Leica M4-P eyepiece, is it misaligned horizontally?

[kexari]

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Hey, I recently picked up a mint condition Leica M4-P. Inspected the body and it's pretty close to flawless and no large dings or dents. However the eyepiece seems like it's not centered properly horizontally. It this normal or is this a problem with my camera that needs to be fixed? Hoping someone can help me with this!

Thanks

 

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Edited November 5, 2024 by kexari

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On mine it is slightly up and to the left, like yours, but not as much but may simply be your view not being absolutely on centre when you photographed it.

[hansvons]

Heavily used from a recent trip and still needs to be cleaned. But my M4P show the same "issue". The eyepiece is by design decentred.

 

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[kexari]

6 hours ago, hansvons said:

Heavily used from a recent trip and still needs to be cleaned. But my M4P show the same "issue". The eyepiece is by design decentred.

@hansvons thanks for your reply. Indeed yours looks exactly the same as mine. I was worried that the screws for the viewfinder aperture/frame found under the top plate were loose or something.  Any idea why it's by design decentred?

Edited November 6, 2024 by kexari

[hansvons]

3 hours ago, kexari said:

Any idea why it's by design decentred?

No idea. But as usual with Leica, this will be a conscious design choice for better ergonomics. After hundreds of rolls, I still remain amazed by how well-designed and robustly built my Ms are, despite the old-fashioned, non-modern, slightly steam-punkish design. Dieter Rams had given them a polished, modernistic, less 50ies style. But Leica sticked to their way of doing things, and the test of time proved them right. 

[AndreasG]

Same with my M4-P, however, misalignment is a little less.

[lexffm]

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vor 15 Stunden schrieb kexari:

Hey, I recently picked up a mint condition Leica M4-P. Inspected the body and it's pretty close to flawless and no large dings or dents. However the eyepiece seems like it's not centered properly horizontally. It this normal or is this a problem with my camera that needs to be fixed? Hoping someone can help me with this!

Thanks

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Hello Kexari,

I've had a look online to see where some are for sale. It really seems to be an issue. Sometimes offset to the left, sometimes to the right. But also in the middle. Unfortunately, I handed mine in to Customer Care in Wetzlar yesterday, so I can't say anything about it at the moment. But one question, have you taken photos with it yet? My M 4-P special model 1913-1983 works in principle even though no film has ever been made with it and it's been in the box in the cupboard for about 40 years. I made a test film and noticed that at first the display on the right with the image number wasn't working properly, but then the second time I opened it, it worked again without any problems. What has remained, and that's why it's now in service, is that shutter speeds from 1/30 and below don't work, shorter ones are no problem. Also, the viewfinder is a bit blind. Nevertheless, I'm delighted that it works so easily after 40 years without any "serious" problems...

Are you having problems with your camera body?

[kexari]

33 minutes ago, AndreasG said:

Same with my M4-P, however, misalignment is a little less.

If they are all misaligned differently I'm not sure how it would be a design choice 🤔. Maybe loose screws somewhere?

[kexari]

5 minutes ago, lexffm said:

Hello Kexari,

I've had a look online to see where some are for sale. It really seems to be an issue. Sometimes offset to the left, sometimes to the right. But also in the middle. Unfortunately, I handed mine in to Customer Care in Wetzlar yesterday, so I can't say anything about it at the moment. But one question, have you taken photos with it yet? My M 4-P special model 1913-1983 works in principle even though no film has ever been made with it and it's been in the box in the cupboard for about 40 years. I made a test film and noticed that at first the display on the right with the image number wasn't working properly, but then the second time I opened it, it worked again without any problems. What has remained, and that's why it's now in service, is that shutter speeds from 1/30 and below don't work, shorter ones are no problem. Also, the viewfinder is a bit blind. Nevertheless, I'm delighted that it works so easily after 40 years without any "serious" problems...

Are you having problems with your camera body?

Hey, yeah I also saw images on eBay and some of them were misaligned. I'm just putting my first roll of film through the camera now. Viewfinder is crystal clear. Body looks like new. I've tested shutter speeds and it seems fine so fingers crossed 🤞