Old MP VS new MP

[henry_ting2]

The vintage 1956 MP VS the new 2003 MP.

And the difference .....

[al_kaplan1]

They should go back to the two rivet strap lugs which never loosen and twist.

[sandy.]

Did you lift that picture from a book, Henry?

[al henry]

That camera is not an MP! MP were never produced with a self timer. Some people purchased the top plates from Leitz and installed them on M2 when wana be collectors with more money than brains started paying big bucks for the braging rites to owning a MP. Leica could not get 500 people in the entire world to buy the MP while it was in production. The truth is the MP was a disaster right up there with the M5. Reason why. The Leicavit was a piece of S**T it didn't work. Also I think there were only like 20 black paint MP ever made.

[roger_michel]

a real leica mp is shown at www.rapidwinder.com/leicamp.jpg

[john_collier2]

One is available for you to buy easily with a warranty at a comparatively reasonable price with a built in meter and a choice of finders. The other is scare as hens teeth, difficult to authenticate, frequently worn out and costs a king's ransom.

[roger_michel]

if we wanted to do things the easy/rational/economical way, would any of us be using leicas??

[al henry]

There seems to have been 137 black MP produced. The small number is for the MP-2.

[eliot]

Well one difference is in the price. The original MP (there were several hundreds made in chrome (mostly) or in BP) some of which are no longer in existence. A completely original Leica MP is worth on the order of $ 25,000-30,0000. So if you find one, it will cost ten-fold higher. The MP was basically an M3 modified to take the Leicavit-MP winder; the modification included loss of the self-timer and the use of an external (rather than under glass) frame counter.

 

I have seen a few "poor man's MP models which are essentially M3s modified by DAG or the like to take the Leicavit winder. These have run about $ 5,000-6,000 or so, one reason being the Leicavit-MP winder is itself a rare item.

 

Note: The MP2 (which is super-rare, even more so than the MP) is a completely different model, It is basically an M2 modified to take a special motor (for which there was a battery housing grip, and other accessories). The motor was a prototype than was never produced commercially. You'll probably never see an MP2, except for the ones pictured in Lager or in the Solms museum. But MPs come up for sale from time to time.

[sal dimarco]

MP-123 with a self timer is probably a real MP. In Dennis Laney's "Leica Collectors Guide" on page 81 there are two photos of 123 and one which shows the serial number inscribed on the shutter crate and I've seen 123 in other books. Self-timers were added at a later date at the owners request. It's a very old trick to set the self-timer and lift the camera on a monopod over your head for a high view. I wouldn't call modified M3s to use the Leicavit-MP a "poor mans" MP it was an expensive conversion. One of the reasons the life span of the MP was short was the introduction of the M2 which offers many of the same features, and a built-in viewfinder for the 35mm lens. As for the usefulness of the Leicavit-MP, I have them mounted on ALL my M cameras (three M6s, 2 M4s and an ersatz MP) and they perform flawlessly. Being left eyed, I find them very useful.