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I just had it overhauled. 1962.

Loving the viewfinder with a 50 mm.

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Dear Oliton,

Beautiful camera.  New strap eyelets are available to replaced the "chewed" ones on your M3.  It is an easy and not expensive exercise.  I use nylon blind cord as a camera strap to preserve mine.

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I also liked my M3 until it started leaking light in through the rear cover plate/door. After several attempts to try and remedy this problem with black sticky tape around the hinge and openings I gave up. I now have a M6 panda , not quite the same as the M3 but it would be my second choice.

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The design that I like...the culmination of the beautiful mechanics. 

M3, 1954

Nagra III, 1958

Omega Speedmaster, 1957

 

 

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Hi, just joined the club.

Bought a repainted M3 SS. There is just something different with pure mechanical camera.

Wish i have the summicron 50mm to match.

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38 minutes ago, tmnt88 said:

Hi, just joined the club.

Bought a repainted M3 SS. There is just something different with pure mechanical camera.

Wish i have the summicron 50mm to match.

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A soft release on an M3, how could you? 😊 (only joking).

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10 hours ago, Penzes said:

Very nice.  I have a nearly identical late serial M3 and rigid summicron.  Such a wonderful setup.

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15 hours ago, bayernfan said:

Very nice.  I have a nearly identical late serial M3 and rigid summicron.  Such a wonderful setup.

What a beautiful combination.  I am impressed that you are using a period lens with the M3.

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It has been a really long time since I posted here . After I was really burnt by the M8 release fiasco and some horrific Leica service of out of box faulty lenses, I threw my toys out of the cot and sold all my Leica gear out of spite – never a good idea. Anyway, nearly 15 years later I'm back again. There's nothing like a Leica and I've always missed my M3.

So... Do Leica still overhaul M3 cameras? Are they able to tune and / or replace the shutter curtains, replace all light seals and fix any issues in the RF? Are there any other people out there doing M3 restoration repairs that are good at communicating and are able to do the job in reasonable time? I live in the South Pacific, so local options are non-existent.

Just checking because I've had a few M3's that have developed weird light leaks that no-one here could fix, and at the time no-one knew where to send it for a proper going over – Leica themselves wouldn't look at it for some reason. Might have been the local distributors simply not being interest though, I have no idea.

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Good morning TJV,

Earlier this year, when I last spoke to the Kundendienst at Wetzlar I was advised they were still servicing all M cameras.  They gave my M2 a CLA a few years ago, however I had my M3 serviced by Charles Bridgwood in Adelaide and he did a fabulous job.

Best wishes,

Hektor

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TJV

A further thought, if you have not yet bought a replacement M3 my advice is to make sure the viewfinder is not discoloured before you buy.  Wetzlar does fit a replacement viewfinder but it is of a later design and IMHO not as good.

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6 hours ago, hektor said:

TJV

A further thought, if you have not yet bought a replacement M3 my advice is to make sure the viewfinder is not discoloured before you buy.  Wetzlar does fit a replacement viewfinder but it is of a later design and IMHO not as good.

Thanks, Hektor,

Good to know, thanks! Never heard of Charles Bridgwood, so if it comes to it it's good to know there's another contact closer than Germany. I live in New Zealand.

When you say Viewfinder discolouration, do you mean the slight blue tint they can develop? I seem to remember my old M3 had this but it didn't matter, or at least I hardly noticed it. Do some of them degrade to a really bad state, or affect the RF patch negatively?

Thanks again for your reply!

T

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1 hour ago, tjv said:

When you say Viewfinder discolouration, do you mean the slight blue tint they can develop?

 

Dear T.,

I have never seen it, but have heard a lot; generally that it is yellow or the rangefinder completely blanks out.  I inherited the M3 from my father and it is in perfect nick as you can see from the above photos.  Its viewfinder is as clear and clean as any more modern M camera, so be guided by that comparison.  Have a look at as many as possible before buying, or if over the internet then only from reputable dealer of which there are few.  I bought my IIIf through Don Goldberg aka DAG dagcam@chorus.net , so another alternative is to ask Don to source a good M3 for you.  I have had considerable work also done by him and have found him totally reliable and with reasonable prices.

Best wishes in finding the M3 of your dreams.

Sincerely

Hektor

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