[Leica] Impressions from the Leica Day

[rangefinder at screengang.com (Didier Ludwig)]

As there is a Leica presentation day today at Foto Ganz in Zurich, the 
largest Leica dealer in Switzerland, I left my studio early this morning 
(though there would be a lot of work waiting on me) and stepped toward the 
Rennweg near the famous Bahnhofstrasse.

So I was the first in the shop at 9 a.m. and had the opportunity to have a 
look at all the Leica products before the rush begins; and could talk with 
the dealers as well as a Leica Switzerland repairman, who checked my M6 for 
free (everything OK, by the way).

Leica general:
I had a longer talk with the owner of the shop about the future of Leica. 
He said he was not very happy about the Hermes participation ("they don't 
know anything about photography"), but was very convinced that Leica will 
survive in any case. He was also very sure that Leica would never, never be 
sold to a japanese company ("Lieber sterben" - "prefer to die").

Digital M:
The shop owner told me frankly that he was very unlucky about Leica's 
decision to produce the DMR before the digital M. He said he sells much 
more M than R, and that he could sell digital M's like fresh bread (as 
said, it's the biggest Leica dealer in Switzerland, which is probably the 
country with the most Leicas per resident). He is also believing that the 
digital M will be presented at the Photokina 2006. He hopes strongly that 
the delay scenario like with the DMR ("seller's horror") will not be 
repeated with the digital M.

DMR:
I have never been interested in the R system, but of course I could not 
resist to take a R9 with DMR in my hands. I can't say much except the 
finder is the brightest one that I have ever seen on a SLR camera. And I 
cannot confirm Nathan's concern about squeezing the nose to get closer to 
the viewer. It's true you have to press your cheek and nose a little bit; 
but I guess Nathan's nose must be significantly bigger than mine - no 
wonder if one considers how much single malt he get's at the father's day 
:-)!... Another point was the heavy size and weight of the "hunchback of 
Solms", which is not comparable to the M's compactness, but probably 
compares very well to a Canon EOS-1D/s.

M6 rangefinder update:
I compared the finder of my M6 with a new MP, and have hold both cameras 
toward a strong light source. While the rf patch of my M6 was totally 
flared, I could adjust the rangefinder in the MP in any angle without 
problems. The difference was really evident. I had used the SHADE from 
leicagoodies.com for a while, but it always dropped off and is of course 
not comparable to the MP viewfinder. As the patch flare issue has troubled 
me quite often, especially in low light situations in theatres or concert 
halls, I have decided to upgrade my M6's finder. The price of CHF 398 
($310) is ok for me and the Leica repair guy promised to do it within 10 
days.

Black dot:
I asked him if he could put a black Leica dot after the rf upgrade. He said 
they don't have any, but he gave me a red replacement dot to paint black 
myself; and said he would't mount any dot so that I can easily put on my 
painted one.

M a la carte:

Shutter lever: classic vs. hinged
I've tried and compared it many times but I cannot say which one is more 
ergonomic. Both feel well and work well. But the classic one looks cooler.

Classic rewind knob vs. rewind lever:
I you have the intention to throw your camera around, and if you are used 
to deposit your camera on the top plate and not the bottom plate, for 
instance when changing the film roll, then go for the classic rewind knob. 
Otherwise I recommend the "modern" rewind lever which seems more ergonomic 
to me. But it's a question of taste (or philosophy), finally. I could live 
well with both. The in-let rewind lever of the Canon VT, L-1 or P is still 
the better solution.

Leather:
Most of the leather types were presented on M7 and MP cameras, and not only 
in the little pattern album most Leica dealers have. It's a BIG difference 
to see it on a camera body rather than on a piece of carton. While I would 
have preferred the vulcanite after checking the pattern album only, I would 
definitely go for the saddle leather after I have seen and touched it on a 
black MP. It's finer and softer, and might be less slippery when you have 
sweaty hands (like today, the hottest day of the year until now). And it 
looks just GORGEOUSLY good. They told me that it's aging better than 
vulcanite, ostrich, lizard and nappa because it's tougher.

ASPH lens sizes:
I never had one of the newer ASPH lenses in my hands, so I was curious 
about how big/small they are. The 1.4/35 is significantly bigger than the 
2/35, but both are smaller than they appeared to me on photographs. Though 
the ASPH 35 'cron is bigger than the legendary pre-ASPH 35 'cron, it's 
still very compact. One could prefer the pre-ASPH for the bokeh, but not 
especially for the smaller size.

I was astonished about how compact the 4/90 macro lens is. Not that I'm 
interested to do macro photography with a rf camera. But without goggle 
it's a brillant travel lens, reputed to be very sharp, and at a very good 
price. Well worth an estimate for me...

Unfortunately, they had no new 75 summicron to show.

That's it, hope it isn't too boring :-)
Didier (now without M6 for 10 days)