Okay, I maybe a bit ahead because my question concerns my brand new M7. Yes, I know...But I had to trade in a few cameras to get it. Bought yesterday. What an incredible piece of work! It has alreay been praised everywhere, but I'm telling you, M6 plus AE AND an even more quiet shutter AND probably the most intelligent and easy AEL I've ever used (just press the shutter button a bit more!) and everything is an experience to be lived fully. Anyway, my only concern is that when focused on ? (inf.) real distant object don't give me a single image in the RF. A tree at, say, 100 meterrs does, but not that house at 1 km. Ouch! Does anybody know if this normal. I don't think I experienced this my previous M6 classic. Thanks.

-- Oliver Reichenbach (olreiche@videotron.ca), April 06, 2002

Answers

the rf needs adjustment. 100 meters is not "infinity." images should coincide on truly distant objects. this is not an unheard of problem with new rf cameras. you should always check infinity focus before you buy -- together with the other main functions. you mite be shocked to learn that if your dealer doesn't take care of you with a replacement (or an in-store adjustment), leica will keep your camera for many weeks while it repairs your new camera. my friend bought a ti m6 and 90mm elmarit a few years ago, and both had to go into the shop immediately for repairs (shutter timing on the m6 and lint betwen the elements in the 90mm). he was without his new purchase for a month. i bought a millenium m6 and discovered that the rf images had a vertical displacement. leica told me i'd have to return and wait four to six weeks for repair. i took it to a local repairer (apc camera in haverhill mass) who fixed it in fifteen minutes. no trouble since.

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), April 06, 2002.

Nice to know Leica's QC hasn't deteriorated.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), April 06, 2002.

"probably the most intelligent and easy AEL I've ever used (just press the shutter button a bit more!)".

Most interesting comment. What other cameras did you use that were not as easy to use in AE mode (at any price point)?

-- sait (akkirman@clear.net.nz), April 06, 2002.

Oliver: I purchased an M6 classic four years ago and had the same problem. I called Leica, NJ and complained. I sent the body in UPS Blue and they returned it the same way. The body was gone for 7 calendar days and has worked fine since. In my letter, I stessed the point the body was new (2 weeks) and I expected better from them. Others on this forum has suggested using the moon at night for infinity.

FWIW

-- Mark J. (logical1@catholic.org), April 06, 2002.

just curious -- who paid for all the overnite shipping (not cheap with $2000 insurance slapped on top)??

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), April 06, 2002.

OOOPS, that reminds me of some exerience I had with the Leica NJ/UPS. I send one of my (two) bodies for very similar problem. the service at NJ didn't take that long. I send it fedex overnight and got it UPS, and not the fastest one. I am fine with all that. the camera works perfectly since then. However, when it was returned to me I actually found it in front of my door (outside the door!) when I returened home. I mean, my new Leica was there, in front of my door, waiting for me. I must say I have nothing in general against finding Leicas near my door, but I would rather it won't be mine. So I don't have a clue whether Leica did not insure it, (I did when I send it to them, obviously), or UPS just doesn't do their job properly, but that's the story.

-- rami (rg272@columbia.edu), April 07, 2002.

above should be read: "experience"..... "returned", sorry...

-- rami (rg272@columbia.edu), April 07, 2002.

Rami- Drivers for UPS have to run their #&%*@#$ off! If you live in a good neighborhood, many times, they just leave stuff. If a US Postal Service employee does this, and a claim is filed, he or she might be billed for the lost item. They will pay, too. USPS has their retirement contributions to draw upon! I don't know if the insurance value of a UPS item can be determined by looking at the pkg, but you can guage how much ins is on a US mail package, by the postage paid. Leaving that package was shoddy work.

-- Frank Horn (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), April 07, 2002.

Thanks all for your anwers. And to Sait, well, I can name a few cameras that have a less than satisfactory AEL, at least much less convenient than M7's: Nikon's F90S, F3 (but what a lovely camera!), F100 - of course, I understand they're not RF so they need both AEL and AFL - Contax G2 (the easier of the non-easy). On the digital front, Olympus E-20, Canon G2 (AEL and AFL together.)

