

b.) can these adjustments & defect be detected while you are in the store
playing with it ?

c.) for as long as I don't drop it, bang it, etc.. what are the chances of
it to go wrong ? assuming I bought it brand new ?

d.) how different is the new 90/2.8 elmarit vs. the 90/2.8 Elmarit (1980
built) and the 35/2.0 summicron (new) vs. the 35/1.4 summicron M ? would i
expect the same results as the ones I got today ?

e.) Taking the risk of the body going wrong, should I go for it ?

f.) for those G2/G1 owners as well, how much different in character are the
G lenses compared to the leica m lenses ?

Thanks for bearing in with me. Greatly appreciate it.

Ferdinand