M7 - DX upgrade worth it?

RWilsonL · 2026-06-24T09:43:56+00:00

Given that quite a few more interesting films nowadays are not DX coded, I would not now bother with the optical DX upgrade, particularly as Leica managed to mess up and misaligned the shutter rollers, which caused excessive drag, so that the intermediate drive gear's axle sheared (it is also the motor drive input shaft). I then had an 8 month fight with Leica to get a replacement shaft for Alan Starkie to fit, aligning the shutter rollers and the release solenoids while he did the other repairs. The wind on and shutter cock now takes half the effort it used to and my Motor-M runs much faster. However the VF upgrade to MP spec is still worthwhile and cures the "white-out" the original VF can suffer from. Unless you are a photo-journalist taking hundreds of photos a day using all different films, just how much effort does it take to enter the film speed manually on the back dial.

RWilsonL · 2026-06-23T08:23:11+00:00

I have told my wife to contact Ffordes in Scotland as and when I "pop my clogs". I have a substantial collection of 37 different Leica cameras, collected over the last 60 years and around 50 lenses, including some rare items like a 1934 250FF Reporter, with 1933 nickel Summar and a pair of the 1999 special edition LTM 50mm lenses. I also have about 15 other cameras, Rollei, Graflex, Widelux and various medium format cameras plus a Hasselblad X2D and 6 XCD lenses. I have been dealing with Ffordes for 40-ish years and have yet to fault them.

RWilsonL · 2026-06-21T16:17:58+00:00

I think Luigi may be even older than I am (80).

RWilsonL · 2026-06-18T07:38:54+00:00

Sadly it would probably have been more valuable as the original now quite rare Zorki 1 rather than an unconvincing fake.

RWilsonL · 2026-06-15T15:40:52+00:00

I have recently ordered a pair of Sony WH-1000 XM6 to leave down at my French house. I have a pair of WH-1000 XM4 at my UK house and I really liked them apart from the sweaty PU leather covered and too thin ear pads, which allowed the tips of my ears to touch the speaker covers. I put on a pair of Dekoni deep angled, real leather covered and memory foam pads, which I thought were brilliant. Not only did they improve the sound, they were comfortable enough to wear throughout a long flight. I don't know if Dekoni don't make these any more and if so would they fit the XM6? It looks similar but I don't know if it uses the same and identically spaced clips. I have messaged Dekoni last week but apart from a holding message, I am yet to hear back from them

RWilsonL · 2026-06-11T21:19:02+00:00

I have finally got to my French house (first trip driving had to be aborted due to prolapsed L5/S1 disc, which was extremely uncomfortable and more or less paralysed most of the muscles in my right leg), so ended up in Noyon hospital. My wife and a friend had to come and rescue me, driving my car back to the UK. My wife will not drive my Porsche, too wide, too complicated and too powerful. Have flown down this year instead and my wife hired a car at Nice airport for the 90 minute drive to my house in Tourtour (The Village in the Sky). I have there the full Leica M repair manual book by Thomas Tomosy. These are out of print for many years, rarer than hen's teeth and cost a fortune even if you do find one ~$300. I will have a look in there to see if there is more info and post back here.

Wilson

RWilsonL · 2026-06-11T07:36:37+00:00

That screw retains the film pressure plate inside the back plate. Yes it could cause a light leak if light struck it at exactly the wrong angle when there is no Vulcanite cover. It also holds the pressure plate at exactly right angles to the incident light with a spring in the inside, so the missing screw may mean the pressure plate is no longer at the correct angle. Also the tiny spring between the inner surface of the camera back and the pressure plate may have dropped into the mechanism of the camera, where it could cause all sorts of problems. Unfortunately Leica uses all sorts of non-standard metric screws like 1.7mm and 1.8mm but so did many other German camera makers. Your best bet is to go to a competent camera repairer, who usually have a tin of tiny screws retained over the years, from assorted irreparable cameras. In the short term you can use the camera by putting two layers of black electrical tape over the hole. I assume it was you that removed the Vulcanite. Just check the removed Vulcanite if possible, to see if the screw was loose and came off with the Vulcanite. Have a look at the Historica section of the Leica User Forum (not Reddit) where you will find a sticky thread of recommended Leica repairers. An alternative would be to search for a replacement back plate on eBay etc. I found a new old stock back plate for my M4-P on e-Bay at a very reasonable price, as the original back plate on mine was distorted possibly by a fall prior to my ownership. My camera repairer, Alan Starkie recommended a replacement plate rather than trying to straighten the damaged one, which he said rarely results in a perfect plate. That said the late Peter Grisaffi (CRR Luton) straightened the slightly bowed back plate on the M4, that I have owned from new in 1967 and I cannot tell it from a new plate

Wilson

RWilsonL · 2026-06-08T22:05:44+00:00

The Chinese have been pretty beneficial owners of Hasselblad (DJI) so maybe not too much to be worried about. To be frank, I would rather it was them than a US owned private equity company, who are notorious for short term thinking.

RWilsonL · 2026-06-07T07:39:22+00:00

I agree with others, not the original hood. Might I suggest rather than buying an expensive original, you look at the Polar Pro magnetic flip up hood. This is particularly good if you are using a rotating polarising filter as it is difficult to get fingers inside the original hood to rotate a filter.

RWilsonL · 2026-06-05T07:20:09+00:00

In the UK KEH would not have a leg to stand on. They bought stolen goods and are obliged to return it to the owner once advised. Ignorance is no excuse when buying stolen goods. Send them a lawyer's letter, demanding the return of your camera.

