Given Leica's inclusion of black paint finish,engraved top plates and high mag finders on several of it's M models do you think the inclusion of a self-timer in any new model would be appreciated,used or indeed economically viable for Leica? Could this retro move fully preclude the M's metering facility? Are we all taken as street shooters needing the accuracy of flashing led's and a winder?

-- Sheridan Zantis (albada60@hotmail.com), September 02, 2001

Answers

I don't think we'll see a self timer on the M6 anytime soon. I remember reading somwhere that in a survey, something like 3% of photographers regularily used the selftimer. I imagine that far more than this use the meter.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), September 02, 2001.

Hi, Sheridan:

It is been a long time since I began thinking that a winer policy for Leica would be to bring its most famous ever rangefinder back from the freezer. I mean the M3, of course . . .

That way they wouldn't have to do ridiculous things like improving their latest models in order for them to be almost as good as the 50+ years old marvel.

And then if they could manage themselves to include a light meter in this finest camera all the better. If not, it doesn't matter: they could also come up with an updated version of the MC meter with no batteries and which allowed you to directly set the speed while metering. And if that were not possible either, the original M3 plus a hand held meter would be more than enough for mostly any purpose.

You could easily guess that I'm a M3 user, right ? And I do make street photography with no flashing leds (not needed for this purpose, really) and hate winders but still agree with you that losing the best capabilities the older models had in order to have light metering available on board doesn't seem to be technologically justified. Not any longer.

Unfortunately, you know Messrss. Leica don't read this site, otherwise they would stop trying to compete with long time winers in the SLR field and commit themselves to keep their first place in the rangefinder world and improve the Visoflex system for those of us who eventually need macro capabilities but would stick to the Ms.

Cheers, Sheridan. Have fun.

-Iván

-- Iván Barrientos M (ingenieria@simltda.tie.cl), September 02, 2001.

Every time I've packed my M outfit for a travel excursion in the past 10 years I've included a little selftimer that screws into the cable- release socket. I have not used it even once. I've never used the selftimer on my M4, nor the M2s I had at one time. The thought of satisfying my narcissism is outweighed by the terrifying prospect of leaving $2000+ of camera and lens up for grabs by an opportunistic passer-by.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), September 02, 2001.

I'd love a built-in self-timer on the M6. I use one of the screw-in mechanical things which works most (but not all) of the time.

My family loves the photos of us standing in front of famous scenery or the "Welcome to" state signs.

If you see a family of five standing along the freeway in front of a welcome sign please honk and wave!

I use the timer for nightime scenes as well. I know I could use a cable release but I just like the timer.

-- James (jreimer@alloway.com), September 02, 2001.

Gentlemen,thank you for your input.What triggered my question? I recently purchased a 65mm Elmar and one unloved Visoflex housing.I took some close-ups using self-timer with mirror lock-up,features still current in Leica R6's.The whirring clockwork mechanism of the activated self-timer along with the simple click of the cloth focal plane shutter contributed to unmistakeably sharp images ...maybe all this is just a touch of nostalgia.

-- Sheridan Zantis (albada60@hotmail.com), September 03, 2001.

Yes, I would appreciate a built-in self-timer in the new version of M6. Do I have to give a reason? I think not. It was on the M3, I believe.

-- Damond Lam (damond_lam@hotmail.com), September 03, 2001.

Wandering off topic, I also just "inherited" a Viso III and 65--I never much liked SLRs, and I'm surprised how nice it is to use-- quiet, vibration-free. The problem, of course, is that this comes at the cost of bulk and weight, but I'm still in the infatuation phase of the relationship. :-)

-- Michael Darnton (mdarnton@hotmail.com), September 03, 2001.

Hi, Jay:

The self timer comes handy for more purposes than satisfying one's narcissism. Just a few hours ago I happened to be in need of it and thanked that my M3s do have it: I went out walking just for excercise and took only one M3 with a Cron along with me and saw this interesting sign high above the street but the sun was in an angle that I knew would cause my old Cron to flare. For a solution I set the selftimer and had time to point the camera up and frame my subject while using the right hand to throw some shadow over the lens.

It is not that I invented this solution all of a sudden. I had done it before in similar situations and it works for me. Holding the camera tight against one's forehead helps to keep it still using only one hand.

Regards and have fun !

-Iván

-- Iván Barrientos M (ingenieria@simltda.tie.cl), September 03, 2001.

As an R user, I use my self timer frequently to save me the trouble of getting out a cable release- and for the kind of tricks that Ivan relates. I miss them on M cameras.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), September 04, 2001.

Those neat self timers of yesterday probably costed more to make than the built-in meters of today! I'd like to see a solenoid-activated device that slipped over the side of the camera, with a plunger over the shutter button. A hand held device, like a car remote door opener would activate the shutter. The little gadgets that screw into the shutter release buttons are problematical. Such a device ought to press down the whole button, not just a pin that enters the release.

-- Frank Horn (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), September 07, 2001.

I think the addition of a self-timer to the M6 would be a great idea. From what I understand, the battery compartment of the M6 has taken up the space where the self-timer was on the M3.For such a compact camera, it does not seem likely there is much room left for a self- timer, unless placed elsewhere. I believe the inclusion of the light meter is more important to most Leica users than the self-timer. With my M3 I had used the self-timer a few times but with my M6 I use the built in meter all the time.Sometimes I wish I had the self-timer with my M6 but the meter is more important to me,unless I want to be included in the picture!

-- John Alfred Tropiano (jat18@psu.edu), September 07, 2001.

John,

You are correct. The meter has taken the space orginally occupied by the self-timer in M6. Last Friday I spoke to the technician at Leica service center, who did a checkup and calibration on my 6-year old M6. He told me if there were a self-timer then it had to be a mechanical one. Unfortunately he thinks there is no space inside a M6. Potential solution: make the camera slightly larger or change its shape (a marketing dilemma), or design an electronic shutter with built-in timer while keeping the same look and size (another marketing dilemma). These solutions do sound too elegant.

I'd rather live by using a pin-type screw-in timer made by a small Japanese firm.

-- Damond Lam (damond_lam@hotmail.com), September 08, 2001.