I love my… I love my M4-P !!

[a.noctilux]

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23 hours ago, 69xchange said:

Is it only my m4-P or does anyone else’s M4-P have weak contrast in their rangefinder patches? 

Weaker contrast than my MP/M-A VF.

Older M could benefit from cleaning the VF/RF path from time to time.

Maybe CLA can  help.

Some dust can lower contrast in VF

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[69xchange]

Contributing to this thread. Gloss black repaint M4-P anniversary edition

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[Life By Stills]

I no longer have an M4-P, but you know that saying - "you'll never forget your first". The M4-P was my first Leica M, and then I added digital Ms to that after I fell in love with the shooting experience of the M system. Having said that, I have since got rid of all my modern M kit, and the M4-P, as I wanted to get the Q3, and focus on only vintage / vintage look for M. I swapped out my M4-P for an M3 which the lovely engineers at Wetzlar had reskinned, rebuilt, and also upgraded it with the M-P's rangefinder.

Although the M3's movement is a lot smoother than what I remember of the M4-P, I actually loved that camera. If it weren't for me seeing this unique M3, I probably would have just stuck with the M4-P. There's something to be said about the speedloading in that M4-P which I have lost now with my M3. Haha.

[Börje Norhager]

Am 7.8.2008 um 10:31 schrieb Gast maddoc2003jp:

 

You should get yourself another one !

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http://www.pbase.com/gsamj/image/101318676.jpg

 

 

(M4-P + Noctilux / Tri-X)

Black chrome, Tri-X and Miles Davies is all I need…

[edstock]

My M4-P is a pleasure. Film advance is smooth, rewind is fast, and the build is solid, of course, it's a Leica.

[lincoln_m]

Can we talk about:  Leica M4-P in "Midnight Meat Train" ( Rated 18 or R) film staring Bradley Cooper.

Apologies in advance if that movie has been mentioned before on this long thread, I admit I haven't read all the posts. It's always fun to see Leica camera's used in films.

I just saw "MMT" on Amazon Prime Video Free with Ads. Basically Bradley plays a New York Photographer trying to get a break by trying different city/night photography styles and stumbles on the Vinnie Jones butcher character because he seems odd/interesting. Vinnie butchers meat in a factory during the day and butchers people on the last train at night for unknown reasons. He doesn't get his suit covered in any blood yet the train carriage is swimming in it?

The first 60% of the film is about Bradley doing nighttime street photography while Vinnie is doing the gory midnight murders that Bradley doesn't see, but the last 40% is all about the blood and gore, so no Leica photography in the last part of the movie because his M4-P was taken by Vinnie's butcher character. Vinnie plays his usual mute villain acting with only facial expressions and fists, so less words and more violence than in, Gone in 60 seconds, or Snatch.

Bradley seems to know his way around the M4-P, at one point in a train station he pretends to have a Leicavit on the M4-P with 50mm F2, by "rapid winding" with his left hand while firing the shutter with his right in an attempt to get the attention of 3 hoodlums attempting to attack a woman. The woman turns out to be a model that ends up missing because she got on the Meat Train after Bradley scared away the hoodlums showing them they were being recorded on CCTV. Bradley seems to handle the Leica well and caries it with the neck strap wrapped around his wrist so the camera is in his hand ready to shoot. The framelines shown seem to be the 50mm & 75mm but somehow he captures what must be the 28mm field of view. They always get the tramlines wrong in movies. The M3 mil spec camera in Kong Skull Island is a classic example of wrong framelines. DeNero's R4 or R6 in Ronin is another.

Other notable Leica Street Photography scenes are when Bradley follows Vinnie to his Meat Factory butcher day job. Bradley goes twice to the Meat Factory and takes some nice covert shots.

The film's colour palette is itself almost monochrome with a cold silver/blue in the Meat Factory and on the train, the blood appears almost black. While the train stations and night scenes are normal black/white.

The Leica M4-P has several scenes but so does Vinnie's meat hammer. I would have preferred more photography and less gore to be honest with it being more about Bradley's photographer character getting a good gallery show and developing his style.

Although I don't have an M4 camera I do have an M2, manual shutter release only (1/60, 1/125) M7, and MP, so this thread and that film have inspired me to continue with B&W film photography along with my M10.

Your M4-P black chromes look great in this thread.

