[Leica] Leica M upgrades(?)

[John Collier <jbcollier@powersurfr.com>]

What you want would require a completely new shutter. It would have to be
changed to running vertically and run at much higher speeds (stressed). This
would require a taller body as well. At present there are no mechanical
shutters on the market that would perform this way and meet the present
shutter's reliability and longevity . The FM2 shutter (and now the FM3A)
that is often quoted as the one Leica should use, needs to be replaced under
heavy use (Can you even get parts for the FM anymore?). The present Leica
shutter is a beautifully designed* low stress unit that will function, with
minor adjustments, for 500,000 exposures or so. If you want a high stress
unit such as the FM2 shutter, you would have to accept a much shorter life
span. For me, and apparently some others, the shutter and the viewfinder are
the heart of the M camera.

My first M camera is an M2 that is as old as I am (forty one years) and
functions beautifully. It has required periodic CLAs, and one shutter
curtain for reasons I am too embarrassed to discuss; but, is ready to go for
another forty years and another generation of user. Any Leica shutter of the
last (almost) ninety years is still easily repairable. It is a different way
of looking at tools. Tools that are designed to last rather than briefly
shine and then be forgotten. Tools whose design evolves and grows from its
roots rather than mutating and killing off its predecessors.

Leica has clearly stated that any M6E camera will have the same shutter unit
as the present M camera but with electronic timing controls. This means that
the flash sync will stay in the 1/50 area for the foreseeable future.
Whether this is good news or not is a matter of opinion.

John Collier


*The curtain brakes are one weak area

> From: "Carleton, Sam" <Sam.Carleton@FMR.COM>
> 
> I have been trying to figure out why folks had such a problem with adding
> something like a higher flash sync to the M6. I understand that they don't
> feel the need for it because they don't use a flash, but then there are a
> lot of features on my F5 that I don't use, but I don't mind if the camera
> has the features.  Why should I care if the camera has functionality that I
> don't use?  The F5 does for me what I want it to, thus I use it and love.  I
> don't moan and groan because it does MORE then I need it to.
> 
> I think I have it now why folks are moaning and growing about making the M6
> a better, more modern camera.  As Ted stated, he would not be able to afford
> the new M6, along with the others moaning and groaning.
> 
> Giving the M6 a faster flash sync would not make it require batteries, would
> not give it any auto anything. I do believe a higher flash sync would also
> result in a higher top shutter speed.  In all respects the camera would be
> the exact same as what you non flash photographers are using today, with the
> exception of the cost, it might go up a few hundred.
> 
> If Leica where to upgrade the flash sync, I will be the first one on the
> waiting list for it.  I CAN AFFORD a Leica.