Which model did you have? What did you think of it? I've been bitten by the Leica bug - I'd love to get one some day, of course, I'd have to sell a kidney to afford one. They sure are pretty cameras.

You may want to consider a Nikon rangefinder camera instead, which incorporate the best features of contemporary Leica and Contax rangefinder cameras. Additionally, Nikkor rangefinder lenses have a reputation of being optically superior to their contemporary Leitz/Zeiss counterparts. As a matter of fact, this is the reason why Nikon's reputation took off. War photographers like the legendary David Douglas Duncan stated that the Nikkor optics were clearly superior.

However, if you want a Leica, I certainly understand. Get an M3 or an M4.

https://imaging.nikon.com/hist.../history_e/index.htm

https://www.ebay.com/b/Nikon-R...meras/15230/bn_81584

I have two Leica M film cameras, an M2 and an M6TTL. I haven't used either of them in close to 20 years since converting to digital, but I can't bring myself to part with them. Like any camera, the lens is critical to image quality, but there is a tactile and ergonomic aspect to Leicas that no competitor has ever really matched IMO.

I've had many Leica cameras and still have a 1959 M-3 with a bunch of lens. IMO, the M4 was the best of the M series critters. I bought and sold one when the market was hot. M2 lever rewind was the quietest IMO.

The best lens I ever used was the Zeiss 2.0 on a Contax II.

For Leica repair, forget Leica in NJ.. Go with DAG. Expect to spend around $500 for a CLA on a Screw Mount or M series Leica.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
You may want to consider a Nikon rangefinder camera instead, which incorporate the best features of contemporary Leica and Contax rangefinder cameras. Additionally, Nikkor rangefinder lenses have a reputation of being optically superior to their contemporary Leitz/Zeiss counterparts. As a matter of fact, this is the reason why Nikon's reputation took off. War photographers like the legendary David Douglas Duncan stated that the Nikkor optics were clearly superior.

However, if you want a Leica, I certainly understand. Get an M3 or an M4.

https://imaging.nikon.com/hist.../history_e/index.htm

https://www.ebay.com/b/Nikon-R...meras/15230/bn_81584

In know, nothing about the Leica makes sense, but I saw a movie with Ed Harris called 'Kodachrome', and in that movie he used a Leica, and ever since then, that's all I've thought about.

Well, you can see how Ken Rockwell feels about the M3:

The LEICA M3 is the best camera that LEICA has ever made, and by many accounts, the best camera of all time. This is why it's also LEICA's best-selling camera of all time

That's high praise from a trusted source.

If you have the money (and remember- you won't stop at having just one lens) get a Leica.

Regarding the Nikon rangefinders, avoid the Nikon One, M, and S. These are not standard 24x36mm format cameras. The S2, S3, SP and S4 are 24x36mm format cameras.

All of this assumes, of course, that you intend to actually use the camera. If not, then the point is moot.

I recently considered purchasing a Q2, but was impressed by the Fuji X100V. The X100V has the ability to load recipes and the Leica recipes, are in my opinion, seem to be as good as the Leica. That's just my opinion. All the Leica, but for $$$$ less.
Lineman

Actually, we're discussing film cameras, not digital.

I am shooting a Leica M10-R at the moment. Upgraded from an M10. Love it for full manual controls and color quality... Also appreciate the small form factor when traveling where I can just put the lenses in my pockets.

Wait a minute- Leica is still producing film cameras? I just checked the Leica Q2 and it's film. I'm quite surprised that anyone is still manufacturing film cameras, even Leica. There's a huge glut of excellent condition 35mm film cameras on the market. Hell, you can buy a Nikon F5 for about 500 bucks. This is a camera I paid nearly 2000 dollars for in 1998.

I would think there would be no market for new film cameras, especially considering the cheapening of manufacturing processes over the past twenty years means that the older stuff is better.

This is the latest film camera from Leica:

https://www.diyphotography.net...camera-yes-its-2022/

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Wait a minute- Leica is still producing film cameras? I just checked the Leica Q2 and it's film. I'm quite surprised that anyone is still manufacturing film cameras, even Leica. There's a huge glut of excellent condition 35mm film cameras on the market. Hell, you can buy a Nikon F5 for about 500 bucks. This is a camera I paid nearly 2000 dollars for in 1998.

I would think there would be no market for new film cameras, especially considering the cheapening of manufacturing processes over the past twenty years means that the older stuff is better.

I shot film all during high school and beyond, then started up again around 2000. A few years ago, you could buy former top of the line cameras for practically nothing, then about 3 years ago, the millenials all discovered film, and prices haven't been the same since.

