The M Files One Year On: A legend in the making

Just a year ago, thanks to the enthusiasm of one of our regular authors, Jörg-Peter Rau, Macfilos embarked on a first — a whole series of articles devoted to a rather esoteric branch of photography. Loosely, this can be described as the not-Leica M niche.

The Leica M system is a legend for sure. Yet it often appears to be exclusive, mainly because of cost but also because the principles remain largely unchanged after nearly 70 years. Despite the success of the Q and SL, it is the rangefinder that remains the company’s raison d’être. Without that, Leica would be just another camera manufacturer and, I suspect, would not have survived.

Exploring the not-Leica M niche

Fortunately, there is a whole world of opportunities surrounding Leica M cameras and Leica M lenses. The idea of the Macfilos series, The M Files, was to explore this territory. It’s all about cameras and lenses with M Mount that are not part of the Leica M system. So, the series presents cameras and lenses that are, in almost all cases, less expensive than their Leica counterparts and still fully usable. In fact, some of the gear that Jörg-Peter reviewed proved to be excellent while a few others turned out to be compromised in performance.

Seven cameras and almost 20 lenses… so far

Looking back at the statistics, Jörg-Peter took on seven different cameras, among them the first and the last Voigtländer Bessa with M mount, the modern Konica Hexar RF and the Zeiss Ikon. Together with all these cameras, he reviewed the usual kit lens – or one or several lenses of the same brand that seemed to be good companions to the cameras. Then followed some episodes especially about the ZM lenses. Why Zeiss of all lenses? “The ZM lenses are regarded as being less popular than they deserve, always slightly in the shadow of the Voigtländer lenses and thus often underrated”, says Jörg-Peter. All in all, he has now reviewed nearly 20 lenses for Macfilos and has received much acclaim from our knowledgeable readership.

The best of all? The community on Macfilos!

Since its launch in January 2021, The M Files series has received more than 50,000 page impressions. “For such a niche-within-a-niche project, this is quite a big figure”, says Jörg-Peter, who is a professional newspaper journalist and takes his newsroom through challenging times of transformation.

What he especially likes about Macfilos and the specialist German site, Messsucherwelt (Rangefinder World), where The M Files are being published in German, is the great community of users. “Increasingly we have to contend with hostile and hateful reactions in the newsroom”, he says, “so the polite and attentive readership on these two sites is really a treat. Rangefinder cameras are so much more than collectors’ items”

How did he get the idea to embark on the M Files journey? “I have worked with rangefinder cameras both as a journalist and in private for many years, and somehow it bothered me that Leica and everything around it transformed from being a great tool for the working photographer to a luxury item with a big emphasis on collecting. I wanted to do something to counter this, which might even help a little to make rangefinder photography accessible to new people who are interested in it.”

Some episodes are still to come

So far, twelve instalments of The M Files have been published over the year. More articles are coming, the author promises. “I want to round up the Zeiss ZM programme to give as comprehensive an overview as possible”, he says. Further plans include coverage of more Konica M mount lenses and a few interesting Voigtländer VM designs. All will be reviewed in use with digital and partly also with rangefinder film cameras. Jörg-Peter borrows test gear from other enthusiasts and sometimes get some items via second-hand purchases. In some instances, the Leica Store Konstanz is able to provide an item or two. In any case, neither he nor Macfilos gets anything in return for the published texts from manufacturers, dealers or other parties. “It is 100 per cent independent work, and this is how it will stay”, he says.

An encouragement to take images

Apart from The M Files, Jörg-Peter also writes frequently on other topics related to photography, media and culture here on Macfilos. However, one of his next articles will deal with a topic that is closely related to The M Files. It will be a story about how to enter the rangefinder world without being crushed by the second-hand prices of so many Leica products, which seem to be rising to ever new heights. Here again, he wants to encourage readers to use the camera for what they were made for. Taking photos, he says, “right?”

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Start your M Files journey here

The M Files 

The M-Files series reviews cameras and lenses that are equipped with the M bayonet without actually belonging to the Leica M system. Of this ongoing project, all parts so far are available in English exclusively here on www.macfilos.com:

1. Introduction to the M Files series
2. Voigtländer Bessa R4M with Voigtländer 35/1.4 and 21/4
3. Konica Hexar RF with Konica 50/2
4. Rollei 35 RF with Sonnar 40/2.8
5. Zeiss Ikon with ZM 25/2.8, 35/2.8 and 50/2
6. Bessa T with Voigtländer 35/2.5 and 15/4.5
7. Leica CL with Leica’s compact 40/2 and 90/4
8. Minolta CLE 40/2, 2,8/28, 90/4 and several 21mm wide-angles
9. Conclusion: Measuring the rangefinder world
10. Encore: It does not always have to be Leica – my top lens recommendations
11. Distagon revisited — the Zeiss ZM 18 and 35-millimetre lenses
12. Zeiss again: Three more ZM lenses (2,8/21, 2,8/28, 85/4)
13. Three lenses from Konica – M-Hexanon 28, 90, and the sensational M-Hexanon Dual 21-35
14. Voigtländer APO: 35/2, 50/2, 90/2.8 – the attack on Leica’s heart
15. Contax Conversions: Carl Zeiss Planar 50/1.4 (ex SLR) and 45/2 (ex G system) for M Mount

Die M Files auf Deutsch

Die M-Files sind eine Serie über Kameras und Objektive, die mit dem M-Bajonett ausgestattet sind, ohne direkt zum Leica-M-System zu gehören. Alle Teile der weiter anwachsenden Reihe sind neben der englischen Version auch in deutscher Sprache auf www.messsucherwelt.com erschienen:

1. Einführung: Worum es in den M-Files geht
2. Die Weitwinkel-Expertin: Voigtländer Bessa R4M mit Voigtländer Nokton II 35/1.4 und Color-Skopar 21/4
3. Die moderne Messsucherkamera: Konica Hexar RF mit M-Hexanon 50/2
4. Ein großer Name: Rollei 35 RF mit Rollei Sonnar 40/2.8
5. Design trifft auf Tradition: Zeiss Ikon mit Carl Zeiss Biogon 25/2.8, Biogon 35/2.8 und Planar 50/2 ZM
6. Der Messsucher-Sonderling: Voigtländer Bessa T mit Voigtländer Heliar 15/4.5 und Color-Skopar 35/2
7. Die andere Leica: Leica CL mit Summicron-C 40/2 und Elmar-C 90/4
8. Das unterschätzte Innovationspaket: Minolta CLE mit Minolta M-Rokkor 2,8/28, 40/2 and 90/4
9. Zusammenfassung: Die Vermessung der Messsucherwelt
10. Zugabe! Gedanken zu Nicht-Leica-M-Objektiven und eine persönliche Top-5-Hitliste
11. Zeiss Distagon ZM – Liebe auf den ersten und den zweiten Blick
12. Zeiss ZM zum Dritten: Die Objektive 2,8/21, 2,8/28 und 4/85 für Leica-M-Bajonett
13. Konica M-Hexanon 28, 90 und das sensationelle 21-35 
14. Voigtländer APO 35, 50, 90 – Stich in Leicas Herz?
15. Contax auf Leica: Carl Zeiss Planar 50/1.4 (ex SLR) and 45/2 (ex G-System) für M

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