Leica R4

[Stephen L]

I'm vaguely considering a Leica R4 - with which lens, I don't know - any comments why or why not? There seem to be a few on the market. I know they had problems with electronics, but surely those which are working now should be OK?

 

[excalibur2]

Hi Steven..I'm just wondering why the Leica R4, do you consider the body is better than say Canon, Nikon etc or it's because you think Leica lenses are superior and can see the difference.
anyway noticed one on the bay RS, buy it now for £90, but may have a problem.

 

[Flighter]

This Casual Photophile article 'Which Leica SLR should I buy?' suggests getting the R5 over the R4 on the grounds that it's very similar but with a greater shutter speed range and it has many of the R4’s electronic faults sorted and fixed. For the R4 it advises to avoid serial numbers below 1,600,000.

All R mount lenses should fit the R4 and R5 but the earlier ones (1 cam and 2 cam) will only allow stop down metering - this Wikipedia article 'Leica R bayonet' has a handy compatability guide of the 5 mount types across the Leica SLRs.

The main drawback to the Leica SLRs that I've heard mentioned often is that whilst the bodies can be had for reasonable prices the lenses are a different matter.

 

[Stephen L]

Hi Steven..I'm just wondering why the Leica R4, do you consider the body is better than say Canon, Nikon etc or it's because you think Leica lenses are superior and can see the difference.
anyway noticed one on the bay RS, buy it now for £90, but may have a problem.

No, probably not. I have a good few film cameras of various makes. It’s as much simple curiosity as anything else. I would buy from a reputable dealer with a bit of comeback.

 

[Stephen L]

This Casual Photophile article 'Which Leica SLR should I buy?' suggests getting the R5 over the R4 on the grounds that it's very similar but with a greater shutter speed range and it has many of the R4’s electronic faults sorted and fixed. For the R4 it advises to avoid serial numbers below 1,600,000.

All R mount lenses should fit the R4 and R5 but the earlier ones (1 cam and 2 cam) will only allow stop down metering - this Wikipedia article 'Leica R bayonet' has a handy compatability guide of the 5 mount types across the Leica SLRs.

The main drawback to the Leica SLRs that I've heard mentioned often is that whilst the bodies can be had for reasonable prices the lenses are a different matter.

Thanks for those links - they shall be read in due course. The cost of lenses is the main reason I am being uncharacteristically restrained - for now.