Lincoln

[MarkP]

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On 6/30/2023 at 7:41 AM, Life By Stills said:

I no longer have an M4-P, but you know that saying - "you'll never forget your first". The M4-P was my first Leica M, and then I added digital Ms to that after I fell in love with the shooting experience of the M system. Having said that, I have since got rid of all my modern M kit, and the M4-P, as I wanted to get the Q3, and focus on only vintage / vintage look for M. I swapped out my M4-P for an M3 which the lovely engineers at Wetzlar had reskinned, rebuilt, and also upgraded it with the M-P's rangefinder.

Although the M3's movement is a lot smoother than what I remember of the M4-P, I actually loved that camera. If it weren't for me seeing this unique M3, I probably would have just stuck with the M4-P. There's something to be said about the speedloading in that M4-P which I have lost now with my M3. Haha.

I didn’t know Leica were still servicing M3s and that they would upgrade the rangefinder. I thought it was all done by independent repairers.

Edited July 24, 2023 by MarkP

[nodrog]

This is my M4-P. Bought at R.G. Lewis in London in 1995. Served me well until the digicams came along. It really needs some TLC, as the shutter button is starting to stick, and the overall condition is a bit meh. I will probably never sell it, though, since it was my first M. It cost £490, as far I can recall, while the 35 Summicron IV, bought new, cost around £980. The lens is still going strong on my M10 Mono and M10R. 

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Edited July 24, 2023 by nodrog

[Tom R]

I have owned and used 2 M4-P's for over twenty-five years. These are decent cameras--pretty dependable, have both a hot-shoe and pc plugs supporting many "modern" speed lights, etc. The finder is a little cluttered, but it does support 28 through 90mm lenses.

I have had one of these in repair for some time: subsequent to a CLA done in March of this year, it developed this nasty habit of occasionally skipping entire frames. I had the small curtain replaced, but to no avail. It could be an adjustment issue or perhaps something more serious. It's a good thing that I another M4-P as well as an M4 because I regularly use two different films on a weekly basis and having three bodies provided some cushion.  

Previous to owning these M4-P bodies, I had both an M2 and an M3. I gave the M2 to one of my nieces who is making pictures now in Germany. I regrettably sold the M3 for cash years ago ... I think to purchase a 28mm lens? One big difference between the M2 (and the M3) and the M4's that I currently own is neither the M2 nor the M3 EVER scratched film. Someone recently proposed a trade and small cash for an M6 ... why? I have good hand-held meters and I am loathe to own another Leica M4 or greater that apparently has a proneness for scratching film--which costs some time in post processing.

[Life By Stills]

On 7/24/2023 at 1:33 PM, MarkP said:

I didn’t know Leica were still servicing M3s and that they would upgrade the rangefinder. I thought it was all done by independent repairers.

I'm not sure what the status of serving M3 is, but it might be an inside job as it was done to be sold by Leica Classic which is where I bought it from.

[Ouroboros]

Heading south for a couple of weeks, stopped off at Ffordes to buy a VM Nokton 35mm  f1.4 sc ii and saw this rather nice M4-P sitting in the used cabinet with my name on it!

A green leather half case, 5 x 36 exp rolls of HP5+ and a used A&A leather wrist strap were also included.  
 

I always thought camera half cases are for girls, but it’s nicely made and a good fit so I might keep it. 🥴😁

Curious to know if anyone here has previously owned the camera, s/n 1548021.  If so, thanks for preserving it in such good condition 
 

Brass top and bottom and recessed ‘windows’ and comes with 6 months warranty.   

It now has the new VM 35mm f1.4 lens attached and a roll of Delta 100 loaded ready for testing it.

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Edited August 4, 2023 by Ouroboros

[hansvons]

2 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

It now has the new VM 35mm f1.4 lens attached and a roll of Delta 100 loaded ready for testing it.

Let us know how you like the Nokton 1,4 SC. Cheers.

2 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

saw this rather nice M4-P sitting in the used cabinet with my name on it!

Congrats. Love the M4-P. Got a similarly preserved copy with the recessed window and the Nokton SC. Daily carry for moody high-speed stocks like Delta 400 or Kodak 5219.

[Ouroboros]

31 minutes ago, hansvons said:

Let us know how you like the Nokton 1,4 SC. Cheers.

Congrats. Love the M4-P. Got a similarly preserved copy with the recessed window and the Nokton SC. Daily carry for moody high-speed stocks like Delta 400 or Kodak 5219.

Thanks.  I already like the lens and haven’t even made an exposure yet!  

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[madNbad]

On 7/24/2023 at 6:29 AM, nodrog said:

This is my M4-P. Bought at R.G. Lewis in London in 1995. Served me well until the digicams came along. It really needs some TLC, as the shutter button is starting to stick, and the overall condition is a bit meh. I will probably never sell it, though, since it was my first M. It cost £490, as far I can recall, while the 35 Summicron IV, bought new, cost around £980. The lens is still going strong on my M10 Mono and M10R. 

