Black Paint Leicas

[NB23]

I have seen and hold two black M4 ELC. At single place. They were slightly trashed and needed CLA. I looked at them and see zero difference from mine black M4-2. Except mine has usable hotshoe.

Likewise, saw and tried two original Rolexes at single place. Looked at them and see zero difference from mine fake. Except mine was set at the correct time.

 

[NB23]

I bought it from KEH in 2012. It showed up in the presentation box with all of the documentation, I don't think it had ever been used. It spent the next five years in a half case with a 35 Summicron ASPH almost permanently attached. Played around with a Visoflex III and it took a trip to Solms for a factory upgrade. Our deck was falling apart and needed to raise some funds so it and all the other Leica gear went to new owners. I ended up with a M4 as a consolation prize.

.. and a happy wife. Still good.

 

[Huss]

Very nice. Have fun

Who are you and what have you done with the real NB23?

 

[NB23]

Who are you and what have you done with the real NB23?

Must be the selenium toner...

 

[NB23]

Here ya go. A II I believe.

Super Sexy! Think of me when you’re selling

 

[MattKing]

Must be the selenium toner...

I thought it was the four bags of HCA.

 

[gone]

I am always entertained by those not fascinated by a subject but yet cannot look away

Edgar Allen Poe called that "The Imp of the Perverse", in a self named short story. It's a feeling one gets when leaning over a high ledge (for instance), and along with that immediate feeling of terror, there's a background thought of...... "what if I jumped?"

 

[Saganich]

2003 MP all brassy from nearly 20 years of use.

 

[Saganich]

Not as brassy but i’ve only had it for a year. I developed an ltm itch last year.

 

[aoresteen]

I bought my black M4-P in 2004 for $800. Best thing I ever did. My M3-MOT is all chrome and works perfectly. My If & IIIf are chrome - years ago I wanted to have them painted black but now I'm glad I didn't. Both sport Leicavits.

They love being fed HP-5 !

 

[maddoc2021jp]

Original BP M4 were at some point (2015 - 2017 ?) much cheaper than today's prices for M6. But I have to agree, it is fascinating to follow.

I have been following them for more than a decade now.

- Original BP M4 historically followed the Leica new MP prices.

Fascinating, n’est-ce-pas?

 

[Alan Johnson]

One of the first large batch of rangefinder Leicas [1932, later lens]. The factory took a chance that 35mm would sell at profit.

 

[NB23]

Those black barnacks are some sweet little babies for sure. All barnacks are great shooters.

 

[rknewcomb]

Super Sexy! Think of me when you’re selling

Yes very pretty, looks like a II. Most II's do not have strap lugs so those were probably added later.

 

[NB23]

Snapshooters par excellence. I’d recommend iiic-g-f but they’re like candy, you’ll want them all.

These are William Eggleston’s... just a part of his collection.

 

[cliveh]

Never owned a Barnack, but I am confused by people's reactions. Half say they slow you down to nearly medium format level of deliberation, and better be kept as shelf queens. Others say they're great shooters. I should stop by my local used camera shop, they have a lot of them. Which one is most practical for day to day use?

Leica II

 

[RDW]

Never owned a Barnack, but I am confused by people's reactions. Half say they slow you down to nearly medium format level of deliberation, and better be kept as shelf queens. Others say they're great shooters. I should stop by my local used camera shop, they have a lot of them. Which one is most practical for day to day use?

Condition and servicing are more important than anything else - you want a bright rangefinder image and a smooth mechanism and a shutter that fires correctly at all speeds. Ask if they have a warranty or a return window you can use to test. Probably the majority of cameras that haven't been serviced recently have some issue or other. I prefer the IIIa or later for the full range of shutter speeds (the II series and the original III top out at 1/500, and the II series lack slow speeds). The IIIb and later bring the rangefinder and viewfinder windows closer together, which is slightly easier to use. The IIIc and later have a different chassis that is apparently stronger, but they are all tough cameras. If you care about flash, the IIIf was the first with built-in flash sync (earlier models may have had it added, often by a third party, sometimes neatly, sometimes not). The IIIg has a significantly better viewfinder than the others, with parallax-corrected brightlines for 50mm and 90mm (the earlier models just have simple viewfinders for 50mm only and use accessory finders for everything else). However, it's less pocketable and more expensive than the rest. They can all be pretty fast to use once you've loaded the film and got used to the separate eyepieces. Film loading is rather slow and you need to trim the leader to the profile shown in the manual to avoid jamming the mechanism. Get a collapsible 50mm lens if you want to take full advantage of their relatively small sizes and built-in viewfinders.

