Value of a Leica M3

[sako]

I discovered a M3 last week in a warehouse belonging to a friend which had belonged to his elderly father. A call to my friend's father ascertained that the camera had less than a dozen fims through it. The body was manufactured arround July 1959 and is cosmetically near mint with a couple of very slight bright marks on the base, probably caused by the screw on the Leica never ready case it was stored in. There is absolutely no dings or scatches or wear marks and the vulcanite is complete. It comes with a Sumicron 35/F2 lens with Leica cap attatched.

The shutter speeds all sound good. The curtains look to be in perfect condition and the inside of the camera looks like brand new. The rangefinder lines up perfectly at infinity. The viewfinder shows no sign of separation. The lens is smooth to focus, the aperture blades look as they should and the aperture changes are smooth and normal in operation.

That's the good part; now for a few negatives. The film advance lever is not as smooth as it should be. The 1 second speed is about 1.2 secs. The viewfinder contains some slight dust on the inside and is very slightly hazy. The lens has what looks like a mild degradation of the front coating and contains a partial finger print on one side which of course has eaten into the coating, although the area is quite small.

I have acess to a very experienced retired Leica trained repairman who still does some work and loves working on the older leicas. I will get him to give a full assessment of the cost of servicing the camera when he comes back from his holiday. I'm figuring it will be expensive if he has to dismantle the viewfinder to clean it, plus the cost of a complete lube and adjustment.

My friend who knows next to nothing about Leicas wants to sell the camera. I no longer use Leicas otherwise I'd buy it myself. Is it worth having any work done first or should he just put it on ebay as is? What would be the value (price) as is and/or after servicing? Thanks in advance for any replies.

[luigi bertolotti]

An M3 in good condition is a camera that has always a market for it, and the small signs you speak of make me think it could be rated as a "B" or "B-" in collectors terms.

I think (reasoning in Euro) that the BODY could easily fetch, like is, something around 6-700 Euros (basing my evaluation on prices at european shops: M3, as I said, are always on the market, in lot of conditions, variants, prices...).

The LENS is a separate item to deal: but you ought to specify which Summicron 35 is it: it can be with the "goggles" (optical attachment that enlarged the VF field, that is for 50-90-135) or not (in this case, isn't there a separate external viewfinder shoe-fitting ?).
And it can be of various version, depending on age... can be a "Wetzlar" model, a "Canada" model, a "8 element" a "6 element"... it was a famous lens which had many many variants: difficult to give an approx value without (A) Serial number (B) Detailed description and/or a pair of pictures.

As you say, a restoration can be costly, and my idea is that it doesn't worth if the goal is SELLING : difficult you can get paid for it... even if the camera "looks as new" it couldn't probably go to the TOP pricing, which is for bodies complete with original case, invoice, even the factory QC card... Roughly speaking, I'd say that a cost of, say, 3-400 Euros is difficult to be completely ADDED to the sale price you can get with "like is" selling on ebay.
Restoration is convenient if one plans to USE... M3 is a legendary and fantastic camera to use, still capable of superb shots, with a unique handling, and on which you can put a number of excellent lenses, both costly (new or used good Leica lenses), and rather cheap (some old Leica lenses, and the modern Voigtlander lenses).

Finally... you say the M3 is "around 1959" : i suppose is surely a "single stroke version" (one lever movement to advance film and cock the shutter)... can you post the serial number ?

And... welcome to this forum !! Maybe your destiny is to be a "casual member" but you really reached the right place for your questions...

[stunsworth]

I sold an M3 recently on eBay and it sold for £325. It sounds as if it wasn't in quite as good a condition as the one you have.

If your looking at dealer prices, reduce them by about 20% to get an idea of what you'd get if you sold it privately.

Completed ads on eBay are a good way of finding out what some things' selling for. There'll be some variations, but you'll get an idea of the approximate value.

[sako]

Thank you gentlemen for your replies which have completely answered my question. I made an error in saying the lens was a 35/F2; it's actually a 50/F2. Yes it is a single stroke.

The serial number of the camera is 963 706 and the lens number is 1541260.
According to a list of M3 serial numbers that I looked up, numbers starting from 963 001 had no more ear leg - which I presume means the eye for attaching a strap changed to the little round ones.

