Camera Geekery: The Leica M4-P
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- Опубліковано 14 січ 2021
- Presenting the Leica M4-P.
This time around we are looking at the camera that holds a strange place in Leica lore. The M4-P was known as one of the budget Leica’s (the other being the M4-2) and was a bare bones camera made in not in Germany, but Canada, eh.
#LeicaM4P #Leicafilmcamera
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That silver M4-p is a lot rare compared with the black chrome versions
Canada and Portugal saved leica, those criticizing are those who are making crap images on 10K equipment.
I love my M4-P. Many of the workmen in the Canadian Leica plant were immigrant Germans many of whom had worked for Leica. All were expert, trained, talented Leica people. So, the idea that is was a lesser camera because it was Canadian built is pure bunk. However, that is good for those who want a Leica as the collectors don't steal cameras to put on shelves and use them as investments. As you said, it is a M6 without meter. It truly did save the M style.
Purists step aside. At least my brass top M4-P won't disintegrate when the zinc starts to rot like on the m6 ;)
Kimonos and masks, what a surreal set of images! Thanks for another solid one, Bellamy.
Glad you like them!
Gotta say I love the m4-2; a perfect entry for those looking to get into the M system. and those voigtlander meters are really nice to use as well!
Couldn't agree more
that is my exact setup, 100% agreed
But let's be honest, we LOVE how the meter lights are the opposite way round to our other Ms right?
I love the M4-P. I bought mine from JCH (a wonderful experience) and haven't looked back.
Great to hear!
Bought one of these earlier this year and am enjoying it so much. In the UK it's about £1000 cheaper than the M6 - the way I look at it, I paid myself £1k to learn sunny 16/occasionally meter with my phone app. It works like a charm, and has no 1980s electronics that will eventually break!
Sold my M4-P a year ago. Solid build. Beautifil camera. Funny how the Leica snobs look down on it, yet any other (dash)-P camera commands a premium. Idiotic. The M4-P was the mother of the adored M6. Oh well, the Leicaphile can always pickup a brand new Leica M-A Type 127 for $5195 if $2500 isn't posh enough for a used M4-P. They'll probably put a TT Artisans lens on it anyway...
JCH: reviews a camera...
The camera: *Prices goes up.*
Being a Canadian I would love to own one of these Canadian Leicas!
Paired with Canadian glass, it really is all it’s cracked up to be. Keep looking!
The Leica warranty at the time was second to none. They truly stood behind the product 110%.
I came home today after shooting with my Carl Zeiss Planar 50/1.4 (on my Contax Aria) and then I found this. Great lens and so interesting to see it on a M4-P...:)
I would love to see Camera Geekery on Leica M5 also! ❤
Nice one !!! Loved every minute of it..!!
BH re ran your interview from a few years ago on their Podcast it’s still the best!
I picked up an M4-P (my first leica) shortly after watching this video. I found a fairly reasonable priced one one and jumped on it. Turns out it's one of the last 1000 M4-Ps that were produced (also apparently assembled in Germany, but stamped with made in Canada). Looked up the serial number on Camera Quest.
It has an M6 style zinc top plate, flush windows, single flash sync port and those plastic bumper things that protect the body from strap friction. Technically it's a rare camera, but I don't believe it's more valuable than any other M4-P.
Such a joy to use this camera. Thank you for making this video 😊👍🏾
I love my black M4-P, great review
Been planning to get my hands on one of these for the past year. Just haven't gotten around to convincing myself to swap back to 35 from 120. Mouth wateringly beautiful camera nonetheless. Cheers to another great video.
I love the M4-P that I purchased from you, it is in perfect condition and it is a camera I use often. I also have a fondness for Zeiss glass and what was on the M4-P that I was shooting with this morning.
The snark is amazing! Love your informative content!
Thanks so much!
Great video, as always. Thanks for your honest take on the Leica culture!
Thanks for watching!
I love my M4-p. I bought it on eBay 7 years ago for $500, now they’re going for $2000+ and you can only find them in Japan 😂
I love the M4-P absolut great camera! Like you said it's basically a M6 without a light meter.
More camera geekery!
Very happy to have picked up a brass M4-P last year. I'm happy to let M6 shooters keep their zinc.
Good choice
I love my M4-2 its really amazing
I'm happy to own a good M4-2, as well as an M5. If it's underrated, it's a great user IMO. And I like that the one says "Canada" on the back. Mandler deserves a lot of credit for saving the M series by moving it's production to Midland Ontario, without which it might have died in the '70s.
I enjoy my M4-2, does exactly what I need and allows me to have a bit more cash for glass
Excellent review!
Thank you kindly!
You are totally right, this is by no means a lesser Leica. I would love to add it to my series of M cameras.
Were a built-in light meter not one of my requirements, I'd happily own a M4-P. (I'd be more drawn to the M4-P than the M3, M2, or the M-A for example.) I bought my M6 TTL new over 20 years ago as that was the M camera Leica had on offer at the time. Now I wouldn't swap it for any other Leica M as it's been "my camera" for such a long time. I'm sure I'd feel the same way about the M4-P had I been using one for as long as my M6. While the camera body used has the biggest impact on the user experience, it is the lenses used that have the biggest impact on the final results (aside from the photographers skill).
