Desmolicious wrote:
I bought the re-issued Leica M6 the moment it was announced. Ask me how that went…
How did that go? Not good obviously, but did they get it taken care of? I've been burned on preorders before, so I no longer do that. It's a good idea to wait and see.
Grime wrote:
How did that go? Not good obviously, but did they get it taken care of? I've been burned on preorders before, so I no longer do that. It's a good idea to wait and see.
Short story long, multiple times had to be sent back because they said they fixed it but did not check their work…
Geoff D F wrote:
Is you Leica working properly now?
Yes works perfectly now, but getting it correctly fixed was like pulling teeth.
But at least it was shipped with those hand signed quality check cards…
Mine was a tech called Dieter Gũtenuff.
Desmolicious wrote:
Short story long, multiple times had to be sent back because they said they fixed it but did not check their work…
That sure is some BS. They should do better, Leica is not a brand anyone would expect that kind of service from, and rightly so for how much they cost.
Back on topic, it seems a bit weird to me that there are no official reviews out. Customers are already getting their cameras and normally reviewers will have them first.
I’m wondering if there was a manufacturing issue e.g. the apparent frame spacing and loose strap lugs thing. And so Lomo is asking them to hold off publishing.
This of course is pure conjecture but still.
He's probably never looked through the viewfinder of a Leica Minilux..
My MC-A is due for delivery today! But it's shipped via UPS so more likely than not they won't bother trying to actually deliver it, but will just drop it off at some random pick-up point and I'll only be able to pick it up by Friday or so..
If it does arrive today I can at least share some first impressions on build and handling later.
fjablo wrote:
He's probably never looked through the viewfinder of a Leica Minilux..
My MC-A is due for delivery today! But it's shipped via UPS so more likely than not they won't bother trying to actually deliver it, but will just drop it off at some random pick-up point and I'll only be able to pick it up by Friday or so..
If it does arrive today I can at least share some first impressions on build and handling later.
Let me guess. It's shipping directly from Hong Kong? Although Lomo is based in Austria so maybe it's going through their distribution center. Everyone that has received theirs or has a shipping notification is outside the US.
What is interesting about the MC-A is many of us here are excited about buying one.
Whereas with the Rollei 35AF I think only one FMr bought one, and then sold it soon thereafter.
i don’t recall anyone buying the P17 - maybe one person? But never saw any pics taken w it in the film image thread.
Lomo definitely has a hit on their hands as long as the product delivers on the promise.
It got shipped from Vienna* btw, so they probably have a distribution center for EU over there.
(*even if it says that in the address the actual distribution hub might also still be somewhere else like Czech Republic etc, quite common practice that these business addresses are just consumer-facing proxies)
So here are my first impressions:
Size and overall build quality:
Very impressive! It is almost exactly the same size as my Leica Minilux and the build quality and tolerances feel really good. Dials are nice and clicky. Leatherette feels good.
Manual film advance is really nice, too, and elevates the user experience quite a bit for me. Don't expect Leica or Nikon F2 level of smoothness for the film advance though, this is still just a P&S.
Random observation: no lens cap or any other protection for the front element of the lens. I put on the UV filter they supplied with the camera for protection for now.
Viewfinder:
Not the nicest viewfinder indeed. Compared to the Minilux viewfinder it's clear that the glass quality is not as good - the MC-A viewfinder is a bit soft overall and also gets blurry towards the edges. And coatings don't seem to be very good as you get a lot of reflections from light sources in the viewfinder. Lots of barrel distortion, but that is normal for a film P&S and similar on the Minilux. The viewfinder is significantly bigger than the one on the Minilux and overall I think it gets the job done for framing. Not a dealbreaker for me.
Autofocus + Manual focus:
Seems pretty solid to me in terms of speed, again very comparable to something like the Minilux. The top LCD shows the distance that it sets and the distances seem plausible. Makes a moderate amount of noise, maybe a bit louder than some of the smoother P&S from the 90s. But no winding noise to make up for it.
Manual focus works with distinct settings, no way to set it to anything in-between (also nice and clicky switch to set them). The camera has to actively focus to that setting each shot, so it's not really faster than autofocus. The only upside is that it's independent from where you point the camera at and the AF can't get confused by anything that's in the way.
Not much more I can say for now. Time will tell if I run into any frame spacing issues, how good the lens performs and how accurate the AF turns out.
I really enjoy the overall design, button & dial layout etc. If the results hold up to the first impression, than this is a really impressive release and just a blessing for the film community. It's the kind of camera I was hoping Pentax would make, when they announced their film project.
Desmolicious wrote:
Nice! I thought it came with a lens cap? According to this review it should be packed with the splitzer filter thingy. About the 5:20 mark I think:
That’s actually correct, thanks for pointing it out!
On the packaging it just says the splitzer and hand strap would be in that part, so I didn’t even open it..
fjablo wrote:
My copy did actually arrive today - yay!
It got shipped from Vienna* btw, so they probably have a distribution center for EU over there.
(*even if it says that in the address the actual distribution hub might also still be somewhere else like Czech Republic etc, quite common practice that these business addresses are just consumer-facing proxies)
Thanks for the clues. Seems like US pre-orders are dependent on Brooklyn Lomo getting them out the door. I have two trips planned before the month is up. It would be sweet to have this in hand by then.
I'd love to have a nice flat glass viewfinder ala an old Rollei 35 but at this price I think beggers can't be choosers. The distance pre-sets will be nice when shooting through windows, reflections, etc. I also like it when a point and shoot has an infinity setting. Maybe the AF-to-preset isnt fast for zone focus street shooting but it will still have a lot of utility.
