It is finally here. Well at least the rumour is.

[john_collier5]

No the M6AE is not here yet but I have heard from reliable

sources (never steered me wrong yet) that the M6AE will be

introduced at this spring's PMA. Is it true? I do not know but

regardless I would not buy the first version; remember all the

bugs with the early TTL cameras. Why am I passing this on? I

am hoping we can talk about something else other than baiting

each other.

 

<p>

 

PS: Leica has discontinued the 21mm finder. It is my favourite so

I am going to stock up before they become collectibles :-)

[dennis_couvillion]

Why would they discontinue the 21 mm finder? Because of the multi-

finder?

[andy_piper2]

John: Amen, bro!

 

<p>

 

However, given Leica's track record with electronics, I am far less

enthused by the idea than I was, say, six months ago. (This the bitter

opinion of a man who just had 80% of a roll of slide film - NOT exposed

by an R3 shutter). I may have to follow Doug Herr into the "Church of

the SL".

[john_collier5]

Hi Dennis,

 

<p>

 

It is a strange decision especially as they are keeping the 24 and

28 finders in production.

[yip2]

Sometimes I am not fast enough with the M6 having to adjust

shutter, aperture and focus in sucession (perhaps not in that

order) and do wish for some automation.

 

<p>

 

Does that mean that the M6AE would not have a mechanical

shutter anymore or a hybrid shutter as in the Nikon FM3A ?

And so still be battery independent if so called upon ?

[david_kelly1]

"Something else other than baiting each other" indeed! Even the

addition of 1970s technology to the M.....no, I can't zip my lip. Just

a short time ago Daniel Taylor remarked that "the crowd has turned

ugly, as they say, and I see no need to do so." That sums it up, but

what has been happening here, and why? I noticed it first last

week when somebody suddenly announced that his ESP had informed him

Jay was a poseur. Talk about psychic whiplash! it was like stepping

out of the Yale Club for a second and then going back in to find that

it had been transformed into a biker bar.

That last is not fair to bikers, who tend for obvious reasons to

measure their words; but you get the point. Other mean spirited ad

hominem utterances quickly followed and have been piling up. I do not

think this miasma is will be be dispelled just by waiting it out in

silence, if

"The best lack all conviction, while the worst

"Are full of passionate intensity."

So I invite Tony or somebody else senior to me to quote the rule

clearly establishing this site as a flame-free zone, and inform those

newly arrived that patience and courtesy must be extended here to

everyone even if - no, especially if- you don't think he knows his

ASPH from a hole in the ground........

[john_collier5]

Hi Yip,

 

<p>

 

Leica has stated in the recent past that the shutter would stay the

same (cloth and horizontally run), only the timing mechanism

would be electronically controlled. I strongly doubt they will adopt

a hybrid shutter. Still it is a matter of wait and see.

[sparkie]

John:

 

<p>

 

Any other info relating to faster shutter speed etc?? when is Spring in

the US? Sorry, i go by months.

[Rob F.]

Sparkie, 1/1000 is probably the limit for the horizontal cloth

shutter.

[doug herr]

>>>1/1000 is probably the limit for the horizontal cloth shutter<<<

<P>

The Leicaflex cameras beginning in the mid-1960s had a horizontal

cloth shutter with a 1/2000 sec top speed and 1/100 flash sync. The

SL2's 1/2000 sec speed is unreliable but the SL's shutter is nearly

indestructible, short of sticking a misplaced thumb through it.<BR>

[sparkie]

thanks Bob/Douglas. is there still hope for 1/2000 M6AE? ..fingers

crossed. regards,

[Spearhead]

I don't know about other cameras, but when Olympus rated their

horizontal cloth shutter at 1/2000, it always seemed to be over-

rated. Mine measured in (from exposure testing) at somewhere not

very much faster than 1/1000.

[ralph_barker]

Thanks for passing along the rumor. Has there been any indication of

how the AE would work? For example, would it simply adjust the shutter

speed to whatever aperture is set manually on the lens? (Thus,

requiring no lens modification.) Or, might they go all out and try to

adjust both, with user setting a choice of priorities? (With the

corresponding impact on lens design.)

 

<p>

 

It also strikes me that power consumption would be an interesting

design challenge. I've had limited success in jump-starting the

tractor off the M6 TTL's batteries.

 

<p>

 

Any thoughts?

