[Leica] Devil's advocate

[Mike Johnston <michaeljohnston@ameritech.net>]

I'm afraid I must disagree with Alastair Firkin's determined apologia
for the M6. I think, for one thing, that the G2 has taken more users
away from Leica than it has contributed to Leica; from what I hear in my
position, I would guess the ratio of people abandoning Leica for the G2
vs. the other way around is perhaps 2 or 3 to 1.

Secondly, I really can't see how people can put down the CLE. It was a
better camera in functionality than the M6. Not as well built, with
limitations in its rangefinder baselength and frameline set; but those
were conscious design decisions. It was certainly a distinct improvement
on Leica's CL.

I furthermore don't see how Alistair can say, "So hats off to Leica, [;]
its exposure system is old, but has not been advanced by the newcomers,"
when the latest newcomer, judging from the specs, offers some features
that are very obviously improvements (top speed, sync speed, AE, shutter
speeds in the finder)--and when nobody on this side of the Pacific has
seen or used one yet in any case. Hypothetically, what would you be
saying if Konica had come out with a "exposure system" that copied that
of the M6 at the same time that Leica came out with a new M that had an
exposure system like the Konica's? I think most people would be roundly
congratulating Leica and condemning Konica, same as now.

The biggest problem with the M6 is not that it is a bad camera (it's a
great camera, and progress will not alter that fact), but that it has
stood still for too long. The history of camera manufacture is littered
with examples of companies sticking with successful designs for too
long, to their ultimate detriment--Rollei insisting on fixed lenses for
the TLR and ignoring the advent of the 6x6 SLR until it was too late,
Pentax sticking with the M42 screwmount and stop-down metering for at
least a half a decade too long, etc., etc.

If Leica itself had had its way, the M6 would not be the M-mount camera
on offer now anyway. Had the M5 and CL not been commercial flops, Elcan
would never have revived the M4 as the M4-2, and M-mount development
would presumably have proceeded from the M5.

There are many ways in which the M6 could be improved. The dust seal is
poor; the film-loading is antidivulian. How many of you would fail to
heartily congratulate Leica if they came out with an M6(X) that had a
swing-open back and a sprocketless take-up spool (like any typical AF
camera only unmotorized)? I think most LUGnuts would be falling all over
themselves applauding such a move...IF it came from Leica. I personally
think the old shutter is one of the camera's strengths, because of its
potential longevity and low noise level, but some people (Bert Keppler
evidently among them) consider it a weakness, and there is no question
it is antique.

Don't get me wrong here--I appreciate Leica, its current products, its
position in history, and its somewhat difficult current position in the
world of everyday commerce. I don't always approve of its direction, but
who does? And how could it possibly accomodate everybody like me who has
an opinion? It's impossible. I appreciate the ethos of the M
rangefinder. And I like the M6. Not quite as much as I like the M4, but
I like it.

But I'm not willing to simply rah-rah everything Leica does for the sake
of blind loyalty (what _photographer_ would defend the endless parade of
"commemorative" M6s?!?), and I'm not willing to evaluate its products as
if it were a foregone conclusion that they are now and forever "the best
and the greatest," amen and hallelujah. I don't see anything wrong with
either M-mount competitors or, if it comes to it, a Hexar RF with a
Leica badge on it, or a future M(X) that Leica may introduce itself.
Time marches on.

Most of all, I am willing to keep an open mind with regard to the
Konica. I'm not of the opinion that anything Konica would or could do
must, by definition, be inferior to anything Leica may do. Maybe
Konica's Hexar RF will improve the breed; maybe not. It remains to be
seen.

- --Mike