Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/12/07

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Subject: RE: [Leica] Leica M7 ... now MP vs. non-MP viewfinder ... how totell?
From: "Kit McChesney" <kitmc@acmefoto.com>
Date: Sun, 7 Dec 2003 22:13:58 -0700

I'm only repeating what Dave Elwell, the mastermind of technical and parts,
told me. 

Kit



- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of Joseph Yao
Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2003 3:52 AM
To: Leica User Group
Subject: Re: [Leica] Leica M7 ... now MP vs. non-MP viewfinder ... how
totell? 

This is only half the story.  All M7 cameras have multi-coated finder
windows hence the bluish cast.  Later M7s went one step further by having
the MP rangefinder assembly where an extra condenser lens was added.
Externally the windows look the same but when you look through the
viewfinder, the difference becomes clear.  The only sure way to make sure
you have a M7 with MP finder is to compare it with a MP body side by side.

>From my experience, M7 bodies with 288xxxx have the MP finder.  The 285xxxx
M7 bodies have multi-coated finder windows but not quite the MP finder.

Joseph


on 7/12/03 4:41 pm, Kit McChesney at kitmc@acmefoto.com wrote:

> FYI, folks ... the newer viewfinders of the MP style are relatively easy
to
> identify. First of all, Leica won't reveal the serial numbers that
indicate
> the beginning of the run for the new finders. I've asked several times,
and
> they are mum on that. Rumor has it that anything with a 285xxxx qualifies,
> but that's just noise, I've heard.
> 
> I was told, however, that you can hold the camera, facing you, at an
angle,
> and if the finder window looks bluish in cast (the older finders are more
> yellowish), then you have a newer finder.
> 
> Compare the viewfinder of an M6TTL and an M7 you suspect to be a newer
> finder model. If the M7 finder is decidedly "bluer" in color than the M6
> finder, you've got your answer. I tried this method with a new MP and
> compared with one of the "Last M6TTL" cameras that came out earlier this
> year, and the difference was clear. I then compared my M7 to the M6 and
the
> MP, and it was an exact match to the MP.
> 
> Kit

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