doing naughty things to an mp

[aizan]

i can't stand the battery compartment on new leicas. i don't particularly like the match-diode meter display, either. but i bet they're totally removable.... all you'd have to do is take out the blinky lights, get rid of the viewfinder magnification label, replace the battery cover with one that sits flush, and recover it with new leatherette. voila, an m2 with automatic film counter and no self-timer.

what will i think of next? 🙄

 

[hoot]

voila, an m2 with automatic film counter and no self-timer.

That would make a very expensive M2...

 

[aizan]

yeah, even used it would be more expensive than a minty m2.

 

[Rico]

...
what will i think of next? 🙄

Agree about the battery compartment, but Leica does offer the special-edition MP3: sort of an M2 with M3 touches. Leica has neglected, however, the matter of a self-timer and real Vulcanite - lost secrets of the Wetzlar ancients. 😉

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Aizan: send me that nasty, troublesome MP. I'll find a suitable M2 replacement for you. No charge 😀

 

[StuartR]

Sounds like you are a candidate for that Japanese special edition -- it was a black paint MP with black vulcanite and no meter. Perfect! It should only cost you a thousand or two more than the one with the meter and battery cover...

 

[StuartR]

Ah, my mistake, it was for the Chinese market (must say I did not realize that there really was a Chinese Leica market...I suppose Hong Kong, but beyond Hong Kong, and maybe Beijing, Shanghai where else?).
Here it is:
http://www.leica-camera.com/produkte/msystem/sondermodelle/mp_classic/index_e.html

 

[pvdhaar]

Why not leave those batteries out? I'm sure you'll see no blinking LEDs anymore. Problem solved.

But wait a minute.. aaahhh.. now I get it.. the auto film advance and pop-up flash won't work 😉 Sorry guys, I haven't logged into RFF for a couple of days and I'm a bit nasty because of withdrawal effects..

 

[Doug]

Peter you may have hit upon the solution to part of the problem! The remaining part is the offensive battery cover. Maybe something could be made that fits the recess and lies flush so one might apply a circle of leather matching the rest of the covering.

Similarly... I bought an elderly but beautiful non-RF camera body that was missing the self-timer lever and a few related internal pieces. As usual I took it to my local fav camera tech for check over and CLA... and in the process he put a disk of matching black leather in the circular area where the lever had been... looks great, like it was made this way originally.

Too bad about the AF, AE, pop-up flash, and the LCD panel... 😛

 

[StuartR]

Another, possibly more elegant solution -- a half case. That will cover the battery cover AND make it look more classic.