[Leica] Zeiss Ikon ZM

[s.dimitrov at charter.net (slobodan dimitrov)]

Thanks, Marty.
It's still a toss up.
The better eye relief, and finder clarity, provided by the ZM are  
major tipping points.
Slobodan

On Apr 21, 2008, at 6:57 AM, Marty Deveney wrote:

>
> Slobodan,
>
> I used a borrowed one a fair bit over 5 days with the 35/2 and 50/2  
> lenses.  To compare, I have a 0.72 MP and a 0.85 M7 and used two  
> M6s as my main cameras for years.
>
> The Zeiss has a better viewfinder.  It is larger, brighter, more  
> neutrally coloured and has longer eye relief.  It does one weird  
> thing (if you're used to Leicas) - when the framelines shift to  
> compensate for parallax, the RF patch stays put.  The effective  
> baselength is slightly longer than a 0.85 M, but slightly shorter  
> than that of an M3.  This helped me focus lenses that can be hard  
> to focus.  It has 28/85, 35 and 50 mm framelines; I found that  
> having the 35 and 50 on their own really pleasant.  I found the  
> inability to use my 75 Summilux on it really unpleasant (there are  
> no 75mm framelines).  It has a 0.74x finder - I would like a 1:1  
> version, but this one worked fine.  With the top removed, you can  
> see that the rangefinder is not designed like the Leica or Cosina- 
> Voigtlander RFs.  The patch never flared in use, a major plus for  
> me (my MP flares occasionally and the pre-MP upgrade 0.85 finder in  
> my M7 is a flare monster - why Leica didn't bring back the  
> parabolic RF mi!
>  rror is beyond me).  It loads from the back (nice) but rewinds  
> from underneath (what the!? - this is almost as strange as Leica  
> sticking to that stuid bottom loading system all these years - it  
> is awkward at best).  In general the camera handles well, but  
> several friends commented that they thought it seemed to work  
> better for people with larger hands.
>
> The Ikon is not built like an M, it's lighter, there is more  
> plastic used in the construction and it will probably eventually  
> wear out.  This does not bother me, it may bother some.  The finish  
> on the black models is at least as nice as the black paint on my  
> MP.  The Ikon is lighter than a Leica, which I like.  But it makes  
> it quite front heavy with a Noctilux mounted.
>
> The Zeiss ZM lenses are great - I prefer the 35/2 to either the pre- 
> asph Leica 35/2 IV or the 35/2 asph, but this is a matter of  
> preference alone.  The pre-asph Leica 35/2 IV has better out of  
> focus rendition, particularly from f4-8 and the 35/2 asph is  
> sharper.  But the Biogon is a superb lens that produces photos that  
> I liked better than photos I took with either of those Leica ones  
> (having said that I am currently using a Leica 35/1.4 asph).  The  
> 50/2 is equivalent to the latest Summicron 50/2 but doesn't flare  
> like the samples I've had.  It is visibly better in the outer  
> fields than the Hexanon 50/2 I am currently using as my main lens  
> on my MP.
>
> Whether these are 'really' Zeiss lenses and cameras or not does not  
> bother me.  It does bother some.  The lenses seem to be better  
> coated than the C-V lenses, they felt extremely well put together  
> to me (as good as modern Leica stuff, still a way off the rock  
> solid heft and smoothness of the Leitz-era rigid Summicrons,  
> Contarex lenses etc - you know, the very, absolutely best - though  
> I often wonder if we use best where we probably should say most -  
> constructed stuff) and performed extremely well.  I have always  
> thought that the T* coatings made a difference and this seems to be  
> the case with these lenses too.  I didn't like the little 'bump'  
> that you are supposed to use to focus.  The camera is as well made  
> as some of the Kyocera built SLRs, of which I was very fond, but  
> some of them seemed only so-so too.
>
> Well worth a look, but might be an acquired taste - try before you  
> buy, but I liked it.
>
> Marty
>
> Gallery:
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/main.php?g2_itemId=7617
>
> Most people can only judge of things by the experiences of ordinary  
> life, but phenomena outside the scope of this are really quite  
> numerous.
>         Shen Kuo - 'Dream Pool Essays'
>
>
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