jbl Posted November 25, 2011 Share #1 Posted November 25, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi, I have an M3 and a (modern) MP. I love both of the cameras, but lately I've been wondering how bright the rangefinder patch in the M3 is supposed to be. It's definitely dimmer and less contrasty than the MP finder, on the other hand it's 50 years old. There are some specs of dust in it, but nothing that bothers me, it's more the dimness sometimes makes it harder to focus in indoor light. Outdoors it's not really a problem. Thanks for any help! -jbl Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 25, 2011 Posted November 25, 2011 Hi jbl, Take a look here How contrasty should the M3 rf patch be?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
cbretteville Posted November 25, 2011 Share #2 Posted November 25, 2011 My 1957 M3 has an RF patch that has only slightly lower contrast than my M8 and M6 (upgraded to MP optics). Not much difference though, it is probably mostly due to the slight yellow/orange tint of the patch that the modern finders don't have. My M3 had a full CLA by Don Goldberg a couple of years ago, prior to that the finder was a lot harder to use. Carl Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbl Posted November 25, 2011 Author Share #3 Posted November 25, 2011 Thanks. So it's probably just that it needs to be cleaned out in there? There are a few specs of dust on it now, but there's not an issue with balsam separation. I take it the de-silvering problem manifests as the rangefinder patch disappearing entirely? -jbl Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbretteville Posted November 26, 2011 Share #4 Posted November 26, 2011 As fas as i can see from online references that is correct, desilvering would cause a blackout. Carl Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted November 26, 2011 Share #5 Posted November 26, 2011 As fas as i can see from online references that is correct, desilvering would cause a blackout. Carl Yes, it happened to an old M2 of mine... I didn't take care of, using it (years and years ago) as my "Viso-dedicated" body - MD-like... ; btw, a lab in Italy proposed me to exchange the whole VF/RF assembly with one spare M4 assembly they had in house, at a very reasonable cost, but passed away. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyoung Posted November 26, 2011 Share #6 Posted November 26, 2011 My M3 shows similar tendencies compared to my M6ttl. A similar trait with my III was cured by resilvering, so I will get that done on the M3 at some point, although at the moment its not bad enough to be a problem Gerry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smdavey Posted November 27, 2011 Share #7 Posted November 27, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) if you get a CLA. do you get a new wax seal? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaques Posted November 27, 2011 Share #8 Posted November 27, 2011 I have owned several M3's and they all had different degrees of brightness to their RF patches... The oldest one (a dual stroke) is the brightest of all- and it also has a bluish tint. That one is so bright- it seemed to me to be as good or better than my M9. In fact it is my favourite finder: I really like having solid instead of partial frame lines- and only having 3 sets of lines. From memory Solms will replace an m3 finder for one from an m6 if you send it in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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