Olivier

-- Olivier (olreiche@videotron.ca), April 07, 2002.

Well, it sounds easy enough if you don't accidently push a little too hard and expose at the wrong time. To simultaneously hold the AE and AF locks on my Nikon 8008, it would help to be a violinist.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), April 07, 2002.

You know what, people? Turned out it's my 50 mm Summicron which doesn't go all the way to infinity, NOT the M7. Phewww... Now, why is that remains to be solved. The infinity stop on the lens comes just a tad too soon. I hope it can be fixed without too much hassle. My other lenses, Leica or other M mounts, work fine. Thanks you all for your help. And to Bob, I don't know how Leica does it but it's very difficult to release the shutter inadvertently while locking the exposure. It's a combination of the course of the button plus the depression that surrounds it, something like that. You really have to press deep to release the shutter, yet it's not hard or anything. Leica magic...

-- Olivier Reichenbach (olreiche@videotron.ca), April 07, 2002.

I still don't understand why the AE lock is thought of as so easy. For years, Contax SLRs have offered AE lock by pressing the shutter button halfway, or by pushing a separate, very convenient button on the front of the camera (falls nautrally under the third finger), or by flipping the lever around the shutter button for a lock that doesn't require you to hold any buttons at all and stays set until you change it. Konica's Hexar RF has AE lock. Konica's Hexar AF has AE lock. This is old news. Why is it so special on a Leica? I'm wondering why Leica didn't at least add a second button for AE lock, or a switch for hands-off locking.

-- Masatoshi Yamamoto (masa@nifty.co.jp), April 07, 2002.

Same thing with my M6 classic and 50 cron - I DIY aligned it with infinity but it consistently focused too near on every other distance from 1m upwards - now I have adjusted it back and it's very slightly off at infinity - I can live with it as any shots at this distance are going to be stopped down quite a bit - I wouldn't mind it being spot on though.

-- John Griffin (john.griffin@millerhare.com), April 08, 2002.

To Masatoshi, sure AF SLR have sometimes had AE lock on the shutter button, but then, most of the times, you also lock the focus. If you need to expose one one part of the image, and focus on another part, then you need a second button or lever for the other operation. Now, you are fiddling wih two buttons and two fingers at the same time. On the Contax G2, for instance, you have to let go of the shutter button (and lose your focus), switch the little lever around the button, and put your finger back to re-focus. On the F90S, you have to push on a button with your right thumb, and hold it there, which exert my small hand and fingers a lot. On the F100, they offer the choice for the lock button: either AEL or AFL. You still have to use a second button, though. Of course, they are AF, so the shutter button serves three purposes. But on the F3 (manual focus, of course), the AE is on a button you have to depress with your ring finger. With my all smal hands it's almost painful. Now, Nikon could have offered AEL on the shutter button, couldn't they? With the Leica, what is almost magic is the ease with which you can lock the exposure with the release button without inadvertently releasing the shutter.

-- Olivier Reichenbach (olreiche@videotron.ca), April 08, 2002.

Olivier, with my f100 I can choose to lock esposure by half-pressing the shutter release, via custom functions. I can also, if need be, decide to start AF via shutter release, togheter with ae lock or not, or via af-button alone (cf-4). It's an easy and very flexible system, once you've set up your preferences you can use it a la m7 or any other way you want.

-- Antonio Carrus (Milan, Italy) (antoniocarrus@yahoo.it), April 08, 2002.

On the Contax G2, there is a button on the back which can be used for autofocus. No need to lose focus when reaching for the AE lock switch. This is the same on other AF Contax SLRs. On manual focus Contaxes, you have the option of setting up the second button on the front to activiate the meter, so you never have to give anything a half push. That button turns on the meter, you can then lock the AE switch, then put your finger on the shutter button to take the picture. I have heard over and over again that the "Leica style" of light metering, which made AE unneeded, was to meter once for the scene (with the semi-spot meter), then not adjust exposure again until the light changed. This is possible with a manual M6, or any contax or other camera with an AE lock switch, but not with the M7 in AE mode.

-- Masatoshi Yamamoto (masa@nifty.co.jp), April 08, 2002.