View Full Version : M4-2! M4-2! M4-2! M4-2!
Nokton48
02-15-2009, 08:32
Noooowwww I've done it..............
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost-classifieds/showproduct.php?product=14553
Always wanted one. Comments?
Great price! I don't know about the winder though, I'd never use one and with the unique covering it doesn't match any other camera. :)
m4-2/m4p with TomA rapidwinder will mostly end your Gas attack for a while.
Wetzlarfan
02-15-2009, 09:31
Great camera, in spite of some bad raps. I've had one since 1982 and it's never failed me. It took great pictures all the way up to the summit of Mt. McKinley (now Denali), unlike an M6 I took on another trip which froze up on me when the temperature was about 10 degrees F.
laptoprob
02-15-2009, 09:46
I have had this camera for some time now and have enjoyed it much. But hey, sitting still is sad. I was pondering on which to let go, the M4-2 or the CLE. The CLE won because of small size and the ease of AE. And I still have the IIf.
The winder is big but I liked it anyway. Especially with the hacked GMP grip on it makes handling a lot better. Nice thing with the winder is you feel the shutter button coming up again.
In about a week you will have it in your hands, Dan.
I bought an M4-2 in the RFF classifieds, partly because I have no need for a meter, but mainly because it's Canadian made and I am very patriotic. I absolutely love it and I have no regrets whatsoever! I hope it helps you sculpt lovely negs for years to come!
Nokton48
02-16-2009, 06:19
Thanks, Rob! Looking forward to receiving it. I think your "hack" to the winder is clever, I like it. I have one of those grips, myself, and I have had to rebuild it, as it had some issues. But it now works well on M5.
I was looking -hard- at the M4, but after reviewing old M4-2 threads here, I think I'd rather have a newer body that takes the winder. I remember handling the -new- M4-2 at a downtown camera store in Denver, Colorado, when I lived there. It was way out of my price range (then), but it isn't now. :)
I have had this camera for some time now and have enjoyed it much. But hey, sitting still is sad. I was pondering on which to let go, the M4-2 or the CLE. The CLE won because of small size and the ease of AE. And I still have the IIf.
The winder is big but I liked it anyway. Especially with the hacked GMP grip on it makes handling a lot better. Nice thing with the winder is you feel the shutter button coming up again.
In about a week you will have it in your hands, Dan.
Nokton48
02-16-2009, 06:22
Great to hear you say that, and Thanks!
I absolutely love it and I have no regrets whatsoever! I hope it helps you sculpt lovely negs for years to come!
visiondr
02-16-2009, 06:43
mine
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3086/2604827022_b61d4ab843_o.jpg
OT: square lens hoods are sexy. wish I could use one, if I weren't using an adapter for my 52mm filters.
SolaresLarrave
02-16-2009, 07:51
It is just like any good ole M6... without the meter. I really like mine. So much I liked it I started a blog, just for the heck of it. You're welcome to peek at it!
Congratulations!
mine
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3086/2604827022_b61d4ab843_o.jpg
does the cool hood fit the first 35mm gen cron? i think i want one like that.
i have been using this one on BOTH lenses and want the cool square one.
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e77/erty0/IMG_1705.jpg
visiondr
02-16-2009, 09:24
so, let's see... the winder used to be mine as did VisionDr's m4-2 (used to be KBG's)
nice
Yeah, thanks for the camera, Blake. It works very well. :D
laptoprob
02-17-2009, 00:05
so, let's see... the winder used to be mine as did VisionDr's m4-2 (used to be KBG's)
nice
Yeah Blake. Getting the knock out of the winder took some investigating but was not that hard after all.
I will probably regret this sale in the future...
I've had two M4-2s, one bought new in 1977 and one bought used in 1996. Loved them both. For a while I used a winder on the 1977 canera, but ultimately found it made the camera too bulky. I share the view that it is a vastly underrated camera, along with the M4-P, which I also had. Now I am using a couple of M6ttls -- I really like having the built-in meter -- but there is nothing wrong with the older ones.
Does it do any harm to fire the camera/winder without film in it? On the web a found a warning regarding that, although it seems odd to me. Any worries with that?
