Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/12/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I noticed in Howard Cummer's welcome review of the Hexar RF that he found the absence of the lefthand frameline at 28mm disturbing. It's worth remembering that Leitz Wetzlar made the same kind of choice with the M5, where the 35mm frame had no bottom line, because the meter needle display and shutter speed appeared there instead. Likewise on the Hexar RF, the shutter speed display appears where the left frameline would go. On M5 bodies modified with the M4-P frames (so you can use the 28mm and 75mm lenses) you also gain the bottom line for the 35mm but this often overlaps with the meter display and this can be a bit weird looking - the frameline looks curved, not straight. This, I am told, is due to the fact that the meter display is not truly straight and the optical illusion bothers some people. You just can't have everything. For those who pooh-pooh the black paint M6 as another Franklin Mint gimmick from Leica, let's remember that the first Leica and virtually every model up to the M4 was offered in this finish. I for one applaud Solms' return to something so basic in the Leica tradition and hope this marks a more general shift towards Barnackian principles Emanuel Lowi Montreal