[luigi bertolotti]

Camere is from 1959, as you said... the 50 mm lens was probably bought with the camera itself : its number belongs to some time early (1957) but nothing strange... M3 and Summicrons 50 were built and sold in thousands in that years... Leitz didn't worry about "just in time"...
The Summicron is surely a collapsible model: very common and very good lens still up to today standards... items with signs (but not SCRATCHES) on front elements can be found in the range of 2-300 Euros: can find many examples for sale on the net.

M3 + Summicron 50 is the epythome of Leitz success after WWII... like Leica III + Elmar 50 before... one of the symbols of Germany renaissance after the storm... a superclassic "collectible-user" that can be easily sold: I don't track ebay (and don't know the rules), but I'd say the better thing is to put it for sale with no hurry, and wait for offers to rise...

[earleygallery]

Hi,

Your friend could put an here in the buy/sell forum.

If selling on e bay I would sell as is, describe the condition well with lots of photos to show how good it is, and sell the body/lens separately.

If you sold to a dealer they would need to factor in the cost of a full CLA which varies from £100 upwards. I asked Leica UK for the approx cost of a CLA on an M2 and was told £350 + depending if it needed any parts etc.

As the M3/Summicron are not rare items, collectors would not be interested unless it was truly in Mint condition (and usually they want boxed items).

[sako]

Thanks guys.

The lens is not a collapsible and has quite a large front element being an F2. I'll advise my friend to sell 'as is' as you have suggested. I looked on ebay and there's quite a variation in prices and a couple described as mint or mint- which are 'anything but' looking at the pictures. The older Leicas certainly are beautifully made cameras in comparison to the plastic hi-tech junk of today.

[luigi bertolotti]

Sorry... I made an error declaring the lens "surely of the collapsible type" ... really, the "rigid" Summicron 50 was announced later, but items with numbering into the 1.5xx.xxx range do exist, indeed.

[rontr6]

Further to the above advice, as an experienced Ebayer I would sell the lens and camera separately, you tend to get a better price and more interest. Someone might have a lens and want a body or vice versa.
Ron

[psamson]

I am new to the Leica Forums. Thank you for the valuable insights in this thread.

We recently found the M3 of my wife's Father (now deceased). It hasn't been used in perhaps 30 years, serial 750xxx, two lenses, and appears to be in excellent condition. We are still debating whether to keep it or sell it.

[dkpeterborough]

Originally Posted by psamson

I am new to the Leica Forums. Thank you for the valuable insights in this thread.

We recently found the M3 of my wife's Father (now deceased). It hasn't been used in perhaps 30 years, serial 750xxx, two lenses, and appears to be in excellent condition. We are still debating whether to keep it or sell it.

One option might be to sell the camera but keep the lenses and use them on an M8? What is the functional condition(s) like?

Cheers

dunk

[psamson]

Originally Posted by dkpeterborough

One option might be to sell the camera but keep the lenses and use them on an M8? What is the functional condition(s) like?

Cheers
dunk

I need to get the camera body assessed, and the lenses appear to be in fabulous shape. I'll post more details soon on the lenses.

I'd love to purchase a M8, but am not sure it goes well with the family budget...

[luigi bertolotti]

Originally Posted by psamson

I need to get the camera body assessed, and the lenses appear to be in fabulous shape. I'll post more details soon on the lenses.

I'd love to purchase a M8, but am not sure it goes well with the family budget...

USE IT !!! M3 with a pair of lenses is a nice set to use, and a fine equipment to have.

[psamson]

Originally Posted by psamson

I need to get the camera body assessed, and the lenses appear to be in fabulous shape. I'll post more details soon on the lenses.

I'd love to purchase a M8, but am not sure it goes well with the family budget...

I got the M3 out of the storage box again. So here is my (deceased) Father-in-law's former equipment:
- M3, serial 7507xx, possibly a IIf model
- M3 light meter (attaches on top)
- Summicron 50mm, f2, serial 11741xx
- Summaron 35mm, f3.5, serial 11798xx
- fitted, brown leather case
- I would say everything is in good shape and functional

I saw the input about selling the lens separately from the M3 body. Does anyone have any guesstimates on price ranges? I'll be looking around at eBay, etc.

Peter
Seattle, USA