The Leica M6 - enterence into rangefiner world without breaking the bank.

The Leica M6 has been around for a very long time (as of 2013). It was my first Leica camera and would probably stay with me for how long my Leica gear is going to serve me, unless I had the resources to splurge on the latest MP. This camera was the beginning of my rangefinder path.

After all these years using Single Lens Reflex cameras, I wanted a rangefinder camera for its compactness and simplicity. A quick and simple search online for a rangefinder solution revealed little choices. Only Leica, Cosina, Zeiss (manufactured by Cosina), Voigtlander (also manufactured by Cosina) and Mamiya still manufacture true rangefinder.

Zeiss a film rangefinder body, the Zeiss Ikon. It was solidly built but not by Zeiss. And so, I eliminated this off my list.
Voigtlander Bessa comes in different 'trim' or 'model'. It was also not built by Voigtlander. Thus, I also eliminated this off my list.
Mamiya's rangefinder were in medium format and too big for my liking so I did not consider it.
Then enter Leica. Made in Germany. - well this what it took for me to have it on the very top of my want list.

 

The Leica M6 - Simplicity with built in light meter.

For a start, Leicas were expensive and yes, they are much more expensive now (digital era). I need a camera with a built in light meter and does not break my bank. M3 does not have a light meter built in. M6, M7 and MP had built in meters but M7 and MPs are too expensive.

I bought this particular M6 second hand at about SGD1600, it was in mint condition with no scratches and no user marks. Shutter speed sounded correct. Typically, due to the nature of mechanical cameras, one could typically expect to see some signs of usage such as scratches and marks at least below the film advance lever.

My first few rolls of film through this camera revealed no issues with shutter speed or the rangefinder mechanical coupling.

 

 

 

Visible on this photo are the shuttle speed dial, flash shoe, film advance lever / crank, shuttle release button (threaded) and shutter release counter (no. of frames taken since loading the roll of film). One thing particularly neat about manual Leica rangefinder were it's horizontal travel cloth shutter (for benefit of those who do not know, most if not all SLRs and modern cameras including Zeiss Ikon and Voigtlander Bessas are vertical travel shutters), with the Leica M7 as an exception due to the 1/4000 shutter speed and auto aperature mode.

 

The film rewind crank was angled at 45 degree, allowing faster film rewind.

 

This little red dot is the lens release button.

 

Frame line selection lever, allows preview of different frame lines available on a 0.72 magnification viewfinder.

 

This window gathers light provide the illumination to the frame lines.

 

The window on the right is the rangefinder which provides the triangulation for estimating distance between the film and the subject.

Import Nights 2012

I was importing and organizing my collection (previously digitalized but not catalogued) to Lightroom and found quite a bit of pictures I took on Kodak TMax (100). It was a great film with fairly good contrast and tonal range. Well, I guess other than Monochrome, it seems quite impossible for me to get impressed by digitally converted B&W photos – they just looked different.

Backtrack to 2012, import nights:

The photos were taken with M6 on Kodak TMax100 using Summilux 50mm ASPH. well, given that most of it are in low light indoor condition and me being stuck with ISO100 of TMax, most of it were taken wide open on the Summilux.

On the way to Singapore Expo. anyone can guess what car am I hitching a ride in? :)

 

A Maserati! well, its engine compartment.. I would rather own one of these rather than a bull or Ferrari, simply feels more mature.. ;)

Whats this? Hmm.. I think this is an Australian made bike. 150cc, if I remembered correctly.

Even though I had a height advantage, it was a pity she wasn't looking at me. (background was a BMW M3)

This is a Cam-Am Spyder. I like it and would have bought one if not for the price tag (SGD 40,000) and requirement of a Class 2 license (1L engine). I think I should have brought along a wide angle lens to take this instead. This is far too unsuitable for a 50mm focal length!

 

Now... there are a bunch of crazy dude with really HUGE lense (on the table, a Nikkor 200mm AFS VR f/2). Well I suppose my camera was really small compared to theirs.

 

Handphones (in this case, a Samsung Note 2) proved to be more advantageous when in a crowded area (unless you want to take photos of numerous heads blocking?)

There seemed to be plenty of DLSR users among the crowd.

Instant Playback? Have Faith!

"What we all wished for on our film cameras"

Ilford HP5+ 400, Nikon F6 / 24-70 f/2.8

"Faith" is what film enthusiast have and stolen away by technology from us today. Now, please turn off your image review function and have faith! :-)