My Dream Camera Set Up

Nov 28

Written By John Hendrick, Street Photographer

My Dream Camera Setup (That I Didn’t Even Know I Was Dreaming About)

This is the dream camera setup I didn’t even realize I was dreaming about.

A few days ago, I made a LinkedIn post about some recent conversations around AI and how shooting film has become my way of navigating all of it (spoiler: I picked up a new film camera). If you want to read that part, head over to my LinkedIn; that’s where I tend to drop spontaneous thoughts. Here, I want to dive into how it happened and what it’s taught me in this first month of shooting. I’ll Share some images below.

So… I bought the Leica MP.

I’ve owned the Leica M3 before, basically the same camera, just without a light meter. Most people will argue the M3 is the best-built Leica ever made, but that’s a debate for another time.

So how did I end up with the MP?

This is where it sounds a little wild, but it’s honestly what happened.

Most of you know I’ve been shooting with the M11-P as my only camera. It’s incredible in every way… but lately the process has started to feel a little — don’t kill me, automatic.

I know.
“Automatic” on a mostly manual camera?
John, what are you talking about?

Hang with me.

The beauty of digital is the freedom to shoot endlessly, as long as your card and battery can handle it. You can check the frame, correct immediately, adjust, and keep going. And trust me: I love all of that. It lets me chase the moment and get as close as possible to what I’m seeing in my head.

But… I hadn’t talked to anyone about this yet, so poke holes if you want in the comments. Something about that freedom was also removing the mystery. Removing the tension. Removing the risk.

Maybe after leaving the military, I’m missing a little excitement in my life. Who knows.

Austin, Greg, an MP… and “famous last words.”

I went to Austin to catch up with my buddy Greg Hatton. Of course, he was walking around with his M6. He introduced me to Kevin Arnold, who was shooting with a Leica MP (Black Paint).

So now I’m standing there like:
“Alright, did everyone get the memo except me?”

We started talking about film, process, differences, and the experience. And the more we talked, the more I realized this was exactly what I had been craving:

The thrill of not knowing if I got the shot.
The wait.
Trusting myself again.
Relying on instinct, not instant feedback.

Because if you don’t know: shooting a rangefinder isn’t like shooting through the lens (M-EV1 excluded). You have to visualize your depth of field. You have to imagine what’s actually inside the frame.

So I said the magic words:
“Let’s head to the camera shop. If they have an MP, I’m probably going to buy it.”

Famous last words.

Precision Camera had one.
You know the rest.

Now the “setup” part.

At the time, I already had a few lenses:

Leica 50mm f/1.5 LTM
TTartisan 28mm f/5.6
Leica 24mm f/2.8
Voigtländer 75mm f/1.5 LTM

All great lenses for their own reasons — but none of them felt right for the MP + 35mm film combo.

The 50 LTM is perfect for the M11-P because it knocks down that 60mp clinical sharpness, but on film? Different story.
The 24mm is big, and I wasn’t carrying the shoe-mount finder everywhere.
The 75mm felt too tight for what I wanted to make.
The 28mm f/5.6 was the closest match: tiny, clean frame lines, wide enough… maybe too wide.

I almost convinced myself to buy the Leica 28mm 5.6 and call it a day.
(And yes, I’ll admit it — I wanted a Leica lens on the Leica MP. Judge me if you want.)

But after running a few rolls through each lens, something clicked:
The 28mm 5.6 won on experience alone — but the shooting still didn’t feel “home.”

Enter the 35mm.

I love 50mm, but I wanted something different. Something that would feel personal to the MP. Something that brought me closer to the frame without going full 28mm.

After too many late-night searches, reviews, forums, YouTube rabbit holes…
I landed on the 35mm Summicron V4.

Yes — the one with the ugly plastic hood.
But I replaced it with the 12504 round vented hood, which is a game-changer for looks.

Picked it up from Tamarkin Camera (check them out — great people).