 

[NB23]

Condition and servicing are more important than anything else - you want a bright rangefinder image and a smooth mechanism and a shutter that fires correctly at all speeds. Ask if they have a warranty or a return window you can use to test. Probably the majority of cameras that haven't been serviced recently have some issue or other. I prefer the IIIa or later for the full range of shutter speeds (the II series and the original III top out at 1/500, and the II series lack slow speeds). The IIIb and later bring the rangefinder and viewfinder windows closer together, which is slightly easier to use. The IIIc and later have a different chassis that is apparently stronger, but they are all tough cameras. If you care about flash, the IIIf was the first with built-in flash sync (earlier models may have had it added, often by a third party, sometimes neatly, sometimes not). The IIIg has a significantly better viewfinder than the others, with parallax-corrected brightlines for 50mm and 90mm (the earlier models just have simple viewfinders for 50mm only and use accessory finders for everything else). However, it's less pocketable and more expensive than the rest. They can all be pretty fast to use once you've loaded the film and got used to the separate eyepieces. Film loading is rather slow and you need to trim the leader to the profile shown in the manual to avoid jamming the mechanism. Get a collapsible 50mm lens if you want to take full advantage of their relatively small sizes and built-in viewfinders.

Great xplanation.

 

[NB23]

Leica MP with BP summicron, shot on Hassy 500cm +’150mm sonnar cf

 

[Huss]

Black paint adjacent Leica R-E taken with Pentax WR90...

 

[Ai Print]

Alright, I’ll play…

In 2008 I bought a new in the box and unused black paint Leica MP3 LHSA Edition kit with the 50mm 1.4 Asph and Leicavit, the whole deal. When it sold new from about 2006-2009 it went for $8K on average, I got it for $5K. I thought about not using it and keeping it in the box but I am not like that. So I proceeded to put hundreds of rolls of film through it until I sold it in 2011. It was a bit brassed up but no dents or abuse, the lens barrel had the most wear. I got $21K for it and now when you can find them, they are over $40K.

There are days I wish I still had it, the thing was gorgeous! But in the end I sold it because I did not like a .72 finder with the 50mm and needed the money for other things. I did take a bunch of nice photos of it right when I got it because, well…one never knows.

 

[Arthurwg]

I must say I would love a black paint Barnack camera.

 

[logan2z]

Alright, I’ll play…

In 2008 I bought a new in the box and unused black paint Leica MP3 LHSA Edition kit with the 50mm 1.4 Asph and Leicavit, the whole deal. When it sold new from about 2006-2009 it went for $8K on average, I got it for $5K. I thought about not using it and keeping it in the box but I am not like that. So I proceeded to put hundreds of rolls of film through it until I sold it in 2011. It was a bit brassed up but no dents or abuse, the lens barrel had the most wear. I got $21K for it and now when you can find them, they are over $40K.

There are days I wish I still had it, the thing was gorgeous! But in the end I sold it because I did not like a .72 finder with the 50mm and needed the money for other things. I did take a bunch of nice photos of it right when I got it because, well…one never knows.

View attachment 290654

The MP3 is gorgeous. If Leica still had the a la carte program I'd trick out an M-A very much like it, although I doubt the external frame counter was ever an option.

 

[NB23]

Black paint adjacent Leica R-E taken with Pentax WR90...

Do you love her?

 

[NB23]

Alright, I’ll play…

In 2008 I bought a new in the box and unused black paint Leica MP3 LHSA Edition kit with the 50mm 1.4 Asph and Leicavit, the whole deal. When it sold new from about 2006-2009 it went for $8K on average, I got it for $5K. I thought about not using it and keeping it in the box but I am not like that. So I proceeded to put hundreds of rolls of film through it until I sold it in 2011. It was a bit brassed up but no dents or abuse, the lens barrel had the most wear. I got $21K for it and now when you can find them, they are over $40K.

There are days I wish I still had it, the thing was gorgeous! But in the end I sold it because I did not like a .72 finder with the 50mm and needed the money for other things. I did take a bunch of nice photos of it right when I got it because, well…one never knows.

View attachment 290654

damn