The Marks of a Leica That Has Not Been Used as a Fashion Accessory

Tom A said:
Most of my cameras have these notches in them. I use a small jewelers file - one half-round and one V shaped to code bodies. This way, when something goes wrong I can look at the negatives and identify which body is screwing up - without having to run tests on the ones used at the time.
The notches in the SP are a wee bit too big though - they almost go through the frame edges!!!! Mine are usually more discreet.
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Are you saying you will see those notched patterns in the developed negatives?
 
furcafe said:
I'm not a fan of never ready cases, but they can add something to your ability to take photos if they protect the camera from suffering debilitating injury. I assume that was the reason why Capa, Rodger, etc. used them.
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Funny, you can also buy something that looks like a huge camera condom/ airbag / wetsuit. I think it's called Camera Armor or something along those lines.
 
These pictures of cameras from true photographers remind me to stop buying new stuff and just go out shooting. I love Tom's M2 as well!
Best wishes to everybody and have a nice week ahead.
 
E__WOK said:
Are you saying you will see those notched patterns in the developed negatives?
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You can see the notches between the images -they are visible in the surrounding frame. I used to have a code:two 1/2 round denoted a M6/MP and the there were V shaped notches that did run from one to four (I had four M6's/MP's). My M4P's had some gates that looked like sawblades (I had a lot of M$P"s).
The M2's are notched differently, just V shaped notches - but rather than using just the right side of the film gate - I use right and left side.
The trick is to have a "tag" sheet that quickly identifies which camera is notched how (usually by serial number).
 
I think Tom is one of the few that has to mark his bodies. For me the one with WIDE space between the frames is M4-P the one with narrow space is the M3. The one with NO space is the M8 , hehe... The only drawback with those differences is that to get those nice black borders on the negatives you have to have frames for Focomat IC and also Flextight Precision II. With M8 no hassle, just take the right photoshop tool...
 
I have an M4 (black chrome) which is currently away having a new bodyshell fitted due to the old one being held together by epoxy resin. I'll post pix when it finally arrives back....
 
peterm1 said:
I hereby give notice that I am commencing the Society for the prevention of cruelty to Leicas. Membership sought within.
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For example can you imagine car enthusiasts (including racing pros) who deliberately mistreat their cars? I cannot. So I kinda think its what we in Australia would call a "bit of a w#nk" for a photographer to say - "Oh yeh, its only equipment, I am not interested in that, its the pictures that are important to me." I am sure other countries understadn what I mean.
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I drive a Ford Mustang GT. There are huge numbers of people who don't own one who think my car belongs in a museum or hermetic garage, only to be carefully tooled around town on nice days. Keep the R's below 3K so as not to damage anything. F' them.

In the past 7 years of my ownership it has seen the inside of a garage maybe two evenings. It is not a show car, but it is clean and straight. I'm proud of the single hail dent on the drivers side fender because it's only one. I watched it get hailed on and prayed for mercy. If the roof was pummeled, I'd fix it. But that one dent does not diminish my perception of the car's value. I keep the dent to remember.

I am a "car enthusiast" of a high order. That is why I own my car. Had I garage and the means, I'd have a Balboni Lamborghini. Alas, not to be. But I was able to hit redline on the way home tonight and later pull past traffic in the right lane to grab my exit without getting in anyone's way, and without even sweating the motor. Ideally, I'd redline the car every day, every time I drive it - that's what it does best. If you think my car, covered in road grit, is somehow diminished by being used and enjoyed you are no enthusiast. You are a "fondler." Which is a sin. :)

There is a difference between use and abuse. A beloved tool sees wear. Seeing that wear brings memories of times past, triggering memories of family, friends, experiences. I have a toolbox garnered over the years. None of my hand tools carries the same weight in memories as the times I picked up my nieces in my car to deliver them to my brother and parents, so every scratch on my interior from their cavalier attitude to feet on the dash tells a story of irritation and love.

I tire of leicas paraded for "patina." Just as you, I'm sure. But honestly earned wear on a beloved tool is not abuse. It is testament to love and utility. I know some think I am a cretin for parking my car outside year after year, but I just think "you drive a Camry, STFU." Not PC, but it's my car. His camera, his memories.
 
My Leica M3, known as Ziggy. 1967. Travel companion.Personal,Fashion,Industrial,Publicity,Photojournalism.Next year new coverings and maybe a Major Service.

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40oz said:
There is a difference between use and abuse.
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And isn't that the point? I am led to suspect that my tatty black chrome M4 was actually one of a number used by cruise ship's photographers and as such it has been used primarily as a tool (and probably by an employee/user as opposed to its owner). I bought it simply because I wanted to replace a black chrome M4 that I owned 30 years ago, with what will be my one and only film camera, and the price was appropriate to do so. After its rebuild and service it will get some, although not a great deal, of use and will almost certainly stay in its current condition. My other cameras are all in good but not immaculate condition and are most definitely tools as opposed to fashion accessories....
 
Profitable!!!

Profitable!!!

I love to find such cameras....they´re inexpensive and easily re-painted to be turned back into a fashion profitable item :D
 
hteasley said:
That didn't look abused, it just looked well used. That's what happens after decades of use.
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I agree with you on this. It is not fair to say this is abuse.
My M5 looks similarly used. Half from the previous owners half of the wear from my use. The M8 I sold last year as well looked quite worn.
The x100 I have been carrying the last 12 months is also on the way to looking pretty worn although with much more concern than the M5 as it is frankly much less robust.

I have very fresh looking cameras as well. My Rolleiflexes are used primarily for Portraits and so look quite civilized.

Cameras are tools. Wear is a sign of having a tool you need and use rather than one that has been neglected or abused.
The environment the tools is used in lends directly to how worn it becomes.
 
m4wind.jpg

My M4 (now on loan). I nicknamed it 'Garry' for obvious reasons.
Where the nose rubs, the vulcanite has come off, there's more chips off all around, the body has dents and brassing from gripping (through the chrome!:eek:) all around and when I got it, one shutter curtain had come undone from the latch, likely while somebody put a film in in a hurry. My friend Derk fixed the shutter and is using it now, until I need it back for a project.

Don't tell me it's been 'abused' it's more of a jewel now than it ever was when it left the factory! I wish that camera could show me the shots it took, and tell me it's provenance...

I bought it from a Chinese student and sometimes imagine it has been used in a warm, humid environment (Vietnam?), causing the chrome to corrode and the vulcanite to crack...
 
For me there is cameras that look like wrecks, but work beautifully. Then there are cameras that even they look pristine, are in reality wrecks, most of the digital DSLR´s after some usage, some of the "lesser japanese medium format cameras" like Bronicas, some Mamiyas etc. I prefer the first wrecks...
 
I've dropped my digital canon rebel several times. It still works, even after four or five years. Although there is rattle inside now...
 
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