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Archive 2017 · Would you buy a Leica M5?

  
 
Gary Clennan
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p.2 #1 · p.2 #1 · Would you buy a Leica M5?


rico wrote:
Other than ordinary wear and tear, nothing that warrants undue caution when purchasing, and nothing that can't be fixed. Like any precision instrument, it benefits from a CLA every decade or two. The most esoteric flaw in some early M4 bodies is called "golden droplets" which refers to prism separation in the VF as the Canadian balsam ages. As for versions, the M4 had an unusually short production run of 2 years, so differences under the cover are minimal. Externally, there are a few (expensive) paint variations like black enamal and olive. You're probably not in the market for the
...Show more

Thanks Rico! I was chatting with a hard core Leica film shooter a few night back over beers and I told him I would prefer a film M with metering. He challenged me to pick exposure values a few times throughout the night and I was very close each time (when compared to a metered camera). I think ones own eye is actually quite accurate....



Feb 18, 2017 at 06:57 PM
rico
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p.2 #2 · p.2 #2 · Would you buy a Leica M5?


Metering by eye is merely a matter of practice, and a meter is helpful in this exercise. You can also find some manual-exposure tabulations on the Net which are useful, insightful and amusing. In the process of gaining experience, you will also become familiar with "reading" the light for purposes of composition. A tall, dark building that blots out half the sky is a –1EV factor, but also a means to gain directional lighting for a portrait.

My top-of-the-head exposure guide:
  1. EV 15 — broad daylight
  2. EV 14 — hazy sunlight (shadows visible)
  3. EV 13 — light overcast
  4. EV 12 — medium overcast
  5. EV 12 — shadow on a sunny day
  6. EV 10 — deep overcast
  7. EV 8 — bright office fluorescents
  8. EV 5 — dim office, bright living room
  9. EV 3 — dim living room
  10. EV 0 — newspaper unreadable

Embarrassingly enough, my wife beats me at the guess-the-EV game.



Feb 18, 2017 at 07:17 PM
PhotoMaximum
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p.2 #3 · p.2 #3 · Would you buy a Leica M5?


What is a solid decent price for a M5 in good condition?



Feb 18, 2017 at 07:53 PM
genji
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p.2 #4 · p.2 #4 · Would you buy a Leica M5?


rico wrote:
...
Regarding light metering, Desmolicious mentioned external meters for the M. The Leica offering (MR) connects to the speed dial and allows you to set the shutter speed while taking the reading—not science fiction! For myself, Sunny 16 and a few rules-of-thumb take care of exposure. Once upon a time, everyone and their granny set exposures manually using the table printed by Kodak on every carton of film. Has humanity regressed so badly mentally? You don't have to answer that question!


Since we're talking about Leica cameras and the Sunny 16 Rule, in an oral history interview for the Smithsonian, Ben Shahn recalled the photography lesson he received from Walker Evans.

-------------------------

BEN SHAHN: Well, I told you I shared a studio with Walker Evans before any of this came along. I became interested in photography when I found my own sketching was inadequate... So I asked my brother to buy me a camera because I didn't have the money for it. He bought me a Leica and I promised him - this was kind of a bold promise - I said, "If I don't get in a magazine off the first roll you can have your camera back." I did get into a magazine, a theater magazine at the time. Now, my knowledge of photography was terribly limited. I must tell you this because I thought I could always ask Walker to show me what to do and so on, and it was a kind of an indefinite promise that he made. One day when he was going off to the South Seas and I was helping him into his taxi, I said, "Walker, remember your promise to show me how to photograph?" He says, "Well, it 's very easy, Ben. F9 on the sunny side of the street, F4.5 on the shady side of the street. For a twentieth of a second hold your camera steady," and that was all. This was the only lesson I ever had.

-------------------------

1/20 at f/9 on the sunny side of the street would mean that the film they were using was about ISO 6. Walker Evans went to the South Seas in 1932, the same year that the Leica II was introduced. Ben Shahn mentions later in the interview that his brother bought him a second-hand camera for about $25 so perhaps he had a Leica I.



Feb 18, 2017 at 08:54 PM
rico
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p.2 #5 · p.2 #5 · Would you buy a Leica M5?


@genji, It also means Evans was expecting +1EV of bounce from buildings on the other side of the street. So-called open shade near sea-level is 100% skylight (-3EV from daylight) and quite blue. Fun with exposure modifiers. Negative material benefits from a stop or two of exposure over the rated speed, and highlights don't block, so shooting with manual settings is a low-stress endeavor. I carry a cheap plastic meter (Sekonic 308), and measure once a day to make sure I'm paying attention!