The price of this camera has shot up in the past six months. Should have known this would happen.
Only one I could afford but worked flawlessly.
Great video! What light meter is that you have with the M4-P?
I always love a good Leica Video. 👍
Glad to hear that!
Leica M4 P is a great camera, very sturdy and reliable. Fortunately snobbish people never liked it and made of this camera the ideal entering point into Leica M system.
Totally agree
Their loss, our gain. I personally thank their snobbery for the availability of the M5 in the market, and partly also of Japanese Leica fans, who seem to love the M5 since it has SLR usability in a rangefinder body. As with the M4-P and M4-2, they're amazing bodies too: all the Leica M goodness for the relatively less price.
I’ve got an unopened, box-fully-sealed, black M4-P. Bought it a few years ago. I’m afraid to open it for fear of finding a brick inside and being ripped off. Unboxing will happen... one day. Great video, mate.
Wack
Wow really love your content this is amazing. What is your preferred camera you use for filmmaking, I'd love to have a conversation and maybe even collaborate on different methods in telling stories through film!
Stunning lens
Agreed!
Great videos of late JCH! is that lens a converted CY mount zeiss lens?
haha you answered this later in the video :) All good :) Those lenses are awesome!
My favorite Leica M body. I really regret selling mine years ago.
that Nikon deskmat is rad
Uhhhh how about the Zeiss 50/1.4 Planar in M Mount?! 🤯
I have an MP, simply because it has a coupled light meter. An M4-p would have been fine if it had a light meter. Based on experience, never an electronic Leica for me anymore. And don’t forget that the wonderful shutter is old fashioned. A max of 1/1000, which is probably about 1/750, and a flash sync that dates from the 60’s. I love my MP, but realize that it is a camera with lots of limitations.
As a Canadian I would like to know more about Canada’s history with Leica. Which I could obviously research myself but perhaps in the future a video about that would be neat! I know Leica made gun cameras for Canadian jets, I’m assuming Cold War era, I can’t remember exactly but I saw one for sale at a camera shop in Ottawa.
They also made the noctilux at the Midland plant. After it was bought by Raytheon, they still continued to make that lens.
Nice & Thanks :)
Welcome!
Thanks for the video! What film did you use?
Kodak Gold 200.
Can you do the Canon l1?
I bought my M4-P in 1989 from a Leica employee. I actually wanted to buy an R lens from him, but then I saw the M4-P, which he also wanted to sell. I had never held an M-Camera before. I was thrilled and bought the camera. At that time nobody was actually interested in the M.
How do you spell the name of the lens you have on it?
The moment I start thinking 'that looks just like my M6, but...' I hear the words "And if you are sitting here, watching this video, with your M6 in your hands..." =/
By the way, I use your film holders every day and have been using them for years. Love them.
Thank you!
Amazing show! Love Tokyo and thanks for sharing the 成人式
My M4-P winds smoother than my M4. And my favorite metered M is an M5 that I used to have (yes, I've had an M6 and M7 as well). Suffice to say, I'm not that 'popular' in Leicaphile gatherings. Oh wait, I don't even go to those things.
Nice review… I like the M4-P, but I already have an M4. But, that’s not what I would like to hear…I would like to address the unseen elephant in the room, so here goes. How does that Zeiss lens compare to the current Leica Summilux f1.4 ASPH Apochromatic?
There’s no such thing as a Leica summilux f1.4 APO chromatic. The only 35 mm APO is a summicron f2 and the 35 mm APO Lanthar from Voigtlander
@@ofeykalakar1 Actually, I was referring to the 50mm Summilux.
Canadians rise up! 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 (M4-2 prototype here)
Thanks buddy
Been keeping my eye on buying one of these and prices have just shot up
Well they won't get any cheaper that's for sure. I'd say consider this an investment if you really want to grab one.
what are they up to now? where u looking Greed bay?
I remember deciding between M Cameras and which to get, only a short few years ago - I thought, why get the M6 for £600 when I can buy (my now) M3 for £399? M4P were readily available for £400 also. I wish I had stocked up.
@@SAGGING_GUT As long as they're NOT over $1k.. I'm good.
@@SAGGING_GUT ahhh …. The good old days ….
I have that same lens on my 'Saved-From-A -Dump CONTAX RTS II Quartz - really I see it no better than the 50mm f1.4 SMC Takumar on my Asahi Pentax Spotmatic OR the 50mm f1.4 Zuiko on my OM-2n
My leica m6 is the same as this m4-p?!
*how dare you entertain me with truths* !
even worse, your M6 is zinc
@@ZacharySilvey Whoa Whoa Whoa....slow down there mate, your starting to sound like abit of a snob............considering you own a M4-P 😜.
