Editorial Reviews:
Synopsis
Absolute reliability in all situations, emergency operation without batteries, the use of the very best materials, great value retention, longevity, high-precision optical and mechanical components make the Leica M7 a step above the rest. Impressive innovations include: Make automatic exposures. As an alternative to the familiar manual exposure balance, which of course, continues to be available, the M7 features a comfortable stepless automatic shutter speed control with metered value storage at the shutter release button. Work more accurately. The legendary cloth focal plane shutter in all Leica M cameras was thoroughly redesigned to control exposure times electronically, virtually inaudibly. Stay informed at all times. A system that is very unusual in rangefinder camera displays: a total of 33 different readings is shown in the viewfinder, an area of less than two square millimeters, enlarged 15 times for optimal information. Start immediately. An on/off switch is positioned ergonomically right next to the release button. In the on position, it turns the electronics of the M7 on. In the off position, it blocks the shutter release button. Flash at ultrahigh exposure times. In addition to the regular 1/50 second sync speed, the M7 in conjunction with special Metz flash units can now flash at sync speeds up to 1/1000 second. In this mode, the settings of the exposure and the flash are made manually. Use flash creatively. In conjunction with a specially equipped flash unit, the M7 can also be triggered by the second shutter curtain. The advantage is a natural pictorial rendition, for instance, with long exposures and fill-in flash. Prevent faulty exposures. There are two options of setting the film speed: manual and automatic (with DX coding). This eliminates faulty exposures that result from setting wrong ASA film speeds. An override feature of +/-2 f/stops is available for exposure corrections in the automatic exposure mode.
