I own an m3 and love it with the 50mm lens ( I own three 50mm lenses). Is the m2 with the 35mm lens the equal of the m3 with the 50?

-- Doug Ford (dford@san.rr.com), May 17, 2002

Answers

Doug- get a goggled Summicron or Summaron 35- made just for the M3. Joy.

-- drew (swordfisher@hotmail.com), May 17, 2002.

I think so. At first I had a M6TTL/.85. The 35mm framelines are pretty difficult to see on the M6, but it's great with a 50 or longer. So, I picked up a M2. The .72 magnification is perfect. The 50mm framelines just barely fill the frame. The view is also very uncluttered, since the M2 only supports 3 framelines for 35,50 and 90 and only brings up one at a time. By the way, the viewfinder never flares. The camera itself is a joy. It definatly has handcrafted feel to it like the M3 and M4. Being all brass the camera has a nice heft to it, just like the M3. The only thing that one could find fault with is the loading spool, but It's not the end of the world and you get used to it quickly. Anyhow the M2 is great with a 35mm, but so would any M with a .72 finder.

cheers,

feli

-- feli (feli2@earthlink.net), May 17, 2002.

In terms of handling / using I think yes (at least for me). But in terms of composition it is quite different: The M3/50 is more of a telephoto combination while the M2/35 is more a wideangle version (an SLR with a 50mm lens would be in between).
To me my M2 has the same feel as a M3, but a little bit smaller (maybe due to the lesser vf-magnification and (usually) the smaller lens. But that's personal taste I guess.

-- Kai Blanke (kai.blanke@iname.com), May 17, 2002.

I have the M2, M3, and M6 .72 classic. The M2 with a 35 on it is a favorite. I also have several 50's. I can use different film in the M2 from that in the M3 or M6, with a 50 on each; or I can use the same film, but with a 35 on the M2 and a 50 or 90 on the M3. Adding an M2 will give you lots of versatility. It is the equal of the M3 for build quality and feel.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), May 17, 2002.

It's close, but not the equal IMHO. The M2 doesn't have a big, fat 35mm frame like the 50mm frame in the M3. Also, for some unknown (to me) reason, the M2 eyepiece has a smaller rear opening (the metal frame just beneath the glass next to your eye) than the M3 (or the M6), which can make the 35mm frame hard to see if you wear glasses (I recently had my M2's eyepiece opening enlarged by DAG). As others have posted, however, the build quality is basically equivalent.

-- Chris Chen (furcafe@NOSPAMcris.com), May 17, 2002.

Yea Bob, it sounds like you have what I want. I currently own both an m3 and an m6 .72. However I want to replace my m6 classic with an m2. Don't ask why, I just prefer the m3 era camera. My concern is - does the m2 have the full 35mm frame lines as the m6 classic does? Kind of like the m3 version with the full frame 50mm. I'm this close to buying an m2 and I need to know the difference in the frame lines between the m6 .72 and the m2. Thanks for all the suggestions on this subject from everyone.

-- Doug Ford (dford@san.rr.com), May 17, 2002.

I prefer my M4 over my M2. M4 pluses are film loading and rewind. M4 minuses (depending on individual taste) are the 135mm frameline in there with the 35mm frameline, and the plastic tip film wind lever. However the 135mm frameline never bothers me, and I prefer the plastic tip wind lever over the all-metal one of the M2/M3. No accounting for taste.

-- Ken (kennyshipman@aol.com), May 17, 2002.