Leica M4-P

Even though it can be considered just another variation of the M4 model (along with the M4-2), the M4-P precedes the M6 (second metered Leica) by just a few years.  It was issued in 1980, and its appeal came from the fact that it included the framelines for a 28mm lens.  Previous bodies didn't have this feature, and photographers had to use external viewfinders in order to compose and frame photographs when using this particular focal length.

I bought one copy off the auction site for an incredibly affordable price because the seller erred on the side of sincerity, and the camera didn't sound too appealing to those not willing to compromise.  When it came, I was surprised at how well taken care it was.  Shortly afterwards I got another 28mm lens (mentioned below), and set out to shoot away.  Here are some results.

Corner of Wabash and Wells Streets, Chicago.  Lines... all over...

Corner of more lines, down Washington St (right past Wells).

Lamps inside the Chicago Lyric Opera. 

Then, we have these ones:

Aprés l'opera...

Shadows and bicycles in campus.

The Kishwaukee tree. 

I am fully aware that these are not breathtaking views, but they were all done with my M4-P and an Ultron 28mm f2.  I think these two are made for each other... even though very recently I split them.  Why?  I have a star-of-the-show Elmarit 28mm f2.8 eternally attached to one of my M6TTL bodies (which haven't seen much action ever since I got my unmetered ones), so it went to the M4-P.  I haven't exposed any film with this combination, but we'll find a way soon.  In the meanwhile, all for the sake of sharing images here instead of using any social media, have a ball looking at these ones and stay put.  I may have some surprise around the corner. 

Corners

I am not gone again, taking an three-year leave...  I'm actually busy developing film that I exposed in all of my Leicas.  I have run a number of rolls through my Ilfosol soup, but haven't scanned any yet because all the negatives are terribly curved. 

All in all, I didn't want to neglect this blog for long, so, given the response to the tilted framing question, here goes one more: let's do corners.  Here are some that I like, all made with my M4-2 and Konica Hexanon 35mm f2.

Ellwood Mansion's roof meets the blue skies of DeKalb.

Street near the main square in Woodstock, IL.

Funky mailbox at home in Prospect Street, DeKalb.

Chevrolet 1952 that used to be parked in front of a house in Lacas Street, DeKalb.  Its driveway mate was another Chevy '52, identical color and model, with the licence plate L17 9487. 

Stairs inside the Art Institute main entrance. 

And, speaking of entrances, here's a quinceañera, being photographed right in front of the Art Institute entrance on Michigan Avenue, Chicago. 

These are all corners, in one way or another.  Corners are meeting points, spaces of confluence, something begins and something ends in corners; hence the roof lines (all straight) against the capricious, irregular pattern of the clouds, the corner at the end of the tilted street view in Woodstock, which is not the same corner (but a corner nonetheless) as the one with the pot mailbox.  These corners led me to think about corners of things, like the Chevy corner, made in 1952 and never driven again after some point.  Then, what do we make of all the corners in the stairs inside the Art Institute, or the corner turned by the girl who just turned 15, who is "cornered" by the photographer into posing strangely sensual, next to a lamp post?

What do you think?

Possibly more corners next time... that, or some camera porn! 

Sometimes I use color film

Sometimes I use color film.  My favorite is Kodak Max 400.  I simply like the greens and blues it yields.  I've tried other brands (Fuji, Konica, old Ferrania) and I always returned to the big K. 

Here is the reason.

My favorite corner: Thornbrook Road meets Park St.  There's something with that fire hydrant that draws me in all the time.

The corner of State street and another street in Sycamore, IL, at night.

Still Hall in Northern Illinois University, with a very appropriate sign next to the Photographer Huskie.

Sunset, as it's seen from Thornbrook Road.  Given that this is film, I knew I'd get the orangey tones in the sky (which is where I metered, by the way).

One small variant in all these shots (in addition to the fact that they all were made in February 2014) is that I used a different focal length—which only means new lens: a Cosina Voigtländer Ultron 28mm f2.  Do I like it?  I do, but I keep it on a (new) Leica M4-P body because it has the correct framelines for it.  In this camera, I had to guess a lot, hence the absence of "excentric" (not aligned in the center) subjects.

About a year ago..

About a year ago I started this blog. On a whim... while awaiting delivery of my newly acquired Leica M4-2 camera.

Lots of things can happen in a year. Little did I know, for instance, that we'd be adding one family member in May 2009. Above is Edmund, our son, just in July this year. Not his first Leica portrait... but the best (I think; I know, the photo needs a bit of editing yet). BTW, it was with my Konica Hexanon lens at 1/30th, f2 on BW400CN Kodak film.

An old favorite from Denver CO, where I took my M4-2 in a type of maiden trip. Done at 1/1000 at f5.6 on Fuji ISO 400 Superia film.

Nice sample of my eye-meter at work: 1/60th at f2.8 on Fuji Superia ISO 400. This is our cat Mimí, doing what she does best: showing her moxie!

Something we'll apparently need in the years to come...

More on whatever later!

Travel Photography

Why does it happen...

That most of our best shots...

Happen when we travel?

Any ideas?

BTW, and before I forget, these are all Leica shots, ranging from Bogotá (Colombia), where I captured the girl talking to her dad about the dog who won't budge; to Barcelona, where my rarely used Summicron 50mm yielded a scene in Plaza del Pí; to Chicago, which I still consider a travel destination because it's not the town where I live. 

Is it perhaps because of the distances we need to cover to get these shots?

Is it maybe because we always assume that the greener pastures are beyond our horizon?

Or just because these are to us unfamiliar sights?

It annoys me... because, for one reason or another, some of my best shots are, indeed, from far away locations. 

Makes me feel glad I had a Leica back then.