Leica R4s Mod.2 made in... ?

[Philip Whiteman]

I've just dug out my small amount of leica R kit, thinking I'd sell it to help pay for a rather expensive car repair - but instead found myself deciding to hang onto the cameras and fixing one of them myself (see the repair forum for how to get the top plate off an R4 and get the viewfinder shutter speed readout going again!)

For my money, the R4 is still a lovely camera and I have had superb results from mine. The only glitches have been that shutter speed readout becoming sluggish and then failing (now fixed, along with the frame counter that wouldn't fully return) - but the electronics have been reliable.

The R4 says 'made by leitz Portugal' on the bottom. My R4s Mod.2 says 'Ernst Leitz Wetzlar GmbH' - does this mean it was made in Wetzlar, I wonder? One thing that makes me think that it might have been, is that the Mod.2 introduced features that appeared on the R5 and mechanical-shutter R6, which was Wetzlar built. I understand that R5s were made in Portugal, but could it be that the R4s Mod.2 was used as a kind of ramp-up exercise for Wetzlar production of the R6?

 

[rodinal]

AFAIK, "Ernst Leitz Wetzlar GmbH" was a tricky name adopted by the Leitz company in order to confuse about their cameras beign made in Portugal at that time.

 

[nrb]

Leica still makes their stuff in Portugal, recently enlarged its plant in Famalicão 30% to 52000 m2, at a cost of 23 million euro and employs 720 workers. It produces cameras, lenses and binoculars there.

 

[sc_rufctr]

It's all a bit murky really.

The current gear is made in Portugal and sent to Germany in kit form for final assembly and testing. (The Made in Germany text is filled in with paint in Portugal)
So your R4 was probably made in Portugal but again final assembly and testing done in Germany.

My 6.2 has Made in Germany proudly displayed on the back but again ALL of the major components were most likely made and assembled in Portugal.

I get why Leica does this because to make everything in Germany would make their already expensive gear ridiculously expensive.
But they must comply with German law which would state how much of a product (%) is actually made in Germany for it to qualify as made in Germany. 😕😕

Anywho... The point is all major manufacturers play this game.
For instance, VW has a lot of parts made in China (in their own factory) and then shipped to Germany for assembly on their Made in Germany cars.
BMW and Mercedes do the same with their own parts factories all over the world.

Did you know that the famous Mercedes bonnet stars are all made in Turkey?
Also... All of the VW stick on badges are made in one factory in Greece?

 

[Philip Whiteman]

Thank you for that info, 'rodinal' (if that is your cat, my tabby moggie Weasel says hello), Nuno & Peter. I had been planning to put a film through one of the Rs, but our Christmas period weather is not cooperating. I know rain shouldn't stop the serious photographer, but I also respect my pro-trained brother Matthew's assertion that 'a good picture is all about the lighting - the rest is just pointing the camera'.

One thing that I have read about the R4s Mod.2 in several places, including the Hove Leica Handbook, is that you can supposedly switch between selective and full-field metering mode in the manual setting by pressing on the exposure mode selector button. This is a figment of somebody's imagination: in the 4 and 4s alike, selective or full-field metering is had by shifting a lens in front of the metering cell, and this moves into place - and only moves into place - when the selector is turned to one of the aperture-priority modes.

 

[sc_rufctr]

Just stuff some film in it already 😀

The R cameras are great, every bit as good as the Ms IMO and at a relatively bargain price. Enjoy!

 

[GarageBoy]

If it's running, that's already 3/4 the battle
Have fun with it!