M6 Quality

[Stephen <cameras@jetlink.net>]

Marc James Small wrote:
>=20
>  Claes Bjerner wrote:
> >My friend - the repairman - was not really shocked to find the piece o=
f
> plastic (the actual gear wheel, right underneath the frame counter), he
> just heaved a deep sigh and told me that "It=B4s starting to go downhil=
l for
> Leica". And then he showed me other signs of quality deterioration on t=
he
> M6 compared to earlier models.
> >
> >To me it=B4s evident that the people in Solms now have changed their
> priorities from quality to profit. And we - users and customers - will =
have
> to stand back and allow the Leica shareholders to take over as a more
> prominent pressure group. Or am I wrong about that?

Marc:
> This issue of M6 quality is simple a sour-grapes canard.  The M6 is the
> toughest of the M's.  I had my main M3 in the shop five times in four
> years, and my main M4 in the shop six times in two.  My M6 has not seen=
 a
> repair shop in the four years I've owned it and it sees a LOT more use =
than
> the earlier ones.  The development of the M6 was meant to produce a tou=
gh,
> bullet-proof camera, and did so.
>=20

This is not a clear cut issue.  A lot of people have the opposite view.=20
To say the least, its a hot topic of debate. =20

Professional Japanese camera buyers visit the West Coast shows quite
often.  Ask them if the new Leicas are as well built as the old ones,
and they  just laugh. Modern day Leica "quality" is a joke to them when
compared to the M3/M2/M4.

Many stories have surfaced in the LUG over the last couple of months
over M6 film advance and counter problems.  That pretty well demolishes
the "M6 Bulletproof" theory as far as I am concerned.  Other changes in
the M6 are missing shutter and RF adjustments which are also the victims
of cost cutting. The M6 shutter changes were explained in Popular
Photography's analysis of the M6 a few years ago.  The changes to the M6
RF unit I learned from Don Goldberg a few months ago.  Of course the
argument is that these "improvements" were for the sake of precision and
reliability.  I don't believe that for a second.

The sour grapes I taste is from expecting the very best from Leica and
not getting it.
Don't get me wrong.  Leica still makes great cameras, just not as great
as they used to be IMO.

Modern day Leica quality--or the lack of it--is a hotly debated issue
between many experienced Leica users and collectors.  There are two
sides of the issue, BOTH of which can be easily supported or defended. =20

Stephen Gandy