I love my… I love my M3

[Boojay]

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Boojay,

that looks great!! Seems to be in beautiful condition.

I love the rendering of this Summicron 50mm.

 

Michael

 

Thanks Michael, yes I'm very pleased with it so far, condition seems very good, first film shot, now the wait for results.  

 

I purchased from a Leica dealer here in UK, including a 12 month warranty, but any issues with rangefinder calibration, lens calibration or shutter speed calibration need to be reported in the first 28 days so I will be testing as much as possible.   Only slight concern so far is that looking through viewfinder, the rangefinder patch looks quite dusty - spots very evident - not enough to make focussing a problem and I am thinking that something 62 years old is entitled to a few wrinkles!  

 

Anyhow, we'll see how it goes, really enjoying myself, I expect to be here with lots of questions shortly.

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[Adrian Lord]

 

M3 and super-angulon f4 21mm

 

 

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[AntonioF]

Finally I got back the M3 DS from 1955 from CLA. I bought it for cheap as the viewfinder was completely opaque/broken and I sent it to a lab in England for CLA and finder rebuild and I have to say that the results are impressive. I'm really looking forward to shoot this coming weekend.

 

 

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[hektor]

Finally I got back the M3 DS from 1955 from CLA. I bought it for cheap as the viewfinder was completely opaque/broken and I sent it to a lab in England for CLA and finder rebuild and I have to say that the results are impressive. I'm really looking forward to shoot this coming weekend.

 

Whom ever gave your M3 a CLA forgot to replace the spacer/washer under the film advance lever.

 

Here is my father's M3 of similar vintage:

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[AntonioF]

Whom ever gave your M3 a CLA forgot to replace the spacer/washer under the film advance lever.

 

Here is my father's M3 of similar vintage:

 

If you refer to the diameter of the spacer, it looks like early M3 DS models have a smaller one.

I can't see the SN, but your father's seems to be a slightly later model (maybe even from the same year), in fact it has a frameline selector.

The strange thing with my M3 is the screw in the shutter button. Who knows why it is there but I decided not to change that.

[Likaleica]

Just got this bad boy today from eBay.  It was manufactured the same time I was, early 1955.  Looks great and functions great.  Amazing quality after 62.5 years.

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Edited May 31, 2018 by Likaleica

[Likaleica]

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Sorry, it keeps loading rotated.

[Michael Geschlecht]

Hello Likaleica,

 

Nice photo. Not to worry.

 

Beside that: Many Leica users & others hold their cameras rotated 45 or so degrees clockwise or counterclockwise when focusing in order to better visualize the movement of the 2 images.

 

As a matter of fact, years ago, there was a maker of fine quality, equivalent to Leitz/Leica cameras called Alpa (Same name & same logo as the maker today. But different people & different cameras. A long story.) who made some of their cameras with split image range/viewfinders that showed a diagonal movement of the secondary image while the camera was being held horizontally.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

Edited May 31, 2018 by Michael Geschlecht

[AntonioF]

wrong post. sorry.

Edited June 3, 2018 by AntonioF

[gbealnz]

Joined the M3 fold as well, something I had long wanted, a birth-year camera.

Summaron was part of the kit, and while not the preferred option, it is growing on me.

Looking for the 50mm to use 99% of the time.

Gary

 

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[mikemgb]

Joined the M3 fold as well, something I had long wanted, a birth-year camera.

Summaron was part of the kit, and while not the preferred option, it is growing on me.

Looking for the 50mm to use 99% of the time.

Gary

 

That's pretty! I bet it would look real good with a DR Summicron on it.

[hektor]

Joined the M3 fold as well, something I had long wanted, a birth-year camera.

Summaron was part of the kit, and while not the preferred option, it is growing on me.

Looking for the 50mm to use 99% of the time.

Gary

 

Dear Gary,

What a superb example of an M3.

Having both the DR Summicron and the rigid Summicron I suggest you don't pay the premium of the DR.

It is optically identical to the rigid and the extra weight detracts from the combination.

Your M3 is a 1955 camera whereby I suggest you look for a contemporary lens, IMHO the collapsible bayonet mount Summicron code SOOIC-M which performs as well as the later 1958 rigid except in the close-up range.

Have fun.

Edited June 28, 2018 by hektor

[gbealnz]

That's pretty! I bet it would look real good with a DR Summicron on it.

LOL, you oughta know, and thank you for all the assistance, 

Gary

[gbealnz]

Dear Gary,

What a superb example of an M3.

Having both the DR Summicron and the rigid Summicron I suggest you don't pay the premium of the DR.

It is optically identical to the rigid and the extra weight detracts from the combination.

Your M3 is a 1955 camera whereby I suggest you look for a contemporary lens, IMHO the collapsible bayonet mount Summicron code SOOIC-M which performs as well as the later 1958 rigid except in the close-up range.

