M3 vs. M6 coverage

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Hello guys

Have you noticed that the 50mm frame of the M3 covers a larger field compared to the M6? And no, it's not because the frame is thicker! My M6 coverage is noticable smaller than my M3. It's like 20 cm measured at 4 meters distance. It's easy to see if you mount the body on a tripod. Anyone else noticed this?

Thomas

-- Thomas Krantz (tkrantz@kpmg.dk), April 19, 2002

Answers

What viewfinder version of the M6 are you using?

-- Karl Yik (karl.yik@dk.com), April 19, 2002.

I don't have the information immediately at hand - so someone please correct me if I'm wrong - but I understand the M3's magnification is slightly higher than the highest M6 (0.85) so it would seem to cover a larger field because the framelines would be closer to the edge. I'm sure if you looked through both viewfinders carefully they would each cover the same area/composition, albeit one larger than the other.

-- Chris Timotheou (nowayout@btinternet.com), April 19, 2002.

No you misunderstand me. Obviously the viewfinders have different magnification. The M3 have 0,91 and my M6 have 0.72. but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm saying that if you put up a M3 and a M6 side by side and compare the area within the respective 50mm frame (you could draw a line on the wall or whatever you are focusing on), the M3 covers a larger area, i.e. if everything within the framelines would be recorded on film, the M3 would record a larger area. Obviously this is not the case since it's the lens which decides how much is recorded on film. Do you get the picture?

Thomas

-- Thomas Krantz (tkrantz@kpmg.dk), April 19, 2002.


I haven't had an M3 for quite a while, but I do remember being surprised, when I got it, that the pictures from my M4-2 were so loosely framed compared to what I'd remembered with the M3s, which were both very accurate.

-- Michael Darnton (mdarnton@hotmail.com), April 19, 2002.

The framelines (all of them, but it's particularly noticeable with the 35 and 50) in the M2, M4 and M4-2 also show a little greater area than the M4-P and M6. When the 28mm frameline was added, Leica arbitrarily shrunk the other framelines.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), April 19, 2002.


i think you will discover that the m3 50mm line is FAR closer to being accurate than the m6 lines. the notion that changes had to be made to accomodate the 28 (and provide some breathing room between the other pairs) makes good sense. i always assumed that the m3 framing was more accurate on the 50 since that was such a dominant lens at the time the camera was made.

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), April 19, 2002.

My experience has been that the 50mm frame lines of the M3 are extremely accurate at normal working distances.

For a more expert opinion, here's what Arthur Kramer had to say in a test of the M2 and M3 which appeared in the October/November, 1964 issue of "Camera 35" magazine:

"The exact field is provided by a projected bright-frame field of unusually high accuracy. In fact, comparison tests with many of the single lens reflexes that I own showed them to be no match in precision framing for the M3...I think it can be safely said that if you need the ultimate in framing accuracy, the Leica M3 is an unusually fine answer."

-- Dave Jenkins (djphoto@vol.com), April 19, 2002.


I thought the M6 framelines were accurate for the minimum focus distance, which if true seems a bit daft. More sense to have them at an average working distance (whatever that might be - certainly it would vary between lenses I'd think)

-- Tim Franklin (tim_franklin@mac.com), April 19, 2002.

Yes definitely my M3 gave a much more accurate idea of the 50mm view than my M6

-- Gregory Goh (GregoryGoh@hotmail.com), April 19, 2002.

Good observation Thomas. The M3 is the king for the 50mm lens use.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), April 19, 2002.


Thomas:

I have a M3 and a M6 TTL 0.72, and have noticed the same difference in coverage. My guess is that the M6 framelines underestimate the actual area covered by the 50mm lens. That is why I end up with more in the negatives or slides than what I saw. The M3 is the perfect camera for use with the 50mm lens! :-)

-- Muhammad Chishty (applemac97@aol.com), April 19, 2002.


I had a chance to compare the two yesterday. The finders are utterly different! As a glasses wearer, the M6 framelines are easier to see, but the M3 framelines are much thicker and more defined. The M3's rangefinder patch also seems bigger and brighter.

-- David Killick (dalex@inet.net.nz), April 19, 2002.

Well, I just grabbed my M6 and M3 to see for myself. No doubt about it. The M3 unquestionably covers a wider field. While on the subject, the 50mm frame on my M2 agrees with the M6, not the M3.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), April 19, 2002.

M6 framelines are supposed to show the area that (at close focus) is viewable in a mounted transparency. So on the actual film there is quite a lot of extra space, especially when focused at infinity.

Maybe M3 frame is based on the actual 24x36 mm film area?

Ilkka

-- Ilkka (ikuu65@hotmail.com), April 21, 2002.


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