[Leica] LHSA MP hammertone grey

["Emanuel Lowi" <mano@vif.com>]

I just checked out a grey LHSA MP at my local store. Those of you who hate
collector-type fetishistic comments may wish to change channels now.

I've had the opportunity to examine one of the original grey MD cameras with its
matching Visoflex, one of ten such sets made by Leitz Wetzlar in 1964. While the
current literature on the new LHSA camera is not explicit on this issue, I was
expecting to encounter the same finish on the new camera. 

In fact, what we have here is not the same finish Leica used in the 1960s. While the
pock-marked texture is similar, the coloration is noticeably different. The MP paint
is basically all lightish grey with something like a very slight greenish cast to it,
with very lightly contrasting hammertone markings. The original paint was darker, a
kind of speckled blackish-grey, almost like a larger-grained and subtly glossy
version of the finish on Gitzo tripods and heads.

Pictures I've seen of the hammertone grey done by a couple of the Japanese painters
appear to more closely resemble the grey MD paint pattern of yesteryear. 

The LHSA MP leatherette is the same material (Leica catalogue #420-105-001-040) used
on the Japan-issued MP-6. While blacker than real vulcanite, the new material does
show a pattern similar to the old vulcanized gutta percha. Be forewarned though: it
is much more slippery than the old stuff, and also less easily gripped than the
leatherette used on standard issue MP cameras today.

Because of the combination of the lighter paint and darker body shell covering, I
find the new camera's look lacking some of the dramatic pizzazz of the old (and very
rare) MD cameras. Clearly, a moot point. The chrome controls are very nice and, of
course, inside is the (by now) familiar solidly precise MP with its wonderfully quiet
shutter and very bright viewfinder. It is a nice looking effort overall, although
IMHO perhaps pricey at the $3500 MAP.

Emanuel Lowi
Montreal

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