[Leica] M6TTL Hands-On

[nbwatson@juno.com (N. B. Watson)]

Got a chance to hands-on a M6TTL this morning and made some observations.
 First off, the height increase is barely noticeable.  Stood it next to a
classic and it's quite hard to see the difference unless you're actually
looking for it.  From the front, the most noticeable thing is the larger
viewfinder window, and that makes it look quite a bit taller but it's an
optical illusion.  The red paint dot in the lens release button has been
omitted (actually, moved to the locking pin), and it looks a bit
classier, I think.  The Viso II eyelevel prism will *not* fit without
scraping the top plate.  The TTL *feels* heavier than the classic M6.  I
did not have a scale handy...this may just be another illusion.
The metering diodes are nice because when the subject and/or light is
changing quickly you don't need to assess the relative brightness of the
arrows to set exposure; admittedly it's not a major issue.  For Leica's
effort I would have thought it would be just as easy to provide a row of
LED's from -2 to +2 stop or better,  an illuminated bar-graph...but
perhaps
this would have entailed the need for more batteries and the space to
accomodate them.  
The larger shutter dial is nice, but not because it's larger.  It's also
been made *easier* to turn (or perhaps it's just more leverage due to the
size increase?).  I don't see where the numbered disc on top looks cheap
as some have said; however the lack of a visible screw-hole plus a little
triangular "pry slot" would indicate the disc is glued on, and that might
be a problem.  My guess is the size increase and rotation reversal go
hand-in-hand.  I would bet that inside the mechanism is unchanged;
rather, the larger dial's centre shaft is parallelled alongside the old
shaft,
connected by cogs, whereby the new dial turns the old shaft in the
direction it always went.  BTW, the "OFF" position is rather an insult to
the user's intelligence.  If you fire the shutter on "OFF", it acts
exactly as if on "B", indicating the "OFF" position is simply a second
"B" detent with the word "OFF" printed for those who are terminally
confused.
In all, the M6TTL is no monster.  It seems as high-quality as ever.  If I
was about to move up from an M4-2, I'd surely buy one.   As to spending
the money to "upgrade" from a perfectly serviceable M6, I still don't
think the added features are enough of an incentive, but that is a purely
subjective opinion.

Regards,
Nigel

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