Have fun.

Hektor,

 

Thank you.

 

Yes, happy as a kid at Christmas, and despite what my "state-side" helper suggested, I am leaning that way as well.

 

Right now I have a C&N 50mm to play with, but either before or during our Europe trip the similar vintage Summicron will be sought/found.

 

I have little use for the close-up segment of R/F photography, the Leicaflex is perfect for that.

Gary

[Ernest]

Joined the M3 fold as well, something I had long wanted, a birth-year camera.

Summaron was part of the kit, and while not the preferred option, it is growing on me.

Looking for the 50mm to use 99% of the time.

Gary

Awesome! I am still waiting for my M3 to emerge from an overhaul CLA, and this shot of your new find is making me very anxious. I love the original DR that came with my M3, but I would follow Hektor’s advice. Happy hunting.

[Timmyjoe]

My M3 just got some new playmates. Always been a big fan of Nikkor rangefinder glass. Hit the jackpot as an individual was selling three Nikkors in LTM, 5cm f1.4, 8.5cm f2.0 and 13.5cm f3.5 he found at an estate sale. All with pristine glass, perfectly calibrated, and with hoods and filters. They render quite nicely with my Canon 35mm f1.8.

 

 

Sometimes the camera gods smile on us.

 

Best,

-Tim

Edited July 2, 2018 by Timmyjoe

[AdamSinger]

Its 1975 we had just got married, doing up a house, needed a new bathroom suite, avocado: is there any other 1970s colour, on way to buy it. Pass a camera shop, there was a used M3 in the window, same price as the avocado bathroom suite. Bought M3, I got to enjoy sleeping on the floor in the spare room for a night or two. Still have the M3, and the Mrs. The M3 got it so right first time. This is not to say that other Ms don't have their appeal, especially the M5, or the convenience of the M6/7 but all M Leicas are either an M3 or an M3 that has been 'developed' and not always for the better. A good M3 is smooth, accurate, with those wonderful depth of field indicators in the rangefinder patch. We talk about the purity and simplicity of Leica M rangefinders, but that is a contemporary re-invention and we can forget than in late 1950s the M Leica was marketed in caps as ’THE MOST ADVANCED CAMERA’ (which it was ) at the heart of the worlds most complicated 35mm do any thing photographic system. The M3 was the apotheosis of rangefinder form, a sublime camera but also a product that changed the photographic industry for ever. The M3 left Nikon and Canon nowhere to go , so they turned to SLRs, and thus ironically the M3 was the nemesis of Lietz. Post M3 they were -in industrial terms- never to be as great again , however that Leica is still here is because the M3 design in its latest M10 guise is so useable. I have owned every model of M and if I could only have one it would be my M3.

Edited August 7, 2018 by AdamSinger

[hektor]

Adam, your eulogy for the M3 hit the right spot today as I packed my M7 0.85 à la carte off to Wetzlar for the fourth time.  It has been the most unreliable camera I have ever had.  It is said that modern politically correct solder is not permitted to have any lead content and the substitute used by Leica is brittle and unreliable.  So, dust of the good old reliable M3.

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[Ghille Moire]

I'm new here. I've been a medium format (Rollei, Hassy, etc.) junkie for years, ever since I discovered the square format (can't explain it   ) back in the late 70s. I'm also a photography instructor at a small community college, where I've kept the darkroom course alive for 19 years now (more popular than ever these days), while teaching digital imaging courses. So, I'm not an analog holdout - I like it all.

 

A combination of things are contributing to my wanting to return to my 35mm roots.
• First, I'm retiring next summer. I'm going to need to simplify my photo gear, based on portability and ease of use. I've been using a Fuji X-Pro digital, which I was attracted to because you set the f-stop and shutter old school-style. But I have found the Fuji very disappointing as far as ease of use (digital viewfinder). I just want a camera I can put to eye (or hip) and make photos, not mess with an on-board computer! 
• Second, some of my earliest photos were on the streets of San Francisco, where I wielded my Pentax H3 (no meter) with reckless abandon (we all want a piece of our youth back, no?) 
• Many of the photographers that I admire most use rangefinder 35mm, usually Leica.

• Finally, I'm at the point where I feel I can treat myself to a fine Leica M3 from the year I was born.

The one I decided to buy has just been CLA'd by Youxin Ye, guaranteed for a full year. I probably should have asked here first, but I bought a modern Summarit 35 f2.5 ASPH lens for it. I'm planning on just having one lens for this camera.

 

Here's a couple of pics.

 

Thanks!

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[Xelor]

" I probably should have asked here first, but I bought a modern Summarit 35 f2.5 ASPH lens for it. I'm planning on just having one lens for this camera."

 

The M3 viewfinder doesn't support 35mm lens natively. Either you use a 35mm lens with "googles" on the M3 or you need an external optical viewfinder supporting 35mm framing.