After quite some deliberation, I sold my Leica M6 and picked up a pretty good condition Leica MP. There’s quite some articles around that state that the MP is a very similar camera to the M6 and there’s not much difference. This is not the case and the Leica MP is a much more refined and smoother camera, whatever that means. The Leica MP is indeed, almost “mechanical perfection” The film advance is much smoother and you feel like you’re holding a precision instrument in your hand. The one that is taking a bit of getting used to is the smaller shutter speed dial. I perhaps foolishly, preferred the large Shutter speed dial of the TTL version of the Leica M6, despite the light meter apparently not being fixable. One of the few complaints of the TTL M6 was that with the large shutter dial positioned where it is, quite often I would block the rangefinder window. With the Leica MP, it’s smaller and took a bit of getting used to but after about 50 rolls I’ve got the hang of it.
The Leica MP Black version is about as good as gets in my book and I picked up a used one in Hong Kong for $22,800, a bargain considering some other ones we’ve seen. I’ve shot it with the 35 Summicron V3, 35 Summicron V4, Voigtlander 21mm F4 Color Skopar and Zeiss 50mm Sonnar ZM, all of which are tiny little lenses and perfect for the Leica MP.
Many people say the film rewind crank on the M6 is Better but I must be one of the few people in the world to prefer the Leica MP find rewind. With the M6, sure it could be faster but I’d say 99% of the time rewinding film it’d slip when the pressure got tighter and release the film. No big deal, but the Leica MP Film Rewind is far superior. Simple – pull it up and turn, no slippage and down in less than 30 seconds.
Overall the Leica MP feels much more solid and refined in almost everyday. People say the Leica M6 Shutter is quiet and you couldn’t hear it a room full of people. Another bit of bollocks. It’s quieter than something like a Nikon F3, but still quite audible. The Leica MP shutter is much quieter. Highly likely it’s just the extra cost that is making it sound quieter, but regardless, you won’t be attracting too much attention inside or outside. People say shooting with Leica is kind of stealth, that’s also a bit of shite. If you put anything up to your face people are going to notice you and it’s no more stealthy and inconspicuous than a small DSLR or Mirrorless with small lens, such as the X-Pro 2 with any of the Fujicrons on them.
If money’s not an issue, or you’re torn between the Leica M6 and Leica MP, get the MP, you won’t regret it, at least I haven’t.
Check out my other film cameras here.
