Jim Marshall's M4

"battered and lovely"

"used and hammered"

In the fairly recent Leica promotional booklet, 'Leica M, How revolutionary should your camera be?', they printed this picture of a beautifully worn Leica M4, complete with the 'Leicavit' rapid winder and 35mm Summilux-M lens.
It belonged to famed rock music photographer, Jim Marshall, and demonstrates just how attractive a worn black paint Leica camera can be.
For many Leica enthusiasts there is something highly desirable about having as worn a camera as this. It shows, perhaps, a life of hard picture taking, or using the camera far beyond the 'wrapped in cotton wool' stage that so many Leica owners never seem to progress beyond. One can understand that, perhaps, as Leica prices are rather higher than most other cameras, but really, they are there to be used for making pictures, the cameras will only become unhappy if not used !

Jem Kime
18/2/01

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