5 frames with a Leica M4-2, 35mm Summilux and Ektachrome

Hello, my name is Henry, I am 22 years old, and I live in Bristol. By day I work in a coffee roastery and by night I take photographs.

I have been shooting for about 3 years now. For me, simplicity is key, meaning I want to use as little lightweight equipment as possible. In this time I’ve had bought and sold few different bodies, starting with various Nikons. First I bought an FM2, then an F4 and ended up with a plain prism F2 which I still have, normally paired with the small 20mm f4 Nikkor.

Still unhappy with the size and weight – I was inevitably drawn to the rangefinder world. I rented Simon King’s chrome Leica M4 for a few weeks and was smitten, the size, weight and ergonomics were just perfect. I bought a barely functioning Kiev 4A to try and scratch the itch and this was good, but just not quite as sumptuous as the Wetzlar beauty.

Some Mastercard balance transfers later I became the proud owner of a Leica M4-2. I already knew the lens that just had to be selected, and so I went – I drove down to my home town of London and picked up a v2 Summilux 35mm from Red Dot Cameras. This lens is a real tour de force, the tiny size, light collecting potential and my preferred focal length really make it the perfect all rounder.

Fortunately, the good folks at Omnar lenses had just solved this lenses biggest problem – the lack of a filter thread – with a beautifully made brass replacement front rim. This was important to me as I love shooting slide film, and Ektachrome as well as the Fuji offerings could use a little warmth to really make those colours glow. B+W used to make warming filters in E39 size so I bought an 81B filter for the lens on eBay.

Here are five frames from over the new year. Shot on Kodak Ektachrome, in and nearby the city of Montpellier, France. Processing and scans by Photographique in Bristol. I love the saturated golden hour tones, which remind me of car magazine adverts from the late 1990s. I must note the slight vignette, which I expected when using a filter with this lens, however I don’t mind this as it I think it adds some weight to the images.

When I’m at home I prefer to shoot black and white, Tri-X is my stock of choice. Stay tuned as once I get through my development backlog I will be sharing more of my work.

Thank you for reading.

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