Tom Burke wrote: If the new "Leica M" book celebrates 70 years of M photography, that must mean that I've had my 50 Years of Leica M book for 20 years. Goodness me—where did they go?
Amen to that. One of the many strange things about our later years, if we are privileged to get to them, is that things that seem recent to us seem long past to "da yout."* My experience of time has changed greatly over the years of my life, which I find very interesting. I remember clearly walking down the hall of my elementary school right after my eighth birthday thinking that it was going to be a very, very long time before I turned nine. By now, I've gotten the knack of passing time—if that isn't too extreme an understatement! The months clip by like weeks used to, and the years like quarter-years. The only thing that went by noticeably too fast when I was a teenager was August.
I don't think I know 50 Years of Leica M (Amazon has one, but only one). As I recall, it was a companion book to another title from Heel Verlag that was more about the Leica M cameras, lenses, and accessories.
I had many Leica books over the years, including a set of the massive three-volume Leica: An Illustrated History by James L. (Jim) Lager. I've also owned a surprising number of Leicas, especially for someone who was once reputed to be "against" Leica (translation: I didn't worship them). My favorite cameras were the M4 and M6, and the R4s and R7. The R4s wasn't a true Leica, though: it was based on a Minolta, and mine kept having problems of one sort or another because it wasn't built very well. But it was pleasant to use and it allowed me access to the awesome R lenses, which I loved. I never liked the M lenses quite as much. My favorite of the ones I owned was the "pre-ASPH" 35mm Summicron, but I had to get rid of mine because of a technical flaw—the black coating on the aperture blades kept flaking off and getting deposited on the inner surfaces of the elements. I paid (through the nose!) to get it cleaned, once, and then it started happening again and I bailed. To be fair, I also had problems with the AF-Nikkor 35mm ƒ/2, early examples of which were notorious for leaking oil on the aperture blades. Even the mighty Leica Summicron-R 35mm, the Mandler-designed one that was truly gorgeous, had flaws, in that it had some rather odd and fugitive habits regarding flare at certain apertures and in certain situations. The one I used was loaned to me by Michael Hintlian. What, was I star-crossed with 35mm ƒ/2's? My favorite M-mount lens was the Minolta M-Rokkor 40mm ƒ/2, although those are getting long in the tooth and, in my limited experience, haven't aged very well. They get a bit rickety. If you find one, maybe you can also find a technician to re-pack the lubricant and tighten it up a bit.
As far as Leica books are concerned, I would say I have two favorites: Günter Osterloh's Leica M: Advanced Photo School, with text in German and English, which will strike those who are interested in the current cameras as being out of date. However it will still be of interest to Leica film-camera photographers, especially those who use older cameras. If I were buying today I'd probably try Leica M: Tradition—Innovation Since 1954 by the same author (who was a longtime employee of Leica and the unofficial "dean" of the Leica Academy, by the way, just so you know). I'm sorry I can't tell you whether the newer book is an updating of the older one, or new; anyone know?
My other favorite is (or was) 75 Jahre Leica Fotografie / 75 Years of Leica Photography / 75 ans de Photographie Lcica, from 1990, in German, English and French. That one was more of a visual tour of what a variety of photographers have done with their Leicas, a plan which suits my tastes better than collector-level minutiae about gear. Again, there's a more recent book that might suit contemporary buyers better: Eyes Wide Open! 100 Years of Leica Photography, from 2015, edited by Hans-Michael Koetzle. I haven't seen that one, but it gets positive reviews.
If one were to collect all the books and publications ever published about Leitz and Leica over the years, that would be a very involved project indeed. Someone's probably done it.
One Leica
As far as collecting Leicas is concerned, as you might know my longtime policy is that everyone owns their own photography, and can do any tomfool thing they want to with it as long as they aren't breaking any laws or hurting anybody. Still, I have my recommendations, and one is that I think every photography enthusiast should own at least one Leica of some type or other at some time or other. It's the most storied and celebrated of camera brands, and it's fun to participate, at least a little, in the lore, the guild, and the glory.
Here's my candidate if you're going to get one: the Leica M4 from 1967–72, and...
