Over the years, I've been fortunate to shoot with a wide range of cameras, including an early Asahi Pentax, Nikon's, Hassy's, a Linhof 4x5, a Kodak 8x10, and more recently Canon gear including PowerShots, D30, D60, 1D and 1D-II. Today, I'm shooting with Pentax cameras. However, of all the cameras I have owned, my favorite was the Leica M4.
In today's all digital world, we expect and I suspect to a great degree need equipment that does all the thinking for us. By comparison, the M4 was and still is today a perfectly machined manual instrument - balancing size, perfect ergonomics, a bright rangefinder and whisper quiet shutter that allowed you to shoot without being noticed or heard. It's size and weight allowed you to carry it by your side all day. Being all manual, you learned how to read light - you'd only want to use your meter when you noticed lighting conditions had changed.
By comparison with today's camera, the M4 was too simple. Being mechanical, you never worried about batteries or focusing and exposure systems. I guess the beauty of the Leica M4 was just that - it was a camera that put a minimum of equipment between your "eye" and the subject.
Last year I decided to start shooting with the M4 again. After getting it back from its CLA (clean, lubricate and adjust) which is normal for a Leica that's 30 years old, I've been using it when I want a change of pace. You know what? It's still a beautiful camera and the 35mm ASPH Summmicron lens probably focuses light as well, if not better, than any piece of glass I shoot with digitally. Oh, it's also kind of nice and very-retro to use Velvia again - the "film" not the photoshop action.
