Re: [Leica]M6 made in SOUTH AMERICA?

[Gabriele Müller <hepac@bluewin.ch>]

Dan,

Leica never produses in South America and the M6/M6 TTL is Made in West
Germany first in Wetzlar, than in Solms

Best wishes
Gabriele

> It is made in South America?  Has Portugal changed continents or does
Leica
> still make stuff in Brazil?
>
> Dan
> (Who still can't believe a Konica is worth 1600.00)
> States
> Chicago Illinois
>
>
> >Dan:
> >
> >I don't really want to get into this, but The M6 represents the best
> >technology the 1970s had to offer.
> >It's mostly made in South America. There are known technical problems
> >with the camera. They haven't done a major retool in years, and the
> >dealers barely make money selling them for $1800. Do you want to talk
> >about margins?
> >
> >You wrote:  You can pick up a nice used M6 for 1200.00 that will hold
> >it's value over time>
> >
> >Think about it. That nice M6 sold for $1800-$2000 two years ago. How
> >is that holding value?
> >
> >Tom
> >
>
> >>>In a message dated 2/14/00 11:54:53 AM, dstate1@hotmail.com opined:
> >>>(and Dante, who passed over an M6TTL for the RF this week, replies,
> >>>having
> >>>blown through sixteen rolls of film testing the RF over the weekend, in
> >>>temperatures from 75 degrees F down to 15:)
> >>>
> >>><< I had my first opportunity to fondle the new Konica Hexar RF over
the
> >>>weekend.  A camera that was described by the dealer as the Konica
> >>>M6...what
> >>>a load of hooey that is..
> >>>
> >>>You're right. It's not an M6. The finish and materials are nicer than a
> >>>black
> >>>chrome M6. The styling is cleaner. The controls are better. The on/off
> >>>switch
> >>>is better. The loading is easier, with one hand. You can see the 28mm
> >>>frames.
> >>>You can shoot wide-open with high-speed film. The shutter is stepless
and
> >>>quartz-timed. You can synch at twice the speed and shoot at twice the
> >>>speed.
> >>>The metering pattern is more usable. No, it's not better.
> >>>
> >>> >>>Sadly the camera looks a lot better on the net than it does in
> >>>your hands.
> >>>
> >>>The squared frame makes is look like a plank of wood, and it feels a
bit
> >>>like one in your hands.
> >>>
> >>>If it's a plank of wood, then planks of wood have much better natural
> >>>grip
> >>>surfaces than do the M6. I think that it's pretty tough to hold onto
> >>>something as small as the right end of an M6 - they're not designed for
> >>>bigger hands.
> >>>
> >>> >>>The lens mounted in a very un-Leica way...Sticky!  It felt like I
was
> >>>jamming a chisel into a block of wood..
> >>>
> >>>Zzzzz. I have one in front of me, and it's pretty hard to duplicate
your
> >>>negative experience with this. And it's irrelevant to any performance
> >>>measure.
> >>>
> >>> >>>The viewfinder was bright and clear, with only a hint of pincussion
> >>>distortion of the 28mm frames.  The rangefinder was a little antsy.  It
> >>>may
> >>>be the shorter base line, but it was easy to overshoot your target of
> >>>focus.
> >>>   The biggest flaw with the finder to me was the lack of contrast in
the
> >>>focusing patch. Focusing an M6 is really easier in low contrast
> >>>situations.
> >>>
> >>>This is a nice rationalization, but the M6 patch is neither as bright
nor
> >>>as
> >>>flare resistant. I have tried for about a week to flare out the RF on
the
> >>>Hexar, and it so far hasn't worked. When I compared it to an M6
directly,
> >>>the
> >>>M6 came out quite poorly in the flare department. There is nothing
> >>>lacking
> >>>about the RF, and if you can see, you can focus.
> >>>
> >>> >>>My biggest gripe is with the shutter speed dial placement. It is a
> >>>thumb
> >>>wheel and it is very difficult to work the dial while keeping your
index
> >>>finger on the shutter button.  Clearly Konica expects users to keep
this
> >>>thing in Aperture Priority most of the time.  The meter is a bit hard
to
> >>>get
> >>>used to, with shutter speed numbers dancing up and down on the left
side
> >>>of
> >>>the veiwfinder.
> >>>
> >>>Three responses to that:
> >>>(1) Shutter speed numbers dancing in the margin shouldn't be hard to
get
> >>>used
> >>>to for anyone who has bought a camera in the past twenty years. And if
> >>>you
> >>>compare that to an M6, I'd rather have numbers in the margin, which I
can
> >>>ignore, rather than 3 LEDs right in my field of vision. In addition,
> >>>since
> >>>you know what speed the shutter is at, you can tell just how low it is
> >>>going.
> >>>
> >>>(2) The shutter speed wheel is fine and so is the EV comp dial. In
fact,
> >>>the
> >>>key advantage of the placement of the controls is that you can switch
the
> >>>camera on and off by feel, which is not possible with the M6TTL.
> >>>
> >>>(3) And if you have AE with exposure lock and a thumbwheel for
> >>>compensation,
> >>>why does it matter if you never take it out of AE? If you're going to
> >>>pull
> >>>out a handheld meter, it is easy enough to set the shutter speed by
hand.
> >>>
> >>>The shutter and motor were about as quiet as the Contax G's, and
> >>>the quality of materials was similar but without the beautiful shape
and
> >>>color.
> >>>
> >>>The G2's color is a liability. And it's materials simply aren't as
nice.
> >>>And,
> >>>frankly, it's pretty ugly compared to the Hexar.
> >>>
> >>> >>>I know this sounds pretty negative, but I really expected more
> >>>considering
> >>>the hype and the price of this camera (1950.00 with 50mm F2).  The
> >>>handling
> >>>really leaves something to be desired, especially considering the fact
> >>>that
> >>>all they had to do was match a camera that has been on the market since
> >>>the
> >>>50's.
> >>>
> >>>I would expect, for $2200, more than a camera body made in the 1950s.
If
> >>>it's
> >>>not a match, I would have to ask you where the waiting list for M6s is.
> >>>
> >>>If you have bigger hands, the handling is superior to the M6, which I
> >>>suspect
> >>>was a continuation of the design of the M3, which in turn is a lot like
> >>>the
> >>>screwmounts, which are TOO DAMN SMALL TO HOLD.
> >>>
> >>> >>>The excitment over this fairly average camera really points out the
> >>>void
> >>>in
> >>>the market for an Aperture Priority M...Leica, are you listening?
Contax
> >>>should also be looking at this market.  I'll wager that a manual focus
G
> >>>would out-sell the auto be a large margin..
> >>>
> >>>Which is why Contax is making it? Leica is probably not listening.
> >>>
> >>>Cheers
> >>>Dante
> >>
> >>______________________________________________________
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> >
> >Thomas Kachadurian
> >-------------------
> >www.kachadurian.com
>
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