...The collapsible 50mm Summicron of 1953–60. These belonged to my friend Kent Phelan, who spent a long time looking for the best possible examples. The M4 I used belonged to Nick Hartmann, and it might have been the coolest camera I ever walked around with. I used Nick's for a solid year, with my own lenses. This pair, in the pictures, was too pretty to use, so be sure to buy one with a dent, a chip, or a cosmetic flaw of some sort! Nick's M4 had a cosmetic-only dent in the top plate which allowed him to purchase it for what was, at the time, half price. If memory serves, he paid $675.
I'm sure other Leicaphiles will have their own suggestions for the one Leica to own if you're going to own only one. But that's mine.
Mike
*The youth, the way the athletic director at my high school, Howie Boese (pronounced bay-zee), used to say it. He spoke a very heavy "sout Mwaukee" (south Milwaukee) accent, which retained a lot of features from German. I could do a wicked impression of Mr. Boese when I was a yout.
Original contents copyright 2024 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)
Featured Comments from:
"I think every photography enthusiast should own at least one Leica of some type or other at some time or other."
Does this recommendation apply to digital Leica bodies?
[I would think it's up to the individual. I see nothing wrong with it. (Unless you have to stretch painfully to afford it, which I don't think is necessary to do for any reason.) It's the idea, the ethos, the history, the culture of it that's fun to be a part of. Digital Leicas embody and impart a lot of that. --Mike]
Posted by: Yuan | Saturday, 26 October 2024 at 02:51 PM
I am with you on the M4 but would combine it with the 35/2.8 Summaron. My M4 was purchased “non functioning” for around 700 dollars around 2019; I sent it off to my service guy and there was nothing wrong with it other than it being seized up from the lubricants having dried out entirely. Cost me another 200 and it’s like new again. Cosmetically near perfect so I imagine it was stuck in a drawer at some point decades ago and forgotten about. I also have an M3 but that one needed a lot of repair from moisture damage. Now it’s back in working order though and will probably last a few decades more.
One fascinating thing about Leica is how well the digital bodies have survived. I see M8s and M9s in active use and those are getting pretty long in the tooth at this point.
Posted by: Christer | Saturday, 26 October 2024 at 02:57 PM
The Leica CL is often overlooked. Cheaper, smaller, and of course has a stadard M-mount. Personally I like my old M3. Mainly because of the viewfinder
Posted by: Richard Tugwell | Saturday, 26 October 2024 at 03:20 PM
Your athletic director wasn't the only one to say "yout.". There's a classic scene in "My Cousin Vinnie" where Joe Pesci's character, Vinnie, is talking about the youts in question when Judge Fred Gwynne interrupts to find out what he means by "yout." Well worth a watch if you haven't seen it.
Posted by: Adam Isler | Saturday, 26 October 2024 at 03:22 PM
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBk3dJNSQks
Posted by: Jeff | Saturday, 26 October 2024 at 03:42 PM
Re: photografie
Mike, several english words that end with a "y", you would replace that letter with "ie" in french. Like photographie, psychologie, psychiatrie.
Cheers.
[Ugh! I'm sorry. I even had the book cover in front of my when I wrote that, and was checking to make sure of my spelling...I'm losin' it! --Mike]
Posted by: André Moreau | Saturday, 26 October 2024 at 04:41 PM
Re: photografie
Mike, several english words that end with a "y", you would replace that letter with "ie" in french. Like photographie, psychologie, psychiatrie.
Cheers.
Posted by: André Moreau | Saturday, 26 October 2024 at 07:10 PM
"...favorites: Günter Osterloh's Leica M: Advanced Photo School,..."
I have two of these, the first being notorious for terrible binding, making it essentially a loose leaf cover full of detached pages. Luckily, they reissued it with updates in English in 2005, which I snapped up.
This book has one of the best lessons for use of the 35mm focal length for candid/street type shooting which for me was worth the price of the book. If anyone has the book, page 134: The horizontal coverage of a 35mm lens is equal to the distance from the subject. If you are 10 feet from a wall, you'll capture 10 feet of that wall. This makes for quick framing without looking thru the finder in a candid situation. With practice you'll find yourself in the right spot for the subject... it really works.
