ericd

Anthony I suspect that the condition of the lens is essential. Old fast lenses seems to have a front element made of very soft glass.

Some people are fond the LTM Nikkors. Mine give some interesting effect but it's not that good IMO.

On the other and I have a mint pre-WWII Zeiss Sonnar 50/1.5 (the version that stop down only to f/11) in Contax mount that I use with a Kiev 4a. It's a very sharp lens and I never had any kind of "glow" with this one.

Beautiful camera.

My IIIa is not that nice but working very well. I love it as it is. I don't need any case, I just stuck it my pocket with a collapsible lens ;-)

Ethan the discussion as gone in various directions.

If you want a metered camera I think the options are :

In Leica M mount :

Minolta CLE, Konica RF, Zeiss Ikon, various flavors of Cosina/Voïgtlander Bessa, Leica CL/M5/M6/M7.

In Leica Thread mount :

Original Cosina/Voïgtlander Bessa R and some vintage LTM Canon.

I may have forgotten some.

IMO you can't go wrong with a nice used M6 or M7. But that's by no way the cheapest option. However something cool with used Leica is that it's easy to get most of your money back if you resell it.

I would advice against buying used camera full of electronics like Minolta CLE or Hexar RF when support is not granted. But I buyed my used Hexar with a mint Ultron for the price of a new Ultron. If you find such a bargain why not ?

Aside of this there's finder, noise and general ergonomics issue.

For the finder you have to choose a body that you easy to use with the lenses you will use more. Well go to B&H or wherever you want to go and try to look in finder of various camera.

Same thing for noise press the shutter release and listen to the sound.

Same thing also for general ergonomics hold the camera and check if the controls fits you.

A question that remains unanswered is : Which lens ?

David, that's interesting. Maybe they just stockpiled the top plates and picked them in random order ? The S/N engraving being made at the end of the production process.

What about your bottom plate ?

About the lens :

The tiny particle and the bubbles may have no effect on image quality.

Raymond should shoot a film first.

Personally I will not spend money to repair a Summar there is better lenses to use with a screw mount Leica, the cheapest being an Industar-22.

It seems to be similar to mine (number 183344) that bears the same engraving. Is the bottom engraved in German or in English ?

Mine was buyed in England and has a bottom plate in English. I don't if it is the original bottom plate.

The Leicas are not as quiet as you'd want. I love my IIIa made 1935, it's very well made camera. Its quieter than any film SLR I've used but its by no way very quiet. So far I've made a comparison with a IIIf that was noisier, and found several M2, M3 noisier. A M4 was quieter. As I stated before I have no idea of the noise level of a M6 or a M7.

A film SLR as a mirror slap that let everybody know that you have taken the shot. But if someones really wants a quiet camera my vote is for an Olympus XA. But noise level is overrated if we are strictly speaking of street photography (It might be different if you're shooting at funerals for instance.) streets are not that silent.

Being unnoticed is not only a noise level issue, it has to do with your general behavior and making no noise identified as as a shutter release sound.

And manually cocking a shutter is a very clear sign for many people that you're shooting.

And well my aim was not to state that Leica are noisy I was just describing what I use in street shooting.

IMO if Ethan wants a street shooter he as to choose it with his hears.

My comment about variation between Leica M was more important in my mind than discussing about the noise level of the Hexar RF vs. Leica M6. Regarding my personal experience I buyed a Hexar RF because it was dirt cheap. I'm happy with and I get unoticed most often than with any other camera I've used except Canonets and Olympus XA.

Typo fixed :

I'm clearly speaking of a Konica Hexar RF. I've checked what other said about the Hexar RF. According to Stephen Gandy there are serious variation of noise level between differents Hewar RF. I've just pushed the release button of mine to check noise level. Quite frankly its not that silent but it doesn't make "click". From my practical experience most people don't identify the noise of my Hexar as shutter release on many AF the AF a similar (and often louder) noise. Quite frankly I think the noise level is not that important, as a silent camera doesn't make you invisible. The main problem is when the noise let people know that you have taken the shot.

I'm clearly speaking of a Konica Hexar RF.

I've checked what other said about the Hexar RF.

According to Stephen Gandy there are serious variation of noise level between differents.

I've just pushed the release button of mine to check noise level. Quite frankly its not that silent but it doesn't make "click".

From my practical experience most people don't identify the noise of my Hexar as shutter release on many AF the AF a similar (and often louder) noise.

Quite frankly I think the noise level is that important, a silent camera doesn't make you invisible. The main problem is when the noise let people know that you have taken the shot.

A Makina 67 and Leica or Leica-like are very different beast.

You have to know if you want to shoot MF first.

If you choose Leica or Leica like stuff you have a lot of options.

Camera choice will depend of :

- what lens do you plan to use ?

- do you need an integrated exposure meter.

Here are my favorite bodies :

- Ultra cheap Zorki 3C with 50mm : a bit noisy but great finder.

- Leica III a with 50mm : not that silent but small.

- Konica Hexar RF with 35mm or 50mm : silent, auto exposure, integrated winder, no need of auxiliary finder for most lenses.

Regarding noise I know some people considers that nothing is as silent as a Leica (at least considering focal plane shutter cameras).

Well I don't know. I had the opportunity to test a lot of used Leica M

(M2, M3, M4) I found them not that silent compared to the Hexar RF. I also found great difference between similar cameras. I think it depends much of CLA. My own experience with Russian RF is that a bit of oil at the right place will reduce noise. The more silent was a M4 maybe a recent M6 is quieter ?