M5 an inferior Leica?

[BWally@eworld.com]

Thanks for the retroactive subscription, Mr. Reid.  I can hardly wait to read
Jack Hamilton's evaluation of the minilux.  I hope to learn much from these
online discussions.

Now my first question for the Leica users gurus: Is the M-5 an "inferior"
Leica?

I have used both the M6 and the M5 and chose, primarily because the price was
right, to purchase an M5 recently.  I took the camera to a trusted repairman,
who appraised it at about $1,000US.  So, I considered the $500US I paid for
the M5 to be a steal (actually, the camera belonged to my uncle who has two
M6s and wasn't using it.  He felt that the bargain price was well worth
another Leica convert.)  However, upon hearing of my newly acquired M5, most
Leica owners offer up a forced smile that seems to say "Oh, I didn't realize
that the Brooklyn Bridge was for sale."  Furthermore, I hear an almost
constant clamor for the M4 and M4P.  An equally great din is heard about the
M6.  Yet nowhere do I hear the praises of the M5 being sung.  Is it an
inferior camera to the earlier and later models?  

As a working commercial photographer, I plan to use these cameras (not
collect them.)  So I need to know if I should seek further M5 bodies or cough
up for the M6s.  Is there an argument for going back to find M4s or 4Ps, or
even earlier?

Besides price, there were other reasons I chose the M5 over the 6.
I prefer the M5's metering system, I think.  Those who have owned Nikon F3s
may commisserate with the metering problem posed by +/-- or >< systems: the
camera's meter doesn't indicate the distance from the proper exposure.  (I'm
sure that certain members of our group can "guess" the proper exposure in any
given situation.  Others may use incident or reflective meters and yet others
variations on sunny16 type rules.)  But it seems that if Leica chose to
include a meter, it ought to be the best possible in-camera meter.   So why
did Leica drop the continous readout in favor of the >< (following the F3's
example?)  Were all previous Leica meters continuous readout, like the M5?
 Do the M6 owners amoung us, who have also owned M5s, prefer the M6 meter?
Why?  What other benefits can be had by choosing the M6 or an earlier M
series?  

Advanced thanks for your responses.  I look forward to reading your
collective insights.  Also, if anyone belongs to eWorld and would care to
discuss this problem in a real-time eRoom, mail me.  Thanks.

Thomas Epting. (BWally@eworld.com)