Jeff, I have been looking lately at the Zeiss Ikon ZM, looks like a fantastic camera; guess similar to the ZI? Shots with the biogon just looks fantastic.
Actually the camera is a ZI (and I believe has not changed since it's introduction), and the lenses are ZM (for M mount). It's a satisfying camera to use, with a wonderful viewfinder. The nits that people usually pick are about the volume of the shutter and the camera's reliance on a battery to function. The lenses are very good I think.
Carlos, Jeff,
I have been using a ZI ("Zeiss Ikon ZM" is or was an internet non-official name but I think that even Zeiss is using that one now) for more than half a year and I'd say that my complaints are:
- Sometimes you can't see the focusing patch. I guess it's hard to explain but sometimes you lose the patch for a few seconds if your eye is not centered on the rangefinder patch. It's more annoying than anything else.
- Meterings are sometimes hard to read.
- On complaints 1 and 2, I literally can't see the shutter speed when composing vertically so I meter and focus horizontally then compose and shoot vertically. I'm used to it but it's weird.
- I tend to lose the eye piece A LOT. More than with any of my other cameras such as the Nikons. Most of the time it's somewhere in my bag, but still, I lost the original and if you have diopter correction pieces, well, they aren't cheap. I realise that this is mostly me being an idiot though.
- It has got the Zeiss lens framelines so no 75mm. I shoot my Voigtlander 75mm f1.8 using an external finder or guessing. I don't know if I will ever get used to using external finders, as nice as they are, so whenever I get a second rangefinder it may be something with 75mm as I love that distance.
On the regular complaints:
- I don't think the shutter is loud at all compared to a Leica. Check this out:
http://elekm.net/zeiss_ikon/pages/body.html shutter speed sounds comparison. I doubt that it matters at all in real world situations to be honest.
- My first set of batteries died in the cold south african mountains after shooting something like 30 rolls. Most people can shoot 40+ rolls even 50. I always have a set of backup batteries so it doesn't bother me much, but if you go to Patagonia or something then this is not the camera to take.
- Other people say that the build doesn't feel as good (which is true) and that it's not as heavy, which to me is an advantage as I usually carry it with a Nokton 50mm 1.1 which weighs around 1 kg by itself, and sometimes a Nikon F3HP which weighs like a baby.
It's biggest drawback to most people in other forums (I won't name names but most of you can get a good idea) is that it's not a Leica. It doesn't feel like a Leica, it doesn't brass like a Leica and it's got no red dot. I don't care about brands, most people on this forum don't seem to be that type either, and you can buy almost two new Ikons for the price of a second hand M7. But if you ever daydream with a Leica and endlessly look at forum threads with digital picture of your beautiful camera setup, then don't even consider an Ikon and go for the Leica.
The point is that it's an awesome tool to take pix. You will love it Carlos.
