Are Leica Ms a smart idea for shooting mostly slides??

[yochin]

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[blakley]

The meter in the Ms is tolerably accurate - but it's hard to get used to what exactly it is measuring. As has already been mentioned, it's not at all like a center-weighted meter.

 

When I use my Ms with slide film I generally use an external incident meter - failing this I meter off the back of my hand, held close enough to the lens that I'm sure I'm covering the whole spot.

[james_elwing2]

I dont know what was said in previous messages, but just remember that a polarised filter is a little fussier to use with M cameras, and you might need a Leica swing out polariser. Beyond that I dont see a problem.

That said, I think working from a spot meter is the only guaranteed way of getting all slides exposed properly with any camera. You can still bracket important shots anyway.

[msitaraman]

Don't ask me to explain why, but after I became used to the Leica M6's wide spot metering, I was able to achieve perfect metering on all shots on a roll of chrome film, typically, and a much higher percentage of in-focus shots (again, usually close to or equal to 100%) than my SLR. Don't ask me why, or how its possible, I just did.

 

My photography is of people, but not high speed action shots, i.e. pretty much typical Leica M photography.

[jsbc]

The only reason, in my humble opinion, to really pay top dollar for Leica lenses is to shoot slides. Granted, the rangefinder is quite different from SLR, but in terms of lenses, if you just shoot prints or b&w, the gap between Leica and say, good Nikon lenses is small. However, if you compare slides, even the so-so Tri-elmar readily stands out in terms of 3D and micro-contrast. There is also good color fidelity. I really took just Nikon primes on my European trip and the quality is a bit of a let down.

 

But of course you are asking it from a different angle: whether the bodies are suitable for color work. I think the Hexar and the M7 are good enough (it is easy if you use manual and choose F5.6 of F8 and bracket rather than using a bracket function). Of course they are simple meters and they have their quirks, but nothing one could not over come with experience (mind you, I think they should have a thumb operated separate AE button than requiring the user to depressed the shutter slightly).

 

Yes I use Hasselblad Vs too and I think the Leica definitely ahs a place beside it. The H has a big edge given the size of the negative, but I would not use any other 35mm systems for travelling anymore. Haven't tried the XPan though so I cannot comment.

[andreatau]

Hello everyone and sorry for my delay (timezones..).

 

I got even more feedback than expected, which confirms that photo.net is really a magnificient place to be!

 

I understand that most of you get "properly exposed" slides without necessarily braketing each shot. It was particularly useful to see the photos of the M6's shutter with the white spot that enables light-metering: that means that a fairly large "spot" is measured when using, say, a 28mm or 35mm lens, right? So one doesn't need to point it to this stone, that leaf, the face of that guy.. and then think 10 minutes before making up one's mind on the exposure data (as I do with 1 deg-spot meters).

 

As for the possibility of liking/not liking the rangefinder: I do come from high level SLR cameras with AE (=Auto-Everything), but using also a Hassy for two years and especially playing with a Bessa R, I got to appreciate the manual focusing, the ultra-compact size and the back-to-the-origins feeling that some tools convey. Thanks to the Bessa, I now understand what you rangefinder-folks mean when you say that hand-focusing is a "pleasure": those viewfinders are by far brighter than any SLR's or MF's. Even the "cinema-screen" mounted in my F100 doesn't give the same pleasure when composing.

 

Nevertheless, moving from SLR to rangefinder forces one to slow down and (likely) to miss some shots at least in the first times, and that's why I believe that a Leica with Aperture priority mode is the ideal tool for me. With that, I'd be less likely to regret my F100...

 

And yes, at least one piece of Leica glass will complement it! Perhaps a collapsible 50mm + a Voightlander 28mm. That's it, in a fannypack!

 

Should anyone want to sell his/her M7... just write me! Thank you all

[andreatau]

Oh, forgot to say that I may also want to give the X-Pan a chance to win me over by testing one. Just in case..