There will much discussion of the M7 vis-a-vis the M6, M6TTL, Hexar, Bessa, etc., but I am sure the M7 is in my future.

Given a kit with an M6TTL 0.58, a 35mm Summicron, a 50mm Summicron and a 90mm Elmarit, which M7 body makes sense? This is a question of lens usage and viewfinder magnification given the handling charateristic changes that aperture priority implies for the M7.

It seems to me that AE benefits longer focal lengths more than wider lenses. The selective field of view seems to force more exposure setting adjustments than the wider fields of view. So, does an 0.85 M7 for use with the 90mm and 50mm lenses make most sense, thus using the M6 0.58 for the 35mm and eventual 28mm lenses? Or does it matter at all?

Your thoughts are welcome...

-- Dan Brown (brpatent@swbell.net), February 25, 2002

Answers

I bought an M2 from my first salary in 1962; sorry this is an opinion of an Oldy: I shall definitely go for an M7 - also old men want to be fast, but I shall then use any M2 until M4P for wide angle shots. Yes I believe we now could do without an M6, but not without the old manual Leica Mīs. After many years of work with Leica you hardly need a lightmeter, especially for wide angle - use your new M7 as a light-meter if you are uncertain.....RGDS Hartmut

-- Hartmut Schroeder (schroeder@blankenese.de), February 25, 2002.

Dan,

After what I've read (but not used) abiut the new viewfinder magnifier attachment, I think I'd go for the 0.72 version and the magnifier, especially if chrome bodies are your bag. Initially at least, only the 0.72 is to be available in chrome.

That way when you only want to carry one body, the o.72 and the mag should cover all the bases. Of course you could use the mag on the 0.58 also. It's only about 10% of the price of a new body.

Have fun with the M7.

Best,

Jerry

-- Jerome R. Pfile, Jr. (JerryPfile@msn.com), February 25, 2002.

I'm not sure I agree with your conclusion about AE benefitting longer focal lengths more than wider ones. As focal length increases, the meter is measruing an ever-smaller area of the scene, and is thus more likely to be fooled by overly bright or overly dark areas within that narrower field of view. As such, I'd lean more toward AE being of greater benefit with the wider lenses, where more averaging of the scene within the spot is taking place.

Additionally, it is still unclear to me whether the AE features on the M7 can be locked at something other than the final composition. If there is no auto-exposure lock capability, trusting the AE's opinion of the exposure with longer lenses could be a disappointment.

Ignoring the AE issues, I would agree, however, that having a difference between the viewfinder magnifications on a two-body kit makes sense. With your current complement of lenses, I'd think a 0.72 or 0.85 on the M7 would be more advantageous. Why you have a 0.58 with a 35mm lens being your widest is unclear to me.

-- Ralph Barker (rbarker@pacbell.net), February 25, 2002.

Thanks, interesting point about the metering. A couple of comments. I think you can lock the metering by holding the shutter release part way down (but I'd want to be positive on this point before buying). I use the 0.58 with a 35mm on the wide end because I wear eyeglasses and I plan to add a 28mm at some point in the future.

-- Dan Brown (brpatent@swbell.net), February 25, 2002.

You can definitely lock the AE exposure setting, by maintaining light pressure on the M7's shutter release. Without that feature, AE would not be very useful IMHO.

I agree with your thoughts, Dan, that the .85 M7 is the way to go, given that you already have a .58. A .72 body would not be such a useful addition. And don't forget, you can still use the 1.25x magnifier with a .85 body, if you wish, to get 1.06 overall magnification for even better ease of composition and focus accuracy with long lenses.

-- Ray Moth (ray_moth@yahoo.com), February 25, 2002.