From my archives.
In April, 1959 the well regarded Asahi Camera magazine (it ran from 4/1926 through 7/2020) published an extraordinarily detailed review of the recently introduced Leica M2.
Late version of the Leica M2 with the first version of the rigid 50mm f/2 Summicorn.
Like the revolutionary Leica M3 of 1954, the M2 continued with the magnificent combined range/viewfinder but stepped the magnification down from 0.91x (almost life size) to 0.72x (not 0.75x as stated in the Asahi Camera report), to permit display of the 35mm frame. M3 users had to either use an external finder (not possible if you wanted the Leicameter fitted) or had to resort to the clunky ‘goggles’ versions of the 35mm optic to get the correct field of view. The M3’s native frames are 50mm (always displayed), 90mm and 135mm, the latter two switched either with the selector lever on the front of the camera or when the related lens was fitted.
Rumors that the M2, which was cheaper at the time, was less well made are nonsense. Yes, the rangefinder design was simplified (??? Look at Figure 4 in the Asahi Camera report – both look insanely complex to me) to lower production costs, there was no self-timer and the frame counter had to be reset manually after changing films. But otherwise everything was very much identical and, in fact, to Leitz’s surprise, the M2 became increasingly popular as photojournalists migrated to the 35mm lens. Better still, the clunky and always displayed 50mm frame in the M3 with its rounded corners (a Kodachrome slide mount legacy) was gone and the three frames in the M2 (35/50/90mm) would only appear one at a time. I have owned and used both the M3 and M2 for decades and much prefer the finder of the M2 for street snapping, as I tend to favor the 35mm lens.
Click the image for the PDF file.
The Leica M2 had several minor variations. The first version came with a button you had to hold down while rewinding the film. Not great. The second version had the same button but once depressed it stayed down until the film advance lever was worked. Much better. The Asahi Camera report picks up on this. The third version reverted to the same small lever used on the M3. It’s very unlikely you will activate this accidentally, and quite how the earlier button design saved production costs beats me. The lever design is the best of all. You can see it in the first image above. Maybe this was just another case of the old German belief : “Why make it simple when complex works just as well?”
And the originally deleted self-timer could be retrofitted if desired (at goodness knows what horrendous cost) or came standard with later production. But these are minor quibbles. There are strong grounds for arguing that the M2 was the best street M Leica ever made. The successor to the M2 and M3 was the M4 and came with a cluttered finder, showing multiple frames at once. The M5 was a design disaster. The M6 saw construction quality fall, internal screws became rivets, and the whole thing just did not feel as good in the hands, TTL meter notwithstanding. I know. I used one a lot. The single worst feature was that there was no top plate readout to take an exposure reading so you had to raise the camera to the eye to accomplish this. A camera at eye level is anathema to the stealthy approach dictated by street photography of people.
The Asahi Camera report also reviews the first rigid version of the 50mm f/2 Summicron, the finest standard lens of the time. I used one for years and it really is wonderful. Sadly, the collector market has seen to it that a half decent copy will set you back $1,200. Many of this vintage have ‘cleaning’ scratches from fools who don’t seem to understand the purpose of a UV filter, or dried up grease, or corroded/oily diaphragm blades. And haze and fungus are common. Finding a good one is no mean feat.
The scans in the PDF above are high definition at 300dpi, and were made with the excellent scanner included in the Epson T-8550 printer. To view larger images on a Mac hit Command+.