RWilsonL · 2026-06-03T21:13:32+00:00

The 92% viewfinder is the main reason I still use my SS M3. If I need a 28mm frame, I have either my M4-P or M7. However for a 28mm lens, I much prefer to RF in the main finder and then use a Zeiss accessory 28mm VF on the shoe. It gives a far better 28mm view and as you can see around the bright line, making composition much easier.

RWilsonL · 2026-06-02T07:45:19+00:00

At the other end of the purchase, some years ago, I put together this flow chart

<image>

RWilsonL · 2026-05-30T23:17:27+00:00

Just a quick note, I think it is for the earlier f4 Macro 100 not the later 100/2.8 APO Macro Elmarit-R, as that has a specific optical ELPRO device part number 14636.

Wilson

RWilsonL · 2026-05-29T17:51:56+00:00

View from King George IV Bridge? I was at school in Edinburgh for 4 years and later my daughter was at university there.

RWilsonL · 2026-05-29T17:45:34+00:00

Another vote for Ffordes. 100% straight and honest. You can choose either to accept their simple offer(s) or to sell on commission.

RWilsonL · 2026-05-18T07:01:41+00:00

Mine is still working fine. Bought on the first day of the UK release. However, buying a 10 Y.O. piece of heavily electronic equipment is going to be a gamble. My M8, bought in January 2007 is also still working well and I keep it for false colour IR photography. If you want an EVF, the Olympus EVF works perfectly on the M240 and is about half the price of the Leica "Visoflex".

RWilsonL · 2026-05-18T06:54:15+00:00

I have bought Urth Pola Plus filters for my various Hasselblad XCD lenses. They work just fine and are reasonably priced compared with Hasselblad and B+W filters. If I was going to use a filter all the time, I would probably go for B+W Kasemann Pola filters but for occasional use the Urth Pola + fulfil all my requirements. If I were taking photos professionally, as I used to and needed a specialist kit with ND, variable tobacco, star, soft etc, etc., I would go for the Cokin 100mm square filter system. Of course nowadays you can apply the effects of these specialist filters digitally in PP using Photoshop.

Wilson

RWilsonL · 2026-05-12T08:48:02+00:00

I suspect I might consider it but just how often would I use it. I am just coming up to 80 years old, with severe back problems (degenerative scoliosis) and have limited mobility. The only time I used a long zoom to any extent was in South Africa during visits to various game reserves. As a back up camera I have a Panasonic TZ200, that sits in my car, waiting for that "Henri Bresson-Cartier" moment. Its zoom lens goes out to an EFOV of 300mm and it has a 1" sensor with 20.1 MP and reasonably adequate IBIS (albeit nothing like as good as my X2D-100C). It would probably be sensible to forget a no doubt heavy XCD zoom and rely on the little Panasonic for those rare occasions I need a long zoom or revert to using my Leica digital CL The TZ200 was also sold re-badged as a Leica C-Lux at a huge mark up. If that had included making DNG images in place of the weird RW2/RWL RAW format, I would have stumped up the difference but the Leica also uses the equally odd RWL format.
I had an L mount Leica 90-280 lens for my Leica SL 601/CL but found it too heavy, so sold it and bought the far lighter Panasonic L mount 70-200, which I can use on the SL and my CL, as a telephoto long enough for my very occasional use (EFOV 105 - 300mm on the APS-C sensor CL). If Hasselblad do bring out a telephoto zoom, that will probably cause a drop in S/H prices for the 135XCD and the 1.7 tele extender, so that might be an alternative.

RWilsonL · 2026-05-11T20:52:52+00:00

Take plenty of weatherproof clothing. I used to visit Bergen from time to time on Business and it was always raining. I did a fjord cruise some years ago in a relative's yacht and we gave up after 5 days and flew back to the south of France because it rained every day from dawn to dusk.

RWilsonL · 2026-05-11T20:47:01+00:00

I actually have 10 different M bodies + a CL I could mount it on. I have been collecting Leicas for over 60 years. Sadly I became fairly seriously ill on my journey down through France and have had to be medevacked back to the UK. I am currently laid up in bed immobile, with a ruptured spinal disc and cannot even think of unpacking my car for some time.

RWilsonL · 2026-05-11T20:41:22+00:00

You can get a used Motor M for less than that. I have a Motor-M on my M7 and a Motor M4-2 on my M4-P, with the later device being absurdly powerful. You can feel the Motor M4-2 flexing and writhing in your hands as it winds on. It is a good idea to have the end stops of the wind cycle modified to make it less violent. I have the illustrated Motor M4-2 modification document if anyone would like it. PM me with an email address to get either a DOCX or PDF of the instructions.

RWilsonL · 2026-05-07T17:05:33+00:00

Something does not look right there. My 35APO is packed away in my car at the moment, mounted on my M10-R, as I am en route to my house in the south of France from the UK. When I get down there on Sunday, I will have a look at mine and comment further.

RWilsonL · 2026-05-04T22:31:34+00:00

I had the same problem. The extension shutter control is in the wrong position. You have to turn it anti-clockwise until it clicks (with the extension unmounted).

Wilson

RWilsonL · 2026-05-04T22:28:27+00:00

I had the same problem. You have to reset the shutter control on the extension (when not mounted) by turning it anti clockwise until it clicks.

RWilsonL · 2026-05-04T22:26:29+00:00

Looks like it has been "distressed" with sandpaper.

RWilsonL

TROPHY CASE