Warning!! Obviously a newbie kind of question. I saw 3 M6's in the window of a 2nd hand dealer. One of the 3 was black and had Leitz instead of Leica.

Interested in finding out more about the oddities of the M range I know that it would be a very long reply if anyone attempted to do so. An informative link would be much appreciated.

thanks Nick

-- Nicholas (nickchewwm@yahoo.com.sg), April 26, 2002

Answers

the camera was made in the old lietz factory in wetzler before the company changed to leica camera in the mid eighties (1986?) and the production moved to solms, germany and by rumour to portugal(?).

the m6 i have is leitz_not_leica built without strap rub guards and is smoother winding than my recently cla'd m3and4.

-- Steve (leitz_not_leica@hotmail.com), April 26, 2002.

This is one site to start with: cameraquest.com/classics

It covers a lot of the oddities (like M4-P cameras with M6 windows)- and really finicky stuff like WHERE the "Made in Germany" engraving appear at various points in the M6s history.

The Leica Historical Society of America site is another place - but I can't give a link to it since it has started crashing my web browser every time I visit.

Just about everything I own is Leitz/Canada - things moved back to Wetzlar, Germany briefly about 1986, and then to a Wetzlar suburb called Solms. The change from Leitz to Leica corresponds roughly/ exactly(??) with the move to Solms in the late '80's.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), April 26, 2002.

Here's a more detailed link to one of the cameraquest pages that addresses your precise question.

Early M6 variations

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), April 26, 2002.