Re: [Leica] M6 J and a new M camera!

[Erwin Puts <imxputs@knoware.nl>]

   The
>>only person I know who believes the M6 is as well constructed as the M4
>>and before is Marc.   While he might be proved correct in the long run,
>>he certainly seems to be in the minority opinion.

You forget me. I have posted numerous emails trying to explain these facts.
But to paraphrase Marc: truth is a commodity not always popular these days.
And believing is psychologically much easier that accomodating to a truth
that is not in conformity with long held and cherished notions.
As a recent post stated: a repairperson would not touch a M4-2 and holds
that an M4 is the last good Leica. So are many persons who believe that a
M3 is the pinnacle of mechanical engineering.
Citing named or unnamed repairpersons does not help resolving the problem:
without facts to prove (statistical figures) or an objectified reference
(why are M4 bodies better build? what does it mean to say 'better build')
we stay in that old groove of hearsay.
Well: the machining and quality control of the various parts, gears and
components that are built in an M6 is quite superior to its illustrious
predecessors. The most used assembly tool in the days of the famous M3 and
M4 period was a wooded hammer to squeeze the parts into position as the
production tolerances were a little (lax). The fine build of these products
has been the result of dilligent and laborious use of manual adjustments
and the selecting of parts with matching tolerances.
As a very competent analist said in those days after visting the factory
and its assembly lines: the finest asset of the leitz company is its
competent and experienced workforce. That was the magic of the M3/4. I
visit every year a gathering in Germany who call themselves 'Leitzianer'
(Leitz people). And all stories are the same: judiscious use of countless
manhours of manual labour generated the M quality. This fact explains the
demise of the Leitz factory:in the fifties they had cheap labour as they
employed many people who were wounded in the war.The governemt subsidised
these employments to help the people get a job.  Later when the labourcost
skyrocketed the M3/4 could not be produced economically.
Modern production techniques and computercontrolled machining of parts is
preferable to the old way of crafting the product. Old is not necessarily
better.
The discussion of the merits of leica bodies has a close parallel to the
discussion about Leica lenses: old has often been stated to be better, but
objective measurements disprove it time after time.


Erwin