Re: [Leica] PMA'd out and the M7

["Greg J. Lorenzo" <gregj.lorenzo@shaw.ca>]

Hi Tom,

I am delighted to hear that you are back in the groove!

This is very apparent from reading your review.

I will be visiting your wonderful city twice in the next six weeks and 
would be delighted to meet you and your beautiful wife again (Henning 
and Joe Leung also). This time I will actually have to closely inspect 
your Rapidwinder as I may be in the market for one for a newly acquired M.

With respect to the weird shoe routine in Phoenix, this apparently 
happens all the time their since September 11th. Perhaps one of the 
airport security staff  has a foot fetish?

Regards,

Greg



TTAbrahams@aol.com wrote:

>We are back after 9 days on the "road". The trip included 4 days at the Nikon 
>Historical Society's biannual meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona and after that 4 
>days at PMA in Orlando, Florida. It was my first trip since I got sick so it 
>was much anticipated. Too much time had passed without meeting with friends 
>and discussing important subjects like cameras, where to eat, more cameras, 
>and where to eat after that! Part of the reason for going to PMA was to see 
>the new M7, although most of it was to meet with Bill Rosauer, Dick Gladden 
>(LHSA President), Ed Schwartzreich, Sal DiMarco, John Barnabas, and friends 
>from Leica Germany and USA. I had seen the M7 in a variety of disguises and 
>as drawings and parts in Solms. My feeling was lukewarm as the idea of an AE 
>M camera really did not turn my crank and I went to PMA with the feeling that 
>this would be the end result. I was handed a black M7 and spent the better 
>part of two days shooting with it and came away with a certain admiration for 
>the camera. It is still a Leica M at heart; it feels like a TTL and behaves 
>like one too. Once I got it in my hands I quickly substituted the regular 
>baseplate for a Rapidwinder and set the camera to Auto function. In its 
>manual mode it is another TTL so my mission was to see how well the AE 
>function operated. I am happy to report that I like it! The AE function makes 
>it usable as a street shooter's camera; just set the aperture and go forth 
>shooting.
>Amazingly enough the M7 feels quieter than the M6TTL, almost at the sound 
>level of a well run-in double stroke M3. Finders and controls are logical to 
>a long term M-user, nothing new there and Leica claims that they have solved 
>the glare-problem that has been dogging the M6TTL's. I saw no flare in use so 
>maybe they did it and I will give them the benefit of doubt. The "tester" was 
>a 0,72 version and I have never had much of a problem with flare in that 
>version anyway. The finder display of the shutterspeed was a tad too bright 
>for my taste, but the camera I used was a very early one (# 47) and Stefan 
>Daniel (Leica, Solms) assured me that it has been adjusted in the production 
>models. I did not have an instruction book as Bill Rosauer had left that in 
>his jacket at the hotel so throughout the 48 hours I suffered from the 
>misunderstanding that the M7 did not have an AE-lock. Upon returning the 
>camera, I asked Stefan about this omission and he promptly showed me the 
>AE-lock function. You depress the shutterspeed dial slightly further than at 
>"reading mode" and it will freeze the setting. Nice touch! Oh, the M7 works 
>very well with the Softrelease too. In fact, I think it needs it, as the 
>release is slightly "notchy" in feel. This stems from the fact that the 
>downward pressure on the release engages contacts that switches on the meter 
>and also engages the AE-lock. Leica even had made a small batch of their own 
>Softreleases, not as nice as mine (so I am biased) as it has a smaller 
>diameter "head" on it, thus negating the benefit of "2nd finger joint 
>release" action. It can be said though that the Leica M7 Softrelease works 
>very well on the Bessa R and T.
> The On/Off switch under the advance lever is a long awaited feature, should 
>have been on the M6/M6TTL from day one! Unfortunately, it is somewhat 
>confusing as it shows a red dot in locked position but no indicator dot in 
>"live" mode. I prefer indicators to show active functions rather than a 
>"non-function".  It is also difficult to see the red dot on a black body in 
>low light, although that is a minor beef as a quick glance in the viewfinder 
>will confirm if the camera is on or not. When you switch it on it will 
>display the ASA setting of the film (at least if the camera is in DX mode) 
>for about 2 seconds after which the shutterspeed display takes over.
> In short, I have only a couple of niggling negatives about the M7. The 
>On/Off switch and the "over" bright display among them and in the display 
>case, it has been fixed in production models. Now the other question is: is 
>this a revolutionary camera? No, I do not think so; it is more of an 
>alternative to any M6 out there. It offers some features that are welcome, 
>but as a whole, it is not as big a deal as Leica has made it. It is well 
>built with a proper top-plate in brass (which offers up possibilities of a 
>rainbow of coloured M7's in the future!). It is amazingly quiet, the exposure 
>system is convenient to use, and quite precise (particularly if one figures 
>out the AE-lock, which is no fault of Leica's by any means). It seems that 
>the price is going to be around $2,300 or so in US$. Not cheap by any means, 
>but Leica never really catered to low-cost cameras anyway. Would I buy one? 
>In fact, I have ordered one and according to Leica USA shipments should be 
>prompt. Let's see about that. I would also suggest that prospective buyers 
>buy Leica USA "sanctioned" M7's as I assume that the 3-year warranty applies 
>to these cameras. This is a relatively new technology (for Leica at least) 
>and I would prefer to have the security of being able to send it to Leica USA 
>for a repair or quick fix if needed. At least I have already been "trained" 
>to carry spare batteries with the M6TTL as the M7 defaults to 1/60 and 1/125 
>of a second when the batteries die!
>  There were more things at PMA. I had the opportunity to try out the Bessa 
>R2 (the Bessa with M-mount). This is the new Bessa and it is a great camera. 
>For about US$525-550 you get a M2 with a built in meter and all metal body 
>(Magnesium top-plate/base and backdoor) and for another $100 you get it in 
>Olive Green too. The camera feels rock solid, almost like an old Contax 
>II/III. I will do a separate write up on that camera and some of the new 
>lenses for it. I did try out the Konica 21-35 M-mount lens on the M7 and will 
>let you know how that one worked once I get those films processed.
> It was great to travel again, and in spite of having my shoes X-rayed in 
>Phoenix, it was a smooth trip. 
>All the best,
>Tom A
>
>Tom Abrahamsson
>Vancouver, BC
>Canada
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