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hat will this blog talk about: photography, mostly with film cameras. I will not delve into gear talk or technical specs of either the cameras or the images. Discussion and views will be on the process of photography, experiences and such.
A bit about myself: I like taking pictures. I have a full-time job that is not connected with photography. And therefore, there are ups and downs - periods when I take a lot of photos and then months where I don't take any picture.
March 2022: I bought a new Leica MP (film) - the silver chrome version. This camera is currently out of stock everywhere and new ones are heavily backordered. I was lucky, in a way, to be able to get a new one in 4 days! Leica customer service was exceptional throughout the process. I have a trip coming up in 2 weeks and requested if they can expedite the shipping; Leica customer support was more than generous with the fast shipping.
Why did I buy the Leica MP? My main 35mm film camera has been the Zeiss Ikon rangefinder (silver body). It is the relatively newer model, I bought in new in 2012. Soon after, Zeiss stopped making these cameras. I have a beautiful Planar 50 1.5 on this camera. In terms of features, the camera is quite good - shutter speed up to 2000, has a built in light meter, Aperture priority mode, bright viewfinder, fast film loading, and takes m mount lenses. I don't have any other features to ask for in a film camera. However, there has just one recurring issue.
Zeiss Ikon is built fairly well - not as solid as the Leica MP - but quite well made regardless. Having said that, once I knocked the camera down many years ago and the range finder focus patch went out of alignment. When you focused on infinity, the patch won't align. I sent it to Zeiss repair service in New Jersey, and got it aligned - I had to pay for the shipping/insurance etc. Thereafter, I took the camera to a trip to Iceland in 2017 and same thing happened again. This time the camera was not dropped. Just by rocking about in the camera bag, it got out of alignment. And this time around, the repair had to be done in Zeiss Germany. This meant higher shipping/insurance costs for me to bear.
I ran into same problem again this year, and decided that I don't want to keep shipping the camera for alignment again. I tried many local shops (some fairly big and reputed ones) but no body wanted to fix it. One of the stores told me that the alignment mechanism on Zeiss Ikon was not the easiest. And therefore, I made up my mind to get a new film camera and sell my Zeiss Ikon.
My criteria was simple - I wanted a camera that would last at least next 10 years and something that is currently in production. Well, 'currently in production' narrowed it down to Leica very quickly. I already had the brilliant ZM Planar lens - and so could delay getting the Leica lens later. I read up all the articles that Google search provided on Leica MP and Leica MA. I was surprised that there are not too many. And most of the articles are from commercial outlets rather than users.
I decided on the MP over MA mostly based on availability. I was able to get hold of a new MP sooner than MA. I never could quite decide on MP vs MA. I received the MP last week and it is quite a beautiful camera as all reports have described. Zeiss Ikon is a good looking camera as well, just as a reference. But Leica is much more substantial in hand. Zeiss Ikon with the ZM Planar 50 1.5 lens tilts forward even though it is a small lens. This is because the body is light - I think it might be aluminum. Leica, on the other hand, sits upright with this lens.
I shot a couple of rolls and will do the next post on the experience. Meanwhile, if anyone reads this :) and has any questions, feel free to leave a message.
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