Re: [Leica] M7 update 2. and more :-)

[TTAbrahams@aol.com]

 I have put about 35 rolls through the M7 in the last 4 weeks and I am 
getting a bit of a feel for the camera. It has been left on the "Auto" 
setting for the majority of the shots, except for a couple of forays into 
"compensation mode" to accommodate excess sky and specular highlights on the 
subject. So far so good. Battery drain seems negligible and apart from my 
initial impression of the chintzy battery cover (has come off twice!) and the 
reverse "dot" on the On/Off button, the camera has performed well. The 
battery cover problem is particularly noticeable when you swing the camera 
into a vertical position. The natural grip is to have your hand gripping the 
body on the right side and it is very easy to allow a finger to rest on the 
cover. As it only needs a quarter turn to come off, it is too easy to apply 
pressure on the cover and when you swing the camera, the finger turns the 
cover and suddenly it is loose!
 One interesting benefit of using the M7 is that old lenses like the 50/3,5 
Elmar and variations of that design are highly workable. You no longer need 
to stick your finger on the front-element to change apertures. Just leave the 
lens at optimum aperture and blast away. This might make me go back to a 
Summarex 85 at some time or any old lens with rotating aperture mount. Would 
be a great combo with a Nikkor 105/2,5 for portraits too.
 Using slower lenses and films does bring about a risk of camera-shake 
though. If you do not watch the display, you can suddenly find yourself at 
"shaky" speeds 1/12,1/20 s quicker than you thought. It is also a camera that 
occasionally brings out the fact that the M's only has a 1/1000 top-speed. 
More than once have I seen the flashing 1/1000 s indicator while using my 
Elmar 50/3,5 wide-open. This could also be a result from not being used to 
that big overhead lightsource that has been absent for quite a while here in 
the Northwest. Well, spring has at last sprung and 100 ASA and slower are now 
exposable, even with handheld cameras.
 I have been shooting side by side with the M7 and the Bessa R2  and 
admittedly, more film has gone through the R2 than the M7. I particularly 
like the bright viewfinder of the R2 and it allows me to use 35's without 
having to "hunt" for framelines. The M7 is a 0,72 and even the 35 lines are 
close to what you can see with glasses. The magnification on the R2 is the 
same (0,70) but the eye-relief is greater. 
 Is the M7 worth the (currently) almost extra $ 400-450 over the M6 TTL. Not 
really. I feel that it should be the same or within $100 of the TTL and I 
hope that it will drop down to that level soon enough and then I might even 
get a 0,58 version of one to round out the "user" cameras.
 The sun is shining and 100 ASA ACROS is loaded in the M7 so it is time to go 
forth and try out my Shanghai 58 50/3,5 against the Elmar 50/3,5 and the Fed 
50/3,5 as well as the 50/3,5 Heliar.
The R2 will have its usual load of Tri-X and the 50/2,5 on it, just in case 
the clouds roll in.
Tom A

Tom Abrahamsson
Vancouver, BC
Canada
rapidwinder.com
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