I have my grandfathers M3 and several lenses. It was his favorite camera. An educated man (MIT, 1912), I respected his selection of tools and snagged this from the estate when he passed. Have yet to use it, but might rethink that some if I know film is now available and can be developed.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
I have my grandfathers M3 and several lenses. It was his favorite camera. An educated man (MIT, 1912), I respected his selection of tools and snagged this from the estate when he passed. Have yet to use it, but might rethink that some if I know film is now available and can be developed.

Film has made a solid comeback. You'll never be able to walk into Walmart and buy it, but it's available online, and there are many new emulsions on the market in the last few years.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Contax rangefinder cameras.

Here is a Contax II (w/ 50mm 1.5 Sonnar lens) and my old Nikon F Photomic.



The Contax was my father's camera he bought in Japan in the 1950s. Excellent camera, it still works, same with the Nikon. The focal plane shutter on the Contax is very different from a Leica; the Leica has a horizontal "curtain" shutter while the Contax has a vertical shutter using something that looks like venetian blinds closed. I believe the Nikon rangefinder uses a vertical metal blade shutter.

I hang on to these relics as a reminder when things were designed and made to last for decades.

I have an M3 and a CL I used a lot back in the day.

I had the chance to compare many negatives from the Leicas and Nikons back then. It seemed nothing could etch that grain any sharper than the Nikkors. The Leitz images had that "Leica look". It was like the film grain was almost a texture screen laid over an even more detailed image. That seemed to also add more subtle tonal gradations. It was almost dreamlike to examine prints from Leitz optics, even with an eye loupe, they pulled you in farther.

I'll never sell my Leitz stuff as much as it pains me to know it sits idle. I had a decent darkroom built around a Leitz enlarger - magical itself - but knew I had to take things to the next level with stuff like an water chiller and that step never happened.

The 24x32 image area of the Nikon S really is not a problem if you are doing your own printing. Fact is that I find the 4x6 format prints to look rather awkward. There is a reason why primary large print sizes are typically 8X10 or 11 X 17, they just look more natural.

Yeah, I have a Nikon S. Also have an S-2 which was a model that handled just about as well as the Leica M3, a camera I've always lusted for. Also have several FTn Photomic's, three F2's, two with the DP-3 meter head and one with the DP-2. One thing I've always liked about Nikon was their insistence in keeping older lenses compatible with newer cameras. I have a 50mm F2 Nikkor-H that has been AIS converted using the Nikon kit and I can still use this legendary lens with my D750. And yes it really does meet that standard for being one of the two finest 50mm lenses ever made.

I used a M3 when I was in college, and they would check one out to me a semester at a time. I just used a normal lens. They also gave me a handheld light meter, but under most circumstances, and with the leeway allowed by shooting Tri X and Pan X black and white film, I could estimate pretty closely the exposure I would need. With color film it was a little more tricky, but even still, I could be pretty accurate.

But to answer your question. These are wonderful cameras. They are dead easy to use, and after just a little familiarization, their use becomes instinctive. The mechanics are awesome - smooth and precise. The finders are big, and the rangefinder focusing system is extremely accurate. The camera is small and handy. It is quiet in its operation.

Leica lenses are great. Maybe Nikkor lenses are better - I never compared, but you won't complain about the quality of Leica's lenses.

If I was going back to film, I'd sure think hard about using one. It looks like the bodies sell for $1200 to $1900 and the lenses for $500 to $1500 for a 50mm normal lens, depending on condition. Not cheap, but a deserved legend among German optics and cameras.

Rangefinder cameras have their advantages - a very quiet release of the shutter, for one, which can be important in certain environments.

But to me, the disadvantages when compared to single lens reflex cameras make the choice clear- the SLR rules 35mm film photography.

With rangefinders, you might get a choice of focal lengths between 21mm and 200mm depending upon brand of camera, but the SLR has focal lengths available from 8mm to 2000mm and more, and with the addition of teleconverters, this can be extended even further.

Ease of focusing is another advantage of the SLR. No parallax is another.

I have a Leica M2, love it and will never get rid of it. I also have an R6 and more Nikon F models than I know what to do with. Pretty much everything that can be said has been covered above. I still roll and develop my own film and then digitize it. I pretty much went ebay crazy back when film was dying and before the rebound. Bought all the cameras I was crazy about back in the 70's-80s. Only bad thing about the M2 is that it makes me nervous to carry it around and use it, it was made the same month and year I was born and to me that makes it almost irreplaceable