The Marks of a Leica That Has Not Been Used as a Fashion Accessory

Pablito said:
Leisure or hobby camera owners can certainly use those things if it pleases them. Even get fine Corinthian Leather ones if they like or fancy Italian ones :D

But if you are working under pressure you don't want any extra gadgets. Not only do you not want to waste those extra seconds, but you don't want another THING interfering with the workflow. The never-ready case adds NOTHING to your ability to make pictures. :eek:
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Well then you probably shouldn't be using a Leica in the first place. :angel: You've gotta open the camera twice just to load film!
 
There are some photographers who can cover a war and come back with a camera that looks as if they have just been for a walk around the block, and those who can go for a walk around the block and come back with a camera that looks as if they have just been covering a war. False pride in either approach is a sign of feeble-mindedness. I try to take care of my cameras, but hell, they get used, so some wear and tear is inevitable.

As for the 'half case' idea, I've NEVER seen why anyone wants to add pointless bulk and weight to their Leica, and slow down loading. Purely as a matter of interest, tunalegs, WHY do you have to open your camera twice to load a film? Once suffices for me. And what 'should' I be using if not a Leica? I've never shot 'hard' news but I've done a lot of 'feature' photography, and I see no problems whatsoever with Leicas.

Cheers,

R.
 
Roger Hicks said:
Purely as a matter of interest, tunalegs, WHY do you have to open your camera twice to load a film? Once suffices for me.
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I was making a joke about Leica having a removable bottom and an opening back. :) If every second counts in loading, surely there are quicker cameras to load than a Leica.
 
tunalegs said:
I was making a joke about Leica having a removable bottom and an opening back. :) If every second counts in loading, surely there are quicker cameras to load than a Leica.
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OK, sorry I misunderstood. But as they both open at the same time... Quite honestly, I find that loading ANY film camera securely, and checking that the film is engaged, takes pretty much the same amount of time. It's just practice -- and I've loaded a lot of Leicas for a lot of years.

Cheers,

R.
 
I've put a few teeth marks in Leica baseplates. Like some other photogs, I used to just stick the baseplate in my mouth when running and changing film at the same time. Gave that up when I decided the teeth were harder to replace than a baseplate! :)

You really shouldn't have to remove part of a camera to change the film, arguments for structural integrity notwithstanding.
 
Roger Hicks said:
There are some photographers who can cover a war and come back with a camera that looks as if they have just been for a walk around the block, and those who can go for a walk around the block and come back with a camera that looks as if they have just been covering a war. False pride in either approach is a sign of feeble-mindedness.
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Exactly...
 
He has some good photos, but does not look like he is shooting in especially tough environments.

Although there is that series of a kid's birthday party ...

Randy
 
In the same vein, have a look at Norwegian PJ Paal Audestad - or, more precisely, his M4.

The blog post is in Norwegian, but the photos speak volumes. (Not to mention the list (in English, quoted below) of items which, according to Leica, needed to be looked into when the camera was last serviced)

http://www.blender8.com/forsiden/tag/m4

General condition of product:

strong traces of using

impact damage

vulcanite leatherette damaged



Neccessary labour:

exchange rewind knob

exchange range finder

adjust winding mechanism

lean and relubr. shutter

clean shutter mechanism

adjust shutter brake

adjust shutter

adjust shutter

adjust film rewinding

adjust friction / winding

adjust autocollimation

clean viewfinder optic

replace window

adjust range finder

clean range finder

clean viewfinder optic as far as possibl

adjustment of all parts
 
My M2 from 1957, once owned by a Magnum photographer.

Erik.

3754029363_4c4e730cfc_z.jpg
 
zauhar said:
He has some good photos, but does not look like he is shooting in especially tough environments.

Although there is that series of a kid's birthday party ...

Randy
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Obviously you haven't been to Eugene - those empty suburban driveways can turn to killing fields in the blink of an eye. No time to baby a jewelry camera in those situations. I shudder to think what his Instax looks like...
 
OddE said:
In the same vein, have a look at Norwegian PJ Paal Audestad - or, more precisely, his M4.

The blog post is in Norwegian, but the photos speak volumes. (Not to mention the list (in English, quoted below) of items which, according to Leica, needed to be looked into when the camera was last serviced)

http://www.blender8.com/forsiden/tag/m4

General condition of product:

strong traces of using

impact damage

vulcanite leatherette damaged



Neccessary labour:

exchange rewind knob

exchange range finder

adjust winding mechanism

lean and relubr. shutter

clean shutter mechanism

adjust shutter brake

adjust shutter

adjust shutter

adjust film rewinding

adjust friction / winding

adjust autocollimation

clean viewfinder optic

replace window

adjust range finder

clean range finder

clean viewfinder optic as far as possibl

adjustment of all parts
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Coincidentally the only part that was not worn was the tripod mount. Ref: The camera that started this discussion
 
I am a fan of DDD, I have several of his books, yankee nomad, Kremlin,The one about 1968 elections ( i forgot the name) several picasso books etc. In kremlin book he told what his equipment was: Three MD ( leicavit MP) bodies, Canon 50mm 1,2, Nikkor 35mm 1,8 -Biogon 21mm 4,5 not a single leitz glass. His MD`s were assembled by Ernst Leitz Jr personally.- Still it feels bad someone put the MD in auction. Hope nobody puts his black MB Gullwing in auction too...
Little OT: I remember the quarrell DDD had with HBC in a Paris cafe´ DDD accused HCB of losing a whole generation of young photographers by demanding them to wait for "the decisive moment" when the history actually was rushing past them...So true, so true !
DDD would not miss it, he had rapidwinders...
 
Still ticking

Still ticking

Reminds me of one of Stevie Ray Vaughn's Stratocasters. People pay big money for brand new reliced or distressed Fenders and Gibsons. Who knows maybe Leica is missing the boat. They could age and brass the exterior of brand new M's and people would pay more because their camera looked cool and broken in. Then you would not need to worry about a scratch, you can just take pictures.
 
palmerfralick said:
Reminds me of one of Stevie Ray Vaughn's Stratocasters. People pay big money for brand new reliced or distressed Fenders and Gibsons. Who knows maybe Leica is missing the boat. They could age and brass the exterior of brand new M's and people would pay more because their camera looked cool and broken in. Then you would not need to worry about a scratch, you can just take pictures.
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I did just that on my M8 and people said i am an idiot and madman. I think otherwise: Just have a lens cap and protective plastic on the rear screen and I am ready to go with it along with my battered up M analogs:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40146285@N08/7935518772/in/set-72157621929203790
 
I'm not a fan of never ready cases, but they can add something to your ability to take photos if they protect the camera from suffering debilitating injury. I assume that was the reason why Capa, Rodger, etc. used them.

Pablito said:
Leisure or hobby camera owners can certainly use those things if it pleases them. Even get fine Corinthian Leather ones if they like or fancy Italian ones :D

But if you are working under pressure you don't want any extra gadgets. Not only do you not want to waste those extra seconds, but you don't want another THING interfering with the workflow. The never-ready case adds NOTHING to your ability to make pictures. :eek:
Click to expand...
 
palmerfralick said:
Reminds me of one of Stevie Ray Vaughn's Stratocasters. People pay big money for brand new reliced or distressed Fenders and Gibsons. Who knows maybe Leica is missing the boat. They could age and brass the exterior of brand new M's and people would pay more because their camera looked cool and broken in. Then you would not need to worry about a scratch, you can just take pictures.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I was thinking as I read through this thread. I now await the countless eBay listings with

L@@K!! LEICA M@J@!!!!!

in the header.
 
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