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If you decide to send it for service, check with midnight camera repair and inquire about a new flash block. The original ones in the M4-2 and M4-P were made from a plastic that becomes brittle as it age’s making more likely one of the PC sockets could be pulled loose. I just go my M4-2 back from DAG and he installed the new block and it works great.

[Lux50]

Congrats - very nice M4-P, enjoy using it!

[davidmknoble]

On 6/22/2023 at 6:47 AM, a.noctilux said:

Weaker contrast than my MP/M-A VF.

Older M could benefit from cleaning the VF/RF path from time to time.

Maybe CLA can  help.

Some dust can lower contrast in VF

I purchased an M4-P earlier this year that had gone to Wetzlar.  It had a new shutter system which I had to break in and a new viewfinder.  The viewfinder was the MP system - all internal parts replaced.  All that could not be replaced was the outside glass window of the viewfinder because it was a different size.  So, Wetzlar said it would be very contrast but could flare a little easier due to the front glass.  It is great - better than any of the M4’s M3’s I’ve had.  So, it is possible a CLA with the right work done could help.

[bags27]

On 7/24/2023 at 9:49 AM, Tom R said:

I have owned and used 2 M4-P's for over twenty-five years. These are decent cameras--pretty dependable, have both a hot-shoe and pc plugs supporting many "modern" speed lights, etc. The finder is a little cluttered, but it does support 28 through 90mm lenses.

I have had one of these in repair for some time: subsequent to a CLA done in March of this year, it developed this nasty habit of occasionally skipping entire frames. I had the small curtain replaced, but to no avail. It could be an adjustment issue or perhaps something more serious. It's a good thing that I another M4-P as well as an M4 because I regularly use two different films on a weekly basis and having three bodies provided some cushion.  

Previous to owning these M4-P bodies, I had both an M2 and an M3. I gave the M2 to one of my nieces who is making pictures now in Germany. I regrettably sold the M3 for cash years ago ... I think to purchase a 28mm lens? One big difference between the M2 (and the M3) and the M4's that I currently own is neither the M2 nor the M3 EVER scratched film. Someone recently proposed a trade and small cash for an M6 ... why? I have good hand-held meters and I am loathe to own another Leica M4 or greater that apparently has a proneness for scratching film--which costs some time in post processing.

My M4-P stopped shooting 36 frame rolls at around 20 frames. My repairman fixed it along with a complete CLA, reporting the following, that may or not be of help to you:

The winding problem you experienced before was caused by the brass sleeve built into the chassis for the third intermediate gear worn.  The camera winds well without film pressure inside.  With film inside, when goes to high numbers, the film pressure may cause the winding could not finish the entire cycle due to the brass sleeve wear.  The brass sleeve was pressed into the chassis during manufacture, cannot be replaced.  I tried to replace winding main gear and first intermediate gear into new parts, nothing helped.  But I put a 36 roll blank film into the camera, made sure loading film properly, tested the entire roll from the beginning to the end, the camera just worked fine without problem.  So you need to make sure load film properly.  Also in case you experience winding problem, back out the winding lever a little then push forward, this will make the camera winding finish the entire cycle and enable shutter work properly.

 

[69xchange]

5 hours ago, davidmknoble said:

I purchased an M4-P earlier this year that had gone to Wetzlar.  It had a new shutter system which I had to break in and a new viewfinder.  The viewfinder was the MP system - all internal parts replaced.  All that could not be replaced was the outside glass window of the viewfinder because it was a different size.  So, Wetzlar said it would be very contrast but could flare a little easier due to the front glass.  It is great - better than any of the M4’s M3’s I’ve had.  So, it is possible a CLA with the right work done could help.

This is what I’m doing to my m4-p but with 0.58 viewfinder from the MP. How much did your M4-P cost?

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[davidmknoble]

2 hours ago, 69xchange said:

This is what I’m doing to my m4-p but with 0.58 viewfinder from the MP. How much did your M4-P cost?

I don’t remember without finding the receipt, but recollection was about $3k.  Mine is brass top version and Wetzlar did the service.  It looks brand new, vulcanite is perfect.

[Bobonli]

About a month and a half in with this. The only noticeable sign of use is a couple of scratches on the back, probably where it rubbed against last owner's belt buckle. Mechanically it's wonderful. Enjoying how to 'read' the light again without the benefit of a meter. 

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