Feb 18, 2017 at 09:36 PM
genji
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p.2 #6 · p.2 #6 · Would you buy a Leica M5?


rico wrote:
@genji@, It also means Evans was expecting +1EV of bounce from buildings on the other side of the street. So-called open shade near sea-level is 100% skylight (-3EV from daylight) and quite blue. Fun with exposure modifiers. Negative material benefits from a stop or two of exposure over the rated speed, and highlights don't block, so shooting with manual settings is a low-stress endeavor. I carry a cheap plastic meter (Sekonic 308), and measure once a day to make sure I'm paying attention!


Good points! One stop of bounce and another of underexposure would bring the ISO up to 25, which sounds more realistic. Edward's earlier remark about never shooting film without using an incident meter reminded me that I always did the same. I have a Sekonic L-758DR but it's too big to carry around for street shooting, so I just bought an inexpensive Minolta Auto Meter III to carry with me.



Feb 18, 2017 at 10:56 PM
edwardkaraa
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p.2 #7 · p.2 #7 · Would you buy a Leica M5?


HCB used to brag that he could guess the exposure every time and that he never used a meter. His printer however said it was a nightmare to print his work because the exposure was all over the place. I'm sure I can guess the correct exposure most of the time outdoors, but especially for shooting E6 film, why take the risk.


Feb 19, 2017 at 12:02 AM
AbramG
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p.2 #8 · p.2 #8 · Would you buy a Leica M5?


I tend to prefer working with my meterless Leica's as I feel I get more accurate exposures than when I'm trusting the internal meter. That being said if I was shooting E-6 at all I would absolutely be entering every shot because of the narrow exposure latitude.

I tend to shoot 400 ISO B&W film which is typically very forgiving of exposure error, though to be honest I've gotten pretty good at reading most lighting situations. I do meter when it is tricky or if the light has changed dramatically from when I started.



Feb 19, 2017 at 12:34 AM
rico
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p.2 #9 · p.2 #9 · Would you buy a Leica M5?


Reversal film (E-6, K-14, Scala chemistries) needs correct exposure in the camera because the processed film is your final output and is designed to exhibit the real-world contrast gradient. Except for broad daylight, I'll tend to meter carefully. I still have some precious 135 rolls of Scala 200 that can be developed by DR5.


Feb 19, 2017 at 01:04 AM
taemo
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p.2 #10 · p.2 #10 · Would you buy a Leica M5?


to the OP, what lens do you currently have for your M240 and do you wear glasses?
if you wear glasses i wouldnt recommend the M3 as it will be challenging to see the whole frame.
also M3 doesnt have 28 and 35 framelines (you'll have to go with M2 for 35).
loading and rewinding film is slower on the M2 and M3 than M4 and later.

I started with the M6, then a handful of M3s and M4s and I kept going back to my M3 DS.
my M3 and collapsible 50 cron will stay with me until im gone

key things that i like/dislike about the various Ms
M3
+the M that started it all
+love the double-stroke version vs the traditional single stroke
+love the advance lever
-slow to rewind and load

M2
+unique frame counter
+has 35 frameline
-slow to rewind and load

M4
+fast to load and rewind
+has most common framelines except 28 iirc
+same build quality as M2 and M3
-has the newer inferior advance lever (same as M6)

M5
+most unique look than the other M
+shooter camera
+ or - bigger than the other M
-doesnt use regular battery

M6
+easy to load amd rewind
+has all framelines
+has metering
-zinc instead of brass
-has the inferior advance lever

for metering i actually prefer a meterless body and using a lightmeter as i found the red arrows distracting on the M6.




Feb 19, 2017 at 02:05 AM
ken.vs.ryu
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p.2 #11 · p.2 #11 · Would you buy a Leica M5?


would you guys recommend an ikon?


Feb 19, 2017 at 11:17 AM
edwardkaraa
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p.2 #12 · p.2 #12 · Would you buy a Leica M5?




ken.vs.ryu wrote:
would you guys recommend an ikon?

I have owned four Ikons simultaneously, each loaded with a different kind of film, my version of a digital sensor equivalent. The high point of the Ikon is the viewfinder, the best I have ever seen. It also shows shutter speeds which is very helpful. However the camera is otherwise voigtlander quality. It feels a bit flimsy and clunky and the material used is cheap. This said it works extremely well and does the job well.



Feb 19, 2017 at 11:37 AM
Gary Clennan
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p.2 #13 · p.2 #13 · Would you buy a Leica M5?


edwardkaraa wrote:
I have owned four Ikons simultaneously, each loaded with a different kind of film, my version of a digital sensor equivalent. The high point of the Ikon is the viewfinder, the best I have ever seen. It also shows shutter speeds which is very helpful. However the camera is otherwise voigtlander quality. It feels a bit flimsy and clunky and the material used is cheap. This said it works extremely well and does the job well.


Perhaps the best OVF around. Nice, big, and bright. As Edward mentioned, they feel kinda cheap though....



Feb 19, 2017 at 01:18 PM
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