[john_collier5]

The PME is happening in February which is certainly not spring

in my part of the world unless -30C is considered balmy where

you hail from. It will be an aperture priority camera as otherwise

they would have to redesign all their lens mounts. I agree with

Doug. I cannot see any problem with squeezing 1/2000 and

1/100 but we wil just have to wait and see. It is a rumour, albeit a

seemingly reliable one, but not a spec sheet. Battery

consumption will definitely be a concern. Perhaps getting rid of

the old mechanical shutter mech might free up more space than

is required by the new electronics. Then they could put in a

deeper battery compartment like the one in the R7. The problem

is that the M camera has no spare space to stick anything extra.

They had to raise the top plate 2mm just get in the flash TTL

circuitry.

 

<p>

 

An interesting aside which has been discussed before is that

the M6TTL has an exposure lock already built in. The first

movement of the shutter release activates the meter but, if you

keep on going, before the shutter fires, the meter reading locks.

The flash TTL electronics are out of the R8 so perhaps the

shutter control from the R8 is also lurking under the hood as

well.

 

<p>

 

Just to remind you, the only thing that the rumour states is that

the M6AE will be released in Feruary at the PME.

[hufg_jass]

<i>[removed. poof. -T]</i>

[ken4]

How long would they keep making the m6ttl should this thing be

released? Any guesses?

[bert_keuken]

When Leica introduced the M6TTL they opened to door to a slightly larger M6 to incorporate the additional electronics. What will the M6AE bring us? An M6 larger than the M6TTL?

The M6TTL is ugly if you ask me, the 2 mm higher top cover ruins the classic looks. I'm very afraid of the looks M6AE...

 

<p>

 

BTW, an M6AE isn't my cup of tea. I'll stick my M6 Classic.

[john_collier5]

I am sure that Leica will keep the mechanical camera in

production as many people prefer it. A few years ago, when I did

not have a M with a built in meter, I thought I needed an aperture

priority camera. Now, after hundreds of rolls of film through my

TTL, it is all pretty automatic for me to quickly adjust the

exposure. Light conditions do not change tha much in a typical

situation so I just set the exposure and stop looking at the

diodes.

 

<p>

 

Now Leica will be offering six different cameras! One mechanical

and one AE body with three different viewfinders. Oh and two

finishes as well! Heck that is twelve different cameras!! Perhaps

they will drop the 0.85x finder now that the 1.25x magnifier is

available.

[Robin Smith]

Yes, there could well be cost issues for Leica with more models. Buy

your 0.85s now as they might (sensibly) be discontinued!

 

<p>

 

As someone who always sets his shutter speed first (and usually

forgets it thereafter) an AE electronic shutter is a real bore. Still

it does seem to be something that so many people want.

[jeff voorhees]

Is Hugh Jass a "nom de guerre"?

[Rob F.]

I thought the remarks of Hugh Jass exemplified precisely what David

Kelly was talking about. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, this is

the sort of arrant nonsense, up with which we will not put. We do

need a flame-free forum. Maybe some controls are in order.

[todd_phillips1]

I don't know why Leica would discontinue the 21 finder...even if they started packaging it with the lens people still lose them, etc. and would need a replacement!

 

<p>

 

About the top shutter speed....they could go faster if they replaced the cloth curtain with titanium ala Nikon. OR...they could copy Contax G and make a vetical curtain. It's electronic and certainly more accurate at faster (and sticky slow) speeds.

 

<p>

 

I suppose auto-focus is not an option on this AE model? It should be interesting to see what kind of camera this is!

 

<p>

 

Todd

[david_kelly1]

At first i thought, no big deal . But nearly any design for an

electronically controlled shutter leica chooses to make (or buy out)

would almost have to be more accurate and probably stepless -a very

big deal if you shoot slides. And it could even have a respectably

high synch, too. If they could pull that off and keep the noise down

they'd sell a bunch of them. Maybe Konica finally awakened the

sleeping

[art_karr]

In retrospect, my favorite camera is the Nikon FE2. I work with ap.

and within reason I don't care what the shutter speed is. You are

suggesting that they may make an FE2 that will use Leitz lenses.

Well, I would be first in line.

 

<p>

 

I will wait and see.

 

<p>

 

Art

[pat_dunsworth]

I second Art's motion but modify it: an affordable Nikon rangefinder

(not a collectible retro S3) with the functions and shutter of an FE2

and an M-mount. FE2's were the perfect balance between the tank-like

F3 and "everybodies backup body", the FM2. I've been told that an

SLR can never take an M-lens because of that little thing called a

mirror, but we can dream, can't we?