The Leica M4-P: A Boring Masterpiece

I went into the camera shop looking for a simple, mechanical 35mm camera, not expecting much. I tried out many fabled shooters - the Olympus OM-1, Nikon FM2, and Bessa R4M included - but they were all either too heavy, not comfortable in the hand, too loud, or just not that fun to use. Then I picked up the M4-P, and everything just clicked.

Elegant Simplicity

There's not much to a Leica camera. You load the film, set your aperature and shutter speed, wind the shutter, focus, and click. When you finish a roll, you can rewind it. That's literally all the functionality that this camera has. You won't find any mention of double exposures or (god forbid) auto modes. It's just the essentials. It'll never run out of battery, because it never needs them - it's fully mechanical. In terms of looks, it's largely the same. It's neither overly flashy nor does it blend in with the crowd. It just looks nice, like it's made to be used.

Baby's first Leica

The Touch, The Feel

And it's a pleasure to use. 99% of the stuff it does, it does without a hitch. It's simple, easy, fun, and most importantly it gets out of the way. Cocking the shutter yourself feels infinitely more satisfying than just letting the winding motor take care of it for you. The build quality and in-the-hand feel is fantastic; despite the fact that the M4-P was made in Ontario, Canada, rather than the usual factory in Germany,  I honest-to-god couldn't tell the difference between this and an M6 in the hand. The fact that such a finicky, precise instrument such as this is still working after 34 years of use shows that the country of origin doesn't really matter, unless you're a collector.

Shamelines

Now, onto the most controversial topic about this camera (and the only aspect of it I don't like,) the framelines. The M4-P has the same setup as an M6 - there's 28, 35, 50, 75, 90,and 135mm framelines on display here,  It accomplishes this by pairing the 35 and 135, the 50 and the 75, and the 90 and 28 frames together into three views. Some people say that the view can get cluttered, but, personally, this doesn't bother me. What absolutely does (as a glasses-wearer,) is that you can barely see the wider framelines without having to squint and peer in the sides to get a peek. I shoot in 35mm and I can barely see them - I can't imagine how the 28mm would fare. However, this is such a fun camera to use that I've seriously considered getting contacts just to use it to its fullest.

Pricing and Conclusion

If you're reading this and are thinking "I can't do this, Leicas are too expensive, it's just a box that holds film," you'd be right. While the M4-P isn't one of the more desirable Leicas to collectors (being made in another country'll do that to you,) it'll still set you back around $600-900 dollars depending on the condition and who you buy it from. Even if we were talking about a digital camera, that's not very cheap. And, with film cameras, the body you get matters even less than with digital, due to the fact that your sensor is replaced every shot.

I love this camera to death. It feels fantastic in the hand, the input is all fun and simple, and it doesn't draw attention like a big DSLR or medium format camera will do. Next to TLR's, I would recommend a Leica to someone doing street photography. However, if the framelines and price are a turnoff for you, I'd suggest going for the Leica M2. You can get it for around $500-800, and it has near-feature-parity with the M4-P. But, for god's sake, if you're teetering on the edge and can spare the cash, just get a Leica. To quote Ferris Bueller, "It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."