What should a new Leica M4 owner know?

[Roger Hicks]

The most important thing to know is that there is ALWAYS someone who tells you that you should have bought an M1-2-3-5-6-7 instead...

Cheers,

R.

 

[Roger Hicks]

When in conversation, continue to refer to it as my camera and not my Leica or you will become one of those people

Well, no. Lots of people have more than one camera, and I don't use "one of my Leicas" the same way as I use "one of my Nikons" or indeed "one of my Gandolfis." In fact I don't use my M9 in quite the same way as my M2, or my Df in the same way as my EM.

Cheers,

R.

 

[mward]

Well here it is. I took it over to my local guy, he checked all the shutter speeds and gave it his seal of approval. It's really clean, I have no idea how a camera from 1978 looks so good, it must have spent its life in a box.

 

[davidnewtonguitars]

Oh! Now you will have to refer to it as "my black paint Leica M4-2". Don't worry, everyone will be jealous. Beautiful Leica.

 

[Deleted member 65559]

Black chrome.....

 

[mward]

Black paint black chrome... I know the purists care but I don't... yet.

 

[madNbad]

What lens are you going to use? Nice find BTW.

 

[Steve M.]

All you need to know is that it's just a box to hold your film in (and you won't need to know the zone system w/ 35mm film).

 

[mward]

Right now it's got a Jupiter-12 on it. I can't afford any fancy Leica glass right now, but I'm thinking a Voightlander Color Skopar 35mm to start. I shoot mostly black and white and 35mm is about my favorite focal length.

 

[madNbad]

The Color Skopar is a good choice and a really fine lens. The Zeiss 35 2.8 Biogon ZM is a little more money but they often show up second hand in good condition for a fair price.

 

[mward]

This Jupiter 12 is a copy of a Biogon. I need to print some stuff from it to see if it's actually good, but so far the negs look alright.

 

[Bill Blackwell]

Well here it is. I took it over to my local guy, he checked all the shutter speeds and gave it his seal of approval. It's really clean, I have no idea how a camera from 1978 looks so good, it must have spent its life in a box.

Did you clone out the serial number?

 

[Richard G]

An M4 owner should know that the only thing an M4-2 owner is missing is the self-timer. My Canadian M4-2 and tabbed version 4 Summicron 50 replaced a stolen M4. I loved the M4-2. Black camera and black lens a lighter package and took some heavy treatment and gave me some of my best shots. Enjoy it.

 

[iphoenix]

.......(from Mr. Hicks): if you have a chrome body, you can scribble your film info on the bottom plate with a pencil to make up for the Leica's lack of film window.

You can also get some appropriately sized "peel-easy" price stickers and write on them. At the end of the roll they can be transferred from the camera to the film cassette if the info. is needed for processing.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

If you want Leica lenses it makes sense to ignore the f/1's and f/2's and look instead at the f/2.8's. The Summaron 35mm f/2.8 is a good starting point for a lot of people and some never move on as it's a great lens.

BTW, I like the Jupiter-8 but it needs an adapter and will start you off on another wild goose chase.

Anyway, have fun.

Regards, David

 

[leicapixie]

Congratulations and a long friendship with many exposed memories.
The M4-2 a great camera, like all Leica-M's.
Lenses are easy, think of previous experiences.
The 50mm or 35mm Summicron are superb.
Most prefer the 35mm with largest frame..
My preference always the 50mm.
Learn to check a lens BUT preferably buy with warranty and return policy..
Loading contrary to internet is easy. The Easiest camera to load.
Get lens soonest and send film thru!
Again all the best!

 

[Erik van Straten]

M4-2's can have problems. The early series are to be avoided. What is the serial number?

They were made in Canada on new machines. These machines were not set up properly.

Erik.

 

[Jerevan]

An M4-2 with a Skopar 35/2.5 would be a great future package - then just get going with a bunch of film and see if you like the Leica M style.

And if you can stay away from the Leica lens Kool-Aid, you will have more money for film.

 

[mward]

Yes, I cloned out the serial. It's a 150xxxx, later in the run right before the m4-p but not so late that it has the m4-p stuff on it.

I was bummed to find out that my Serenar 80 and 135 won't work on this body. The rangefinder arm is in just the wrong spot. From my google-fu it appears this is a common problem and nobody has a solution for it.

 

[Erik van Straten]

Could be that this is one of the problems. The man who told me about those problems, an old Leica-employee and repairman, died a few months ago, so ...

It is not from the first batch. M4-2 starts at 1480001.

Erik.