[Leica] M6 transition from Leitz to Leica markings

["Doug Richardson" <doug@meditor.demon.co.uk>]

Shel Belinkoff <belinkoff@earthlink.net> wrote:
>I was always of the impression that the "Leica" dot appeared later,
after the move to Solms.  Why might the 166**** body have a Leica dot
when later Wetzlar bodies had a Leitz dot?  Could  this have been the
result of a repair or later replacement  of  the dot, or is it
possible that the seller is not selling a real Wetzlar body?

The exact date at which the M6 made the transition from Leitz to Leica
markings is something I haven’t been able to establish. In theory it
should have happened in early to mid 1988 with the move to Solms, but
Leica UK once told me that some early cameras made at Solms still had
the Leitz markings. So we could expect the transition to have been
some time between 172xxxx and 174xxxx.

So much for the theory. In practice some earlier cameras had the new
“Leica”markings.

1710838 is a 1986 serial number, but appears on a black M6 featured in
an early Solms brochure.  However this camera may have been modified
for its role as a “photographic model”.

1712482 (a 1987 serial number) has a Leica top plate but a Leitz red
badge. This might have been the result of a repair job to a camera
originally fitted with a Leitz top plate, but 1714279 (another 1987
serial) advertised several years ago the Leica Shop in Vienna as being
in new condition had a Leica top plate and badge.

My own 1713353 has a Leitz top plate and badge, and the highest number
I’m aware of for a standard M6 is Alex Hurst’s 1726xxx.  (Both are
1987 serial numbers). The highest number I’m aware of for a camera
with Leitz markings is 1738886, one of a batch of cameras made in 1988
and marked “LHSA 1968-1988”.

Regards,

Doug Richardson