All jokes aside you made a good choice, I would have bought a M4-P but where I am at they are rare you find for sale, So I settled for a mint condition black chrome M6 that the previous owner bought to try out film but didn't use for only a couple hundred more than what people were asking for their M4-P, and have not looked back since.The in built light meter comes in more handy than you think especially in dark areas and the additional benefit of wasting a shot if you forgot to remove the lens cap 😂. Added benefit is now the prices for it jumped again so I can sell it for 1000 plus more than what I paid for it if I decided to sell it.
@@kyledrysdale6553 M6 is a great camera, I probably would have gone that way too. Why own a Leica if you can't be a little bit of a snob about it.
The M4-P might very well of saved Leica. The M5 didn’t sell very well. A German Millwright in Guelph Ontario told me that. I think he might worked in the Midland factory. Seems Leica was at low point when this product took started selling. Rumours! Love them..
My meter stopped working on the M6 so I have an M4 now 😂
The lenses is much more interesting than the M4-P
There nothing budget with Leica M4-P it is not a budget of any other Leica it is a successor of the M4-2. I will not choose any newer Leica camera then the Leica M4-P which was the last of the Leitz era. For use it does not matter if a Leica product are made/assembled in Germany, Canada or Portugal, it is the same quality, it is only for posh collectors for whom it matters which country the Leica are marked with. The shift from when the company was named Leitz Wetzlar to Leica then the overall quality was lowered...
Jedi
Leica M5 Review?
What could be better for offending Germanic camera snobs than a Canadian-made Leica with a Japanese (Kyocera) Zeiss lens? Especially when they work just as well as the genuine Aryan articles?
I had an M4-P when I was a newspaper shooter (Leica Ms were the only cameras allowed in my state's courtrooms) and quite liked it except for the hit-or-miss "rapid load" system... It loaded rapidly when it loaded at all, but it simply wouldn't take up if the film was too cold, or too warm, or too curly, or too flat, or you didn't hold your mouth right, or Mercury was in retrograde...
Question about the Planar: Does it intrude in the viewfinder more than a skookum RF lens?
Skookum??? Ave fan I assume?
One of my m4-2 fell off the tripod, about 5.5 feet high. It still works. People tend to hate on these "budget" Leicas but I still think that they are well built. Say no to Leica snobs.
*sneers in m5 anniversary edition*
No lightmeter ?
No problom at all.
Hasselblad and Linhof have no lightmeters.
"Sunny Sixteen" is the worst methode to find the right exposure.
The photographer has to take account the month, the hour,
the place on earth etc. when he wants to know the amount of light
before he makes a photo.
AGFA-Berlin had for sale an exposure calculator in 1920; made of
carton with two rulers and fine tuned.
Read the TEN COMMANDMENTS for the Leica photographer:
1. Use a decent lightmeter; powered by selenium cell or battery,
2. Never use a phone to measure the amount of light.
3. Forget the rule of Sunny Sixteen.
4. Do not covet high film speeds over 400 ISO.
5. Respect the grain of films.
6. Fast lenses over f/2 are a waste.
7. Rely on a tripod and a cable release
8. Develop your films yourself in Rodinal 1 : 50.
9. Read an old book on Leica photography, published before 1970.
10. Do not watch You Tube reviews on Leica cameras.
Jaco van Lith, Rotterdam The Netherlands AD2022
Good info, but why the Leica ‘snob’ bashing. You sound class-ist. Also, do you have any facts to back up that this is as well constructed as the earlier Leicas, e.g. M4 or M2?
Haha is the M5 the only non-leica-wankerish Leica M body?
Could anybody explain to me why would you buy so expensive camera without light meter?? Yeah it’s top quality, like Swiss watch, but there are tons of cameras that are excellent quality, have meter and are much cheaper.
Well, not everybody wants to use a light meter or they simply don't need it as they have an external one
@@bananaman1394 that doesn't even make any sense, lol.
so what you are saying is, that people love to pay more for less?
for real though, my Nikon FM is in mint condition and paired with the outstanding 85mm 1.4 AiS, which cost a fraction of these overhyped Leicas.
it has lightmeter and works perfect. fully manual, no electronics.
if i dont want a lightmeter i can just take the battery out, lol.
@@topperharley7142 this is the comment of someone who hasn't shot with a Leica
@@xMitchyMx true, and i don't care to. you can keep your overpriced cameras. lol.
in the end, it only takes photos like every other 35mm film camera does.
@@topperharley7142 how can you call a camera overhyped when you've never used it?
Scans are kind of terrible :/
Oh, I am sorry, let me just whip out my Frontier....
@@japancamerahunter I'm sure there is perfectly good and cheap lab scan in the neighborhood, just no point in showing beautiful gear when final result if off. But tank you for great videos and info!
@@ivorglavas6054 No, there isn't. The lab scans here are absolutely awful.
Thats what we need; a black t-shirt with a big red dot and "leica wanker" scrawled across it in the Leica script...
"...and that's how I ended up in court."
To be honest: I would love one of these cameras.
Basicly not brass ;/
Actually, this one is brass. The cameras with the recessed finder window were brass.
Kool camera, but the lens is just Meh