Advice needed: M6 or M7 and Lens combinations?

Only get the M7 if you really like AE or you shoot slides. Otherwise get the classic M6, probably more reliable in the long run. Spend your money on the Leica glass. Since you want a set of 28, 35 and 50 I would get the middle one first. I use both the 35/2 and 35/1.4 ASPH lenses and recommend the 35/2 ASPH for normal daily use because of it's small size and super usability. The images aren't bad either.

Before spending loads of cash on Leica glass, consider what you want from your photos. Whilst new Leica glass beats all, new Zeiss glass is more than match for secondhand Leica lenses. Some people seem to have a problem that Zeiss contracted Cosina to make them but most would be hard pushed to tell the difference in the real world.

 

M6 plus Zeiss ZM glass will give your the cheapest quality combo.

 

You could also consider a Zeiss Ikon which has reportedly a better viewfinder than the Leicas

 

Regards

 

Simon

To expand on what Peter said and possibly confuse you more... :) yes, get the 35mm first. Or another thought is get the 40mm Summicron-C made for the Leica CL and forget about both the 35 AND the 50mm. You may find that 28 is too close to the 35, or the 35 is too close to the 50 and you'll have bought 3 lenses and not use them all. Maybe one lens in the 21/24/25 range and the 40 will be all you need.

Jeff,

You are making a lot of mess here.

1) If you wear glasses and yu want the best all round body to start with, forget the Leicas - get the Zeiss Ikon with a

35mm lens to begin with. It has a 0.74x magnification, and the VF just eats Leicas for breakfast..

2) The choice between the M6 and M7 anyway, is principally one between fast shooting and slow shooting - when I want

to do fast shoothing I use an M7 (or Zeiss Ikon or Bessa R4A or Minolta CLE). when I want to do slow shooting, I take a

tripod and a couple of Hasselblads...

3) As to the lens, if you do not have an idea which fl you prefer, start with the most universal one : 35mm. In my opinion

the best 35mm all round lens on the market at any price is the Zeiss Biogon 35/2, but there are certainly many choices,

from the excellent Skopar 35/2.5 to the even more excellent Nokton 35/1.2 and including the renowned, compact and

very expensive Leica ASPH models.

3) Forget the brand faith, try everything yourself, see what works for your type of photography and what suits your

pocket. Leica is very consistent in high quality products, but also very expensive, and not always the best in every field

- for example the Zeiss ZM coatings are much better, so is often the OOF rendering

4) Since you come from DSLR's, I presume you want to scan your negs - remember that your scanner will have a bigger

effect on the quality of your images than the camera lens - get the best you can - at least Nikon CS 5000. otherwise the

money spent on expensive lenses will be thrown out of the window...

5) Above all - do try a rangefinder, it is a great way to see the world photographically speaking - especially if you want to

do B&W...

Lots of really helpful advice here. Absolutely agree about scanning. But how do you choose which combo to go for? Perhaps tally up the

votes for each?! My vote still goes to M6 plus 50 'cron. Don't worry about having to use a separate finder for wider lenses like 21, 24 or

even 28 -- it really isn't a hassle.

Well Jeff, here are my thoughts. If you want Leica then go M6. Any digital slr will run circles around Leica with auto focus,

auto exposure, multi shot and other wizz-bang stuff. I like to use the M6 with the battery out, because the blinky lights are

distracting. For that matter I prefer using the M3 with a 50 or an M2 with a 35 because of the better build quality of the older

models. But given the choice of M6 or M7 I would pick M6. As for the lenses, with faster modern films I see no need to

go for f1.4 over f2.0, unless you are interested in the OOF of wide open. I have a ton of lenses, but If I had to choose just

one, it would be the 40mm summicron f2.0. Funny, my pictures were better back when I had fewer lenses.

<p>I shoot with both M6 classic and M7. I can feel that it is faster and easier with M7. <br>

I attached TA rapidwinder II to my M7 and that even speed up the shooting but God!<br>

the whole outfit is heavy but very solid. Fitted with 'cron 90/2 gives a very good balance.</p>

<p>You won't be disappointed, both M6 and M7 are very good indeed. M7 shutter is definitely<br>

more accurate especially the slow ones not counting less noise it makes.</p>