This lesson makes me aquire a 35mm (or equivalent) lens for every system that I own, including my pre-aspheric 35mm Summicron for my M6.
Posted by: Albert Smith | Saturday, 26 October 2024 at 08:36 PM
I have owned quite a few Leica M cameras, which include the M2, M3, M4, M4-2, M4-P and very briefly the M5. I have tried a friend's M6 which was very nice. My favourite is the M4. I have also owned a 1930s Leica which was fiddly to operate but was very small compared to the M cameras.
Posted by: Gary Nylander | Saturday, 26 October 2024 at 10:24 PM
My first Leica - one that I still own - is a 1967 M4. I bought two lenses for it: The 35mm f/2.8 Summaron and the collapsible 50mm Summicron.
I now also have two digital Ms, a 240 from 2012 and a 240 ME from 2019. Both are equipped with Voigtlander glass and I am completely satisfied.
Mike what do you think of Leica’s L-mount mirrorless cameras? They’ve been a pleasant surprise to me and I currently own an SL2. I use my M-mount glass on it fairly often. But I have no problem with using Panasonic and Sigma L-mount lenses.
All of my digital Leicas have been purchased used at steep discounts. But the ME and SL2 came with factory refurbishment and two-year warranties. I recommend them all.
Posted by: Steve Biro | Sunday, 27 October 2024 at 12:14 AM
I got a Used Q in good shape for $2,400. I started looking for one as soon as I exited the Emergency Room for the second time the end of 2022. For once I had the $, and noting how the mid 60's was literally The Kill Zone for one too many of my friends- I said now, or maybe never!
Even though my GR gives me 90% of the quality, and both are a joy to use, the EVF is nice, the build solid, and that extra bit of FF goodness does come through at times!
Posted by: Stan B. | Sunday, 27 October 2024 at 04:14 AM
I have a Leica M3 and the collapsible Summicron, and I use that combination regularly! I am curious why you recommend this lens in particular?
[It's fun to use...pull it out and give it a little twist to lock it into position, then "putting it away" when its work is done. The difference in length doesn't really make any difference but it's fun to think so. --Mike]
Posted by: Sroyon | Sunday, 27 October 2024 at 10:00 PM
Some years ago I bought a Leica IIIf with 5cm collapsible Elmar. Both lens and camera are older than I am but in distinctly better condition. The viewfinder is tiny but that's why the IIIf was way cheaper than the IIIg, and about half the price of the cheapest M series I could find.
Have not regretted that purchase and I reckon if I ever did want to sell it I'd get my money back and more besides.
Posted by: Antony Shepherd | Monday, 28 October 2024 at 03:46 AM
Chiming in on the my favorite (IMHO BEST) Leica and having owned several over my 77 years, none currently. To me, I was most comfortable, satisfied, and miss greatly my early M6 and 35mm Aspherical Summicron, both black. I bought them both brand new, when I had "discretionary funds". I kept them for about 18 years along with an arsenal of Nikon MF and AF gear for various applications of a semi-pro nature.
Then along came digital. I was hesitant at first and finally succumbd to the pressure with conversion to Nikon digital gear. Even in the last years before I sold the Leica....
TRULY WISH I STILL HAD IT!
I still have my original Nikon Ftn and a 50/1.4 that my uncle handed down to me and a Kodak IIIc from another family member back in the day.
But the M6/35 still has my top place in my film shooting memory, along with the stunning Mamiya M7 and three fantastic lenses. It was the ONLY medium format camera I thoroughly appreciated.
And YES Mike, in answer to your question about articles pertaining to todays film shooting, I would enjoy that.
Posted by: Michael | Monday, 28 October 2024 at 12:55 PM
Having got a perfect condition M6 TTL a few years ago (replacing an unreliable and unloved new Ziess Ikon), what has surprised me is that I don’t use it. No, not that I don’t take photographs with it, but I usually don’t use either the rangefinder (focusing by scale), or the camera’s meter (just using it for confirmation).Despite a plethora of previous fully manual cameras (MX, F-1n, FM3A etc.), no other camera has persuaded me to do this on a regular basis. The Leica effect…?
Posted by: Mike Jones | Tuesday, 29 October 2024 at 10:13 AM