ERNST LEITZ WETZLAR

[apollinaris]

Hello, dear Leicaholics!

I'm going to join the world of this fine camera system, and since am going to buy the first camera, would like to ask you for some help.

What does the label on the body of M6 "ERNST LEITZ WETZLAR" mean? Does it have anything to do with the year or place of manufacture?

And, since I've got at the moment two M6 TTL candidates, what on your advise is better to purchase: the one with 2473144 serial or another - 2591713?

Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[jamesw]

Sergey,

Yes, the 'Ernst Leitz Wetzlar' refers to the place of manufacture, in this case Wetzlar, Germany. There are many who believe the specific manufacturing plants and dates make a significant difference to quality. For my part I'd say that although the collector's value may be higher for a particular origin body or lens, if you were buying the camera to use I would simply find the, cleanest ex&le you can afford.

By way of an introduction to the debates that surround these types of things, consider the question of whether you should buy the newest lenses over the older ones. In my opinion it's more a question of taste than anything else, but there's a debate nevertheless, and many for ex&le prefer the last generation pre-aspheric 35mm summicron, to the current aspheric lens, while others think the opposite. Ex&le:

http://nemeng.com/leica/029b.shtml http://www.jimarnold.org/galleries/leica_35_test/

However, a clean lens of any age should provide very acceptable results.

I would personally advise that you only buy from a specialist Leica dealer who offers a guarantee, unless you really know what to look for when assessing Leica gear.

See here for lens serial numbers, and also explore the rest of the site for very good Leica info:

http://nemeng.com/leica/011e.shtml

Happy Leica-ing!

James

 

[photocrazy]

WETZLAR is the birth place of Leica. ERNST LEITZ is the brand name of Leica for many years. Later on, Leica moved its production base to Solms and changed Leitz to Leica. For some collectors, cameras produced in Wezlar are regarded as purer in Leica blood and so command higher prices than those produced elswhere. Personally, I prefer Leica M6 classic to M6TTL which is a little more expensive. Basically, M6 classic and M6TTL have same functions except that the TTL version has TTL flash. But the compromise is that M6TTL is a bit taller than the M6 classic.There are other small differences between the two. But the M6 classic does have TTL metering. If you don't need camera's in-built meter, then I think M3,M2 are the best choices. These cameras were produced with the highest Leica craftsmanship and the smoothness of their operations is just incomparable.

 

[wang]

I agree that M2 and M3 are mechanically superior to modern Leicas. I have 3 M3s and all of them are smoother to use than my modern MP. The old camera also have mechanical timer as opposed to the MP which has built in meter. I find the light from the meter in the viewfinder of my MP distracting, I prefer to have it turned off. So I use an external meter with my MP.

 

[apollinaris]

Thanks a lot for your valuable advises and information! I'll certainly do more research thru the links you gave me and think twice, what to buy ultimately. Since it's a pretty big investment and everything should be secured, when doing so. Thanks a lot! If you don't object, I reserve the right to ask further questions within this topic, in the future.