Re: [Leica] word on the street - changes to MP already!

[tripspud <tripspud@transbay.net>]

Hi Jim,

      Agreed.  I've seen two versions of the MP, both loss the red dot
and gain the original Leica script.  One version has only the Leica
script, the other has the script with country of manufacture (presumably
for the Japanese market).  The version with only the Leica script has
the script placed in the center where it looks awkward and unbalanced.
The version for the Japanese market looks very close to the script
design on earlier Ms.  Will Leica eventually listen to the user?  I would
think most would want the version that resembles the original.  Of
course, the M7 doesn't have the script on the top plate.

Cheers,

Rich Lahrson
Berkeley, California
tripspud@transbay.net

Jim Shulman wrote:

> Usefulness really isn't the basis for the new MP: it's nostalgia for the
> first generation of M cameras.  The rewind knob, all-metal wind lever,
> and small shutter speed dial are all cute affectations designed for
> those of us who are still nuts about the 1954 M3 and its immediate
> successors.  After all, if Leica had just wanted to offer a manual M
> camera, it would have been much easier to have stuck with the M7 body
> and simply gone without AE, returning to the TTL-type manual shutter
> arrangement of the last M6 cameras (and likely at a lower price than the
> standard M7--though perhaps that niche has been satisfied with the Bessa
> R2?)The new MP shutter speed dial is just perfect as it is--consistent
> with the rest of the camera's 1950s appearance. My only quibble with the
> MP is that it should really have traditional vulcanite (as the limited
> edition Japanese version does!)
>
> If a photographer wants a Leica with useful modern features and great
> build quality, with the bigger shutter speed dial that matches the R's
> rotation, rewind crank, plastic-tipped wind lever, and option for AE or
> manual exposure, there's the M7.  With the MP, you pay a little more
> money for fewer useful features.  On the other hand, the MP is the
> closest thing we have to a classic all-mechanical Leica with a BTL meter
> and modern viewfinder.  They're both incredibly nice cameras, but from
> two distinctly different approaches.
>
> My question to Leica remains: now that you made a great retro camera
> just right, why screw it up?  If the MP doesn't sell, just get rid of it
> and introduce something else, perhaps an all-manual M7, or even a
> meterless M camera.
>
> Jim Shulman
> Bryn Mawr, PA
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of Mark
> Rabiner
> Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2003 11:01 PM
> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> Subject: Re: [Leica] word on the street - changes to MP already!
>
> Jim Shulman wrote:
> >
> > Doesn't sound right to me--Leica obviously went to a great deal of
> > trouble creating an M2/3-manque camera with modern viewfinder and
> meter.
> > Why would they want to spoil the effect with the wrong shutter speed
> > dial--one of the very elements that gives the camera its charm?  If
> they
> > were to do that, I think they'd have a lot of unsold $2600 cameras in
> > the warehouse.
> >
> > J
> >
> Which are the elements which give the MP it's charm and which are the
> elements which take away from it's functionality.
> Some mileages differ. I happen to like the bigger knob turning the same
> direction as the R series and I have serious reservations about the
> rewind mechanism. The point though is which features get deemed good and
> bad, stays and goes, we hope by it's usefulness. Not cuteness
>
> Mark Rabiner
> Portland, Oregon USA
> http://www.rabinergroup.com
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