Well, I took the plunge - My first M (and some questions)

Definitely recommend contacting Gerry Smith at Kindermann before sending it out of the country. The hidden costs of re-importing a repaired camera can be surprising, if the foreign sender doesn't fill out the paperwork properly, and if he uses one of the courier companies. Also, Gerry is a damn fine Leica repairman. He's worked on a few of my CLs, and on my Summicron, and he's my first choice for Leica M repair in Canada. Best way to contact Gerry is by telephone.

As for the lens issue, I happily use a 40mm Summicron with the 35mm frames in my Zeiss Ikon ZM body. They happen to be a very close match, and I don't recall having lost a shot because of framing error. The only thing I have to do to make it work is to tape the frame preview lever to the 35mm position, as the 40mm Summicron (and the 40mm Rokkor) will bring up the 50mm frames in Leica Ms unless the lens is permanently modified with a file. I have no experience with M4s, but, if the 35mm and 50mm frames don't both appear simultaneously with a 50mm lens installed, I imagine you'll have to do something similar to use the 35mm frames.

Another option is a 40mm viewfinder that mounts in the accessory shoe. Voigtlander make one. I have one, and it's very, very bright and easy to use. You won't have parallax correction, but it's generally been fine for my street pictures.

Your English grammar is just fine, by the way.
 
Thanks again everyone. I don't want to sell the camera, as I was planning to get a M body in the future. This M4 was really an unplanned purchase, as I went to the sale looking for the lens that went with it, a 35mm Summicron v4 (they asked 300$ for it...). Needless to say, the lens was gone long before I went there. They asked 1500$ for the M4 and I made my offer thinking that it would be refused. But, things went differently...

Maybe what I should have told you in the first place is that I am planning for a 3 lens setup in the long run :
- A compact 35mm
- A wide angle (~21mm)
- A fast 50mm

Money is a bit short right now and I am swimming in a bunch of new cameras, but I am more of the patient type, and willing to pay for good lenses. So maybe I should just wait, use the Jupiter 8 and pay more (1000$+) for the right lenses later?

It would be great if they could all be the same filter size. My first choice was the Zeiss lenses but they mix 43mm and 46mm. The Color-Skopar seems to share 39mm, which is good. Leica glass is an option too, if it is not too expensive.

Definitely recommend contacting Gerry Smith at Kindermann before sending it out of the country. The hidden costs of re-importing a repaired camera can be surprising, if the foreign sender doesn't fill out the paperwork properly, and if he uses one of the courier companies. Also, Gerry is a damn fine Leica repairman. He's worked on a few of my CLs, and on my Summicron, and he's my first choice for Leica M repair in Canada. Best way to contact Gerry is by telephone.
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Thanks for the advice. I will check with him later today.
 
21: f/4 Voigtländer + LTM adapter. E39.
35: f/2.5 or f/1.7 Voigtländer + LTM adapter. E39.
50: Summicron E39

I don't think you'll get anything faster at 50m with E39 filters. Maybe a Canon f/1.8 or something.

If you can't take good pics with that lot, you probably can't take good pics...

Cheers,

r.
 
I have the Color Skopar 21/4, Color Skopar 35/2.5 both in M-mount, and a Color Skopar 50/2.5 (LTM mount) - all with the same filter sizes. And the old Nokton 50/1.5 ASPH (LTM mount), which requires a different filter size.

I'd buy them again even if I had triple the money in the bank ... although I'd consider the new Ultron 21mm f/1.8 instead of the Color Skopar 21. It would be nice to have a really fast wide now and then.

G
 
Laviolette said:
It would be great if they could all be the same filter size.
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All M-mount, yes, that makes sense, but all the same filter size? Not even in the top ten criteria I'd use for lens selection. I'd put size, weight, price, optical quality, and even snob appeal far, far above the convenience of only have to keep one filter diameter in my bag.

Of course, I haven't used a filter on a lens in years, so I'm perhaps missing something. Do have a small assortment of lens hoods, though- all different.
 
Don't worry about the shutter being erratic. Get a CLA when you can. My first "real" M was a DS M3. Everything about it was erratic. It worked though and helped me produce some great imagery at the time. I ended up trading it back some time later for my first M4.
 
There is nothing wrong with a Jupiter 8 lens, it is a copy of the original sonnar design and if your version is in good shape it will give you fantastic and sharp photos.

I also am of the opinion that if you don't use slow speeds then there's no point in immediately getting a CLA done. If you have the money of course that is ideal but if not, it's not a big deal.

The slow speeds operate on a completely different escapement which is prone to gumming up and collecting grit inside the camera and so even if the slow speeds are wrong it's not a very good indicator of the accuracy of the higher speeds - the high speeds may be 100% accurate.

The slow speeds also happen to be one of the easier things to fix if you decide to go rambo on your camera and try to fix it yourself as long as you don't destroy the very delicate hairspring.

Jupiter-8 / Tri-X 400. Sharp enough for you?

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paradoxbox said:
Jupiter-8 / Tri-X 400. Sharp enough for you?

6927109380_5ba6d16ce7_b.jpg
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I like my Jupiter 8, too bad my Zorki can't follow! The shutter will sometimes stay, especially if I haven't used the camera for some time. I wanted to open and clean it, but never got the time. It doesn't bother me at all to use the Jupiter on my M4.

Biggles said:
All M-mount, yes, that makes sense, but all the same filter size? Not even in the top ten criteria I'd use for lens selection. I'd put size, weight, price, optical quality, and even snob appeal far, far above the convenience of only have to keep one filter diameter in my bag.
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I agree with your point, but I use a red or a yellow filter quite often and like to have only one filter size if possible.
 
I just wanted to say a big thanks to everyone who helped me.

The M4 was back last week from the good care of Gerry Smith at Kindermann Canada. It works wonderfully! He did a complete overhaul, changed both curtains and patched the vulcanite. The body is still a beater with all the brassing, but I don't mind.

As for the lens, I went for the 35mm C-Biogon.

Everything is great so far with just a small nitpick : I have a bit of trouble framing with the 35mm frame lines, especially in portrait mode. Framing in 50 mm with my Jupiter 8 is easier. I guess I need practice.

8615359298_fbd54b9fca_b.jpg
 
grandallj said:
Andre, you are doing everything right. Well played.
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I did quite some research and the people here were especially helpful. And I wanted the vulcanite changed for a new leatherette first, but Gerry Smith talked me out of it. I'm happy he did, as his patching job of the vulcanite is almost seamless. But, vulcanite do smells funny..!

Love the kit so far, it complement well my XD-11 setup.

ZF1 said:
Where did you find a biogon for under $500! Great deal on that M4 btw, brassing is beautiful.
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I got it for ~700$ with the hood. Still have to get used to that focal length, especially indoor as I'm more of a 50mm guy.
 
Laviolette said:
I just wanted to say a big thanks to everyone who helped me.

The M4 was back last week from the good care of Gerry Smith at Kindermann Canada. It works wonderfully! He did a complete overhaul, changed both curtains and patched the vulcanite. The body is still a beater with all the brassing, but I don't mind.

As for the lens, I went for the 35mm C-Biogon.

Everything is great so far with just a small nitpick : I have a bit of trouble framing with the 35mm frame lines, especially in portrait mode. Framing in 50 mm with my Jupiter 8 is easier. I guess I need practice.

8615359298_fbd54b9fca_b.jpg
Click to expand...

the camera looks awesome with the beautiful brassing! and that's a great price you got the m4 for. congrats!
 
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