If I wanted to use an M6, with its built-in meter, for closeup and macro photography, would a Visoflex attachment be suitable? Macro work is the only arena in which an SLR (rather than rangefinder camera) seems essential, but does the Visoflex offer a way around that?

Than

-- Nicholas Hartmann (nh@nhartmann.com), February 22, 2002

Answers

Nicholas,

I have a Viso III with accessories if your interested. I've never used it; it came with the M2 set I bought on ebay. As I travel, it's way too much for me to lug around. I'd like to play with it, but I KNOW I would never keep it. A good deal awaits you; keep it out of my storage unit.

-- chris chen (chrischen@msn.com), February 22, 2002.

I'm sorry, I forgot to answer your question:

Yes, the Viso will allow macro photography, with the right access.

-- chris chen (chrischen@msn.com), February 22, 2002.

Viso works fine for macro on M6. I use either the head of the old 90mm Summicron or the head of the old 135mm 2.8 Elmar. I also have all the adaptors available from Leica for use of screwmount lenses. I have also used my 100 V-Elmar enlarging lens.......very sharp!! If you're doing table top or still life macro where speed is not important, Viso works fine. Just remember to flip up the mirror to meter!! Good Luck.....

-- F. William Baker (atelfwb@aol.com), February 22, 2002.

The only caveat is that you have to meter with the mirror up out of the way, and of course look through the regular viewfinder to do so. This can be a bit tricky, depending upon the Viso unit you use. Also, you have to remember to use stop-down metering (which is of course the only way an M6 meters) and then after you've done your metering, open up the lens and drop the mirror, check focus, etc., then close the lens down again and then shoot.

All very cumbersome. I would recommend a hand-held meter (or a real SLR) for serious macro work.

-- drew (swordfisher@hotmail.com), February 22, 2002.

Addendum to my last post... Forgot to say that lenses were mounted to Leica bellows with adaptors......désolé

-- F. William Baker (atelfwb@aol.com), February 22, 2002.

Yes, the Visoflex offers "a way around" - but it ain't no short cut: it's the lo-o-ong scenic route - on dirt roads.

The process is well-described above - but you personally also have to adjust the Viso trigger so that it JUST fires the shutter as the mirror flips up. Otherwise you either get lovely exposures of the back of the mirror - or the camera never fires at all.

For the price of a Viso you can get a used/user Leicaflex SL or Leica R3/R4/RE (if you want to use Leica macro lenses) or even a Nikanontax. The macro lens will be extra in any case.

Unless you're a glutton for doing things the hard way - or already have the Viso - or just take pride in having a 'minimalist' number of cameras (all fair reasons!) - an SLR is not much more expensive and MUCH more flexible (i.e. you can also fit a fisheye or 19mm or 80 1.4 or any number of other lenses at some point).

Leica had a good reason to make the Viso in the first place - and a good reason to finally quit.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), February 22, 2002.

I'm using an M4-2, not an M6, so the meter's not an issue, but I find the Viso very comfortable for this type of work, which I do quite a bit.

-- Michael Darnton (mdarnton@hotmail.com), February 22, 2002.

Nicholas:

I have an R4, M6 and M3's. I prefer the Viso III on the 6 and 3's over the R4. The 90 Elmar lens head on the bellows allows infinity to 1:1. The 90 Summicron head gets you from about 6' to 1.1:1. I prefer the 90 Summicron over the 135 f:2.8 Elmarit on the bellows. The shutter adjustment is not that difficult, and is different for each body. With the proper adapters, you can use almost any of the older lenses on the bellows, or use a lens in the focus mount on the Viso without the bellows. This gives you a limited range, but it works acceptably. I have used the 50 Summicrons, 90 3 Element Elmar, 90 Summicron, 135 Elmarit and 135 Hektor on the Viso with and without the bellows. The return mirror of the Viso III is not as fast returning as an SLR, but is made up for in the brightness of the viewfinder. It is not a combination for everyone, but I enjoy it.

-- Mark A. Johnson (logical1@catholic.org), February 23, 2002.

Hello Nicholas. Today's photography seems to demand things in a hurry .. in contrast, the slower working Visoflex for close up and macro photography is an anachronism. However,the Visoflex 3 in tandem with M6 body and viso. adapted lens (my favourites are 65mm. Elmar and 135mm. f4 Tele-Elmar head) becomes easier to use with practice and will render razor sharp close ups which are a joy to behold. Regards.

-- sheridan zantis (albada60@hotmail.com), February 23, 2002.

Hello Nicholas. Today's photography seems to demand things in a hurry .. in contrast, the slower working Visoflex for close up and macro photography is an anachronism. However,the Visoflex 3 in tandem with M6 body and viso. adapted lens (my favourites are 65mm. Elmar and 135mm. f4 Tele-Elmar head) with practice, will render razor sharp close ups which are a joy to behold. Regards.

-- sheridan zantis (albada60@hotmail.com), February 23, 2002.

Nicholas,

The Visoflex works fine (sort of, but as has already been said, is somewhat of a pain) on a regular or "Classic" M6.

However, if you have one of the TTL M6s, I understand the is a clearance problem with the with the taller top plate. You could get around that if you used the vertical magnifier.

In a way that only increases the hassle though, as the vertical 5x magnifier gives a reversed image.

Best,

Jerry

-- Jerome R. Pfile, Jr. (JerryPfile@msn.com), February 24, 2002.

Nicholas. The M6 with viso is perfectly workable for macro applications. In terms of ease of use, you are best off with the last version (Visoflex III) with eye level finder, which you can use on the regular M6 but not the M6TTL (clearance problem), The Viso III gives you three settings: 1) mirror down, rapid return (like your average SLR); mirror down, slow return (to reduce vibration), and mirror up (to allow vibration-free operation).

The best lens for macro work, the best lens, by far, is the 65/3.5 Elmar (either chrome or later black version, both are great). This lens is used with the universal focussing mount (OTZFO/16464) and goes from infinity to 1:3 magnification. You can get closer with an extension tube (16471) and still closer with the bellows II unit.

The 65/3.5 was designed and corrected for close-up work and is a great lens even by today's standards. To do any better, you'd have to go to the 100/2.8 Apo-Macro-Elmarit-R on an R body.

-- Eliot (erosen@lij.edu), February 24, 2002.

Thanks, everyone, for valuable information about the Visoflex. Yes, it would be nice to standardize on Leica M for _everything_, but it looks like macro work is really stretching the capabilities of the system. An F-series Nikon and a 50 macro seems like a much simpler (and cheaper) solut

-- Nicholas Hartmann (nh@nhartmann.com), February 25, 2002.