The Leica M4-P; it's great!

[Oldlugger]

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I've just purchased my first Leica (the M4-P) and now I know, in part, why Leica is such a sort after camera. The build quality is fantastic and the camera is so compact and heavy. I've not used the camera yet but even at this early stage I can see what everyone raves on about with respect to Leica. I bought it off Ebay and it is in excellent boxed condition with all its original paperwork and instructions. I love the sound of the shutter! Anyway it would be interesting to hear of others experiences with this camera which might help me, or other novice Leica users to get the best from it. I ought to point out that I'm an experienced 35mm film user, but via Nikon (F4s) and Canon (F1N) cameras, but rangefinders are a totally new field for me.

 

Cheers

Simon

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[noah_addis]

Congratulations!

 

The best advice is to just get out there and shoot. Rangefinders are different from SLRs, and some people need some time to get used to them while others pick it up almost instinctively.

 

I don't have an M4P, just M6s and MPs. But they all are wonderful cameras and meant to be used.

 

Be sure to post some photos:D

[earleygallery]

Agree, get out and use it! Get used to the feel of the camera and the controls.

 

A big difference IMHO is that one needs to be able to visualise an image more so when shooting with a rangefinder than an SLR - there's no depth of field preview or through the lens viewing to judge the optical effects of different lenses such as wide angle distortion.

 

One tip re. focussing is to always return the lens to the infinity focus point, then when you bring the camera up to your eye you will always turn the focus ring one way, and experiment with zone focussing if using wider lenses stopped down.

 

Good luck!