george_hickey1

<p>If I was considering the purchase of a M9, which I am not, I would wait awhile for the reviews to come in. I'm a film shooter. But I would like to comment on a point that has come up several times above: Value for the money with a Leica product.<br>

I have a M7 starter set which includes a 50mm F2. It is sold new by B&H for $5495.00. That's a lot of money for a manual camera and a 50mm lens which is usually the least expensive lens in a manufacturer's lineup. It seems to me that for that price the camera and leans should function flawlessly. Yet the camera has well documented problems with the DX contacts and ISO/ex comp adjustment wheel. These flaws should have been foreseen by Leica and corrected before the camera was released on the market.<br>

The Summicron 50mm F2 is a great performer but I find that the build quality and performance of my 43mm F1.9 Pentax limited lens is comparable. Although I am not one to run tests of my lenses, and the Summicron may test better it is certainly not 4 times better than the Pentax but it's price is 4 times as much.</p>

<p>I love using my M7 and will likely keep it for the rest of my life. And it will last that long. But if Leica buyers continue to pay these high prices while being too forgiving of flaws in Leica products than the quality of the products will suffer.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Here's another cropped a good deal.</p><div></div>

<p>I have a B&W photo of the gal with fur is dead written on her chest from the same event. I know her-her name is Jessica and the group she was with is called NW Animal Rights network.</p><div></div>

<p>For fill flash: A handkerchief and a rubber band works well. And you can vary the the diffusion with layers of material.</p>

<p>My M7 starter set (camera & 50mm F2) costs $5500 new. It has defects with the ISO dial and DX contacts. I argue that at $5500 it should not have those defects.</p>

<p>The M8, as you digital shooters know well, has not been defect free. The M9 will not be defect free. Leica gets away with providing less than premium products at premium prices because it's customers allow it too.</p>

<p>I recently purchased a 43mm F1.9 Pentax limited lens for $529. It is a fine performer. The Summicron 50mm F2 is, if better at all (I haven't run any tests) certainly not four times better made, sharper, etc than the Pentax.</p>

<p>http://www.dpreview.com/articles/leicafactory2009/</p>

<p>Michael,<br>

I photograph a lot of street demonstrations. I took my two PZ1ps and the new 43mm and the 135mm out for a test ride photographing a street protest and am very pleased. The 31mm limited would probably have been a better choice for me but this combination will work ok for me. I wish I had kept the 35mm F2-but oh well.</p>

<p>By the way. The FA135 F2.8, in my opinion, is unappreciated- it is a great performer. I love it for candid street portraits.</p>

<p>I'm now very glad I didn't sell that Pentax stuff as the auto focus is much better than manual for shooting demos. And the PZ1p and MZS are great cameras. I agree with your comment about the MZS and 43 combo. It's not much larger than my Leica/50mm On the other hand I've run about twenty rolls through the leica shooting traditional street shots zone focusing (hyperfocal) with a preset exposure and it is a blast.</p>

<p>Bang for the buck Pentax FA and limited primes are a better value than Leica.</p><div></div>

<p>John Paul Treen: "I really wish Pentax would bring out two or three rebadged FA lenses as DA primes. Just the 35/2, the 50/1.7, and a something else maybe (135/2.8?)."<br>

That's interesting. Let me tell an anecdote here. This past month I purchased a used Leica M7 and lens at a good price. I decided to sell off my Pentax stuff to finance it. I listed for sale a FA28 F2.8, FA35 F2, FA50 F1.7, FA 135 F2.8 and 2-PZ1p cameras and a MZ-s at this site, Craigslist, and at the Pentax forums marketplace. The 28,35,and 50mm lenses went like hotcakes for roughly what I paid for them several years ago.<br>

But the 3 cameras and FA135 F2.8 got no bites.And I listed the cameras at a VERY good price. (In my opinion.)<br>

I decided to keep them and went looking for a Pentax zoom 28-70mm-FA2.8 to buy. None are available from any manufacturer that I could find. I ended up buying a FA43 F1.9 limited as a compromise focal length for the three lenses that I sold.<br>

And yes Douglas Barrow, Leica prices are obscene. But if one is patient good deals can be found. I got one off Craigslist that had a mere 50 rolls run through it for less than half of the new price at B&H. For a street shooter like me who will never give up B&W film this Leica will last me the rest of my life.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I had the same problem with the blinking light and occasionally a flashing ASA warning. I did what Ray suggested and used a lens cleaning cloth to clean off the DX contacts and now it works perfectly. The blinking light is gone.</p>

<p>Thanks for the helpful responses. I gave the hood a hard crank and it came off.<br>

The additional comments about the filter are well taken. The hood does seem to give enough protection to the glass.</p>

<p>I received my new FA43 F1.9 limited from B&H today. I also bought a 49mm B&W UV filter. The B&H webpage shows the lens without a hood and with filter threads. The lens came with the hood mounted and I don't see any filter threads. I twisted and tugged on the hood but it doesn't move and I don't want to break anything. The literature that came with it is no help.<br>

Any suggestions. Thanks<br>

George</p>

<p>This seems like a good place to post this.</p>

<p>I just bought an M7 The ISO dial will only turn the two stops each way for exposure compensation and not all the way around to manually set an ISO. I am holding down the release button. Am I doing something wrong? Is the camera defective?</p>

<p>Real world this is not a problem as I no longer roll my own film so I'm using DX coded cartridges and never push my film more than the two stops I can do with the exposure compensation.</p>

<p>Downtown San Francisco</p><div></div>

<p>Here's a link to a tokyo site. The photographer photographs interesting film cameras he sees on the street. Lot's of Leicas-but other interesting stuff too.</p>

<p>http://tokyocamerastyle.com/page/1</p>

<p> I write this as a person who is currently selling off his Pentax SLR stuff to finance a used M7 and lens I recently purchased at a very good price.<br>

$8000! $8000!! $8000!!! for a body and another couple grand for a lens. To make digital images that you have to spend several thousand more on equipment and software to process. And in twenty years you'll have updated your archives to new file formats and storage systems how many times? And bought how many different software programs and spent how much time learning to use them? I can't answer those questions but I know I'll still be able to print my negatives just like the day I made them. And that used M7 I just bought, with good care, will still be working fine.<br>

If you've got it flaunt it, but geeez, doesn't anyone ever stop to think that Leica may be taking advantage of you? That they are selling a very nice steak but that you are paying through the nose for the sizzle.</p>

Gee Mr Spivak, I don't have the "girl crying" issue or the new October issue shown on your website. Are you going to be rude to me now. What's the problem, a printer, a shipper, a new email program, loud street noise in NYC?

Here is an update to my post here dated 4-28-08:

 

A couple weeks ago I received the special issue of Focus. I don't recall the issue date ( I left it on a bus)

but I do recall noticing that I was receiving it two or three months after the issue date and wondering if it was

a returned unsold issue from a magazine store that was now being sent to me. I have now received two issues this

year for a total of 11 issues over three years.

 

Like another commenter above, I have given up hope that Focus will ever meet it's responsibility of providing me

with magazines as promised.

 

I read Mr Spivak's comments above and how he does go on. He alternates between being a reasonable guy, a jerk,

and threatening to sue subscribers who complain. But this is a simple matter. Subscribers paid for magazines to

be provided at a time promised by Focus. Focus set the terms of the agreement and has failed to perform.

 

To any potential subscribers of Focus who have read this far and are still thinking of subscribing to Focus. Are

you nuts?