From my own personal experience with cameras, including my M4-2, firing the shutter and playing with the camera without any film in it does not harm the camera. If it does do harm, I'm screwed because I always play around with the camera before buying it to make sure everything performs well.
On a sidenote: I scraped off the white paint from the logos on my M4-2. It wasn't hard to do and I like the plain, low-key look. I've got a picture of it up on my Flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/calexg/3230374576/
From my own personal experience with cameras, including my M4-2, firing the shutter and playing with the camera without any film in it does not harm the camera. If it does do harm, I'm screwed because I always play around with the camera before buying it to make sure everything performs well.
On a sidenote: I scraped off the white paint from the logos on my M4-2. It wasn't hard to do and I like the plain, low-key look. I've got a picture of it up on my Flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/calexg/3230374576/
i got my camera used from a pro, well he used the m4-2 winder a lot.
look at the wear at the contacts. he put several thousand rolls through the thing.
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e77/erty0/m4drive23.jpg
(im stripping the winder down to make a grip)
i got my camera used from a pro, well he used the m4-2 winder a lot.
look at the wear at the contacts. he put several thousand rolls through the thing.
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e77/erty0/m4drive23.jpg
(im stripping the winder down to make a grip)
That is a well used M4-2! The problem with the "big" M4-2/M4-P winder is that it can damage the M4-2's. The early version of the winder was prone to advance before the camera completed the cycle. On the later version Leica made a sightly different drive ( it was designed to absorb and correct for tolerance shifts in the camera body drive). With your winder/camera I suspect that it has done that by brute force!
no its my my 1981 m4-p
the winder was worn out, so much use had the motor's screws coming undone. it was horribly noisy. the motor was barely attached and would flop around inside the case. it was barely functioning, and the outside had lost its covering.
i dont know what version it was but it didnt have that post on top that some had to acivate with the shutter.
laptoprob
02-26-2009, 09:05
Dan, be assured that your winder isn't knocking about anymore. It is as quiet as they can get.
Erik, if it didn't have the post, it was probably the M4-P version. It was a much better design.
I was at Midland when they were working on the design of the winder and I remember discussing it with them. They did admit that the design was not ideal, but as they were farming out the manufacturing to Eumig (remember them!) they were happy to live with the lesser quality and cost.
Over the decades I have had multiples of these winders and they do work. My first ones were M4-2 versions and on my M4-2's they had a tendency to expose a lot of blank frames if you were too quick on the release - it would advance without opening the shutter! The later M4-P/M6 and straight M-Winder designation ones were better. The motor has a lot of torque and you can feel it twisting and turning inside the case like a pulse or a heartbeat.
They were quite handy for aerial work, a M4P, the 75 or 90 and just bang away - sticking the lens out in the slipstream, through the side-window of Cessna 150. Dont use a hood - it will be ripped off! Somewhere over Ontario's escarpment landscape there is a early Noctilux hood for the first version 75f1.4 and also a hood for a 90f2.8 Elmarit!
Nokton48
04-09-2009, 16:21
M4-2 is finally done, the new skins (Charcoal Griptac) arrived today from Morgan Sparks at Cameraleather. He also did some custom-covering on the GMP Grip. Don Goldberg did some tuning-up inside, so she's good to go, for a bit. I'm happy with the result.
Hey, that looks really cool... and nice to handle too!
chrishayton
04-11-2009, 03:35
That looks fantastic, how have you mounted the handgrip?
Might have to get some of the griptac for my m4-p
SolaresLarrave
04-11-2009, 03:37
Congratulations! Nothing beats the feeling of a new toy at home...
I've used a preloved Canadian M4-P for years and it is a really great camera and very sturdy into the bargain.
Enjoy this beautiful camera.
Gary Haigh
Australia
My M4-2 dressed up with its meter which is never used as its clumsy and whats more,broken.Am trying the shutter release to see if I like it.This is actually a golf ball marker,its a bit wide as I keep triggering the shutter when changing speeds so I think its the smaller one for me.I also have a M6 which is fine but I tend to use the m4-2 because of its unfussy framelines for the 50 and 35.............Neil.
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