M2 or M4-2?

[Creagerj]

Just my two cents: I now own an M2 and I absolutely love it. Love at first fondle would be a good way to describe my feelings toward it. I like the M2 with the button rewind and no self timer over the ones that do have self timers and lever rewind. Just a cleaner looking camera in my opinion. I don't find loading film or rewinding to be much trouble at all, in fact I've gotten pretty good at it.

 

[maggieo]

Beautiful M2 you've got there! Congratulations! Looks like we have a similar setup (not sure if I identified the lens in your pic wrongly). Nokton 50 f1.5, Cron 50 DR and Summaron 35 f2.8. The M2 is a joy to use and it is one of the most affordable Ms that offers versatility and functionality in a package.

Thanks, Vincent! The lens on the M2 is a 1959 Summilux, BTW. I love it.

Here's some M2/Summilux shots from this week:

Ann Krein, June, 2010


Walking Domino with Mom, June, 2010


Shadow Chair, June, 2010


Lower Dogwalk Trees, June, 2010

 

[helen.HH]

Great Mag...!!!!!
best to Your Mum...😉

 

[maggieo]

Thanks, Helen!

 

[maggieo]

What the heck, might as well put this here...

So, I heard about this low cost private-label XP-2 Plus from Photo Warehouse, so I ordered the minimum number of rolls (14) and shot some this weekend out at the airport, where Cessna was bringing in Special Olympics athletes on bizjets. No credentials for me, so I watched the watchers, so to speak. Here's a few shots from that first roll of generic XP-2 Plus, via the M4-P and Jupiter-8 50/2:

Umbrellas, Special Olympics Citation Airlift, July, 2010


Credentials Tent, Special Olympics Citation Airlift, July, 2010


Helping Out, Special Olympics Citation Airlift, July, 2010


Waiting For Harrison, Special Olympics Citation Airlift, July, 2010

(Harrison Ford piloted his Gulfstream for the airlift and all these folks said they were just there to see him.)

A Planespotter Catches One, Special Olympics Citation Airlift, July, 2010



Windsock Corner, Special Olympics Citation Airlift, July, 2010


Grounded Bush Pilot, Special Olympics Citation Airlift, July, 2010


Planespotting, Special Olympics Citation Airlift, July, 2010


Hat Lady & Ice Cream Truck, Special Olympics Citation Airlift, July, 2010


Mother and Daughter, Special Olympics Citation Airlift, July, 2010


It was around 97ºF, with a heat index of 109ºF that afternoon. Underexposure was NOT a problem! :ROTFL:

 

[maggieo]

Well, back to the photos! The first five are from that roll of "XP-2+" and are all M4-P and Jupiter-8; the second set of five are from the M2 and the Voigtländer Ultron 35/1.7 and were shot on Kodak BW400CN.

Handicapped Parking, Special Olympics Citation Airlift, July, 2010


Applause, Special Olympics Citation Airlift, July, 2010


Send In A Clown, Special Olympics Citation Airlift, July, 2010


Fix Prop Mailbox, July, 2010


37th And Air Park, Special Olympics Citation Airlift, July, 2010


Ultron and BW400CN now-

Creek Flowers, July, 2010


Lower Dogwalk Golden Bench, July, 2010


Lower Dogwalk Golden Hour, July, 2010


Duck Pond Fountain, July, 2010


Dad Drinks On The Patio, July, 2010

 

[Mister E]

I'd go with the M2. Send your film to NCPS for scanning.

 

[MCTuomey]

BTW, here's the M4-2 I was considering: M4-2

Still available! 😉

Well, I bought it a little while ago. Call me contrarian, can't resist going against the flow with one of the Ms that is dissed the most (M5 and M4-2). Turns out to have been mini-CLA'd by DAG just prior to sale (have invoice). We'll see how we get on, but it's nice to have a film M for slow-med speed B&W shooting. So far, so good.

 

[maddoc]

Well, I bought it a little while ago. Call me contrarian, can't resist going against the flow with one of the Ms that is dissed the most (M5 and M4-2). Turns out to have been mini-CLA'd by DAG just prior to sale (have invoice). We'll see how we get on, but it's nice to have a film M for slow-med speed B&W shooting. So far, so good.

I like that attitude 🙂 A M4-2 would also be a good partner for my M4-P(s) ...

 

[MCTuomey]

Thanks for the encouragement, Gabor. I just ordered some Delta 100 and Efke 25 to feed it. Yum! One less forlorn four-two 🙂.

 

[Nokton48]

I use M4-2 with Rapidwinder, and M2 with Rapidwinder. Like em both.
I use M5 when I need a meter or if the lighting is tricky. Best inboard meter in the world.

 

[niels christopher]

I'am using a Leica M4-2, that I'am very happy with. People saying it's poorly crafted (read alot of stuff about this camera) probably never owned, let alone used one. It is very easy and smooth to use, I did not have any problems so far. I have not gotten the chance to try a M2 yet, but I think it's a very handsome camera. I got the M4-2, because I was offered a real nice price and I do not regret it, but I'am not sure what happens if somebody offers me a nice M2. 😀

 

[maddoc]

Funny to read this thread again and see the history of my M4-2, which I bought from MCTuomey last year. 😀

 

[maggieo]

M2 and M4-P for the win, for me. 😉

 

[Bingley]

Yes, an interesting thread. I've wound up w/ an M2 (an early one) and an M4-2 that I bought last year from bobkonos. Each is a joy to shoot.

 

[mugent]

I've just got an m4-2, it's very well put together, I've also owned an m6, there is no difference in quality, in fact the m4-2 may even be smoother than my m6. A lot of this 'info' is just rehashed Internet opinions, and shouldn't be taken too seriously.

 

[literiter]

I have had my M2 since 1980 and my M4-P since 1987. Never a lick of trouble with either.

My lenses are 35, 50 and 90, which suit both cameras.

What I can say will be that my M2, from the outside at least, seems a bit better put together than the M4-P and I'm not completely comfortable with the frame line clutter of the M4-P although I might be if I had more lenses.

My vote will be for the M2.