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38wadcutter

Great M3 with "goggles" in Kong: Skull Island

By 38wadcutter, in Leica M-A / M7 / MP and Film M

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38wadcutter   

38wadcutter
Posted

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Just saw Kong:Skull Island and the actress playing the photographer through out the movie uses a beautiful M3 with a 35 with goggles and a MR meter. The film is set in 1973 and the camera body looks like it has a custom tan leather finish as opposed to black vulcanite. Many close up shots of the viewfinder with frame lines appear as she's framing shots. I was impressed that they got it right from a historical viewpoint. Worth seeing the film just for this!

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lincoln_m   

lincoln_m
Posted

Personally I would have gone with M2 and 35mm summicron loaded with tri-x 400. But I guess they wanted something different looking and old. Sam L was sporting a nice pair of Colt 1902 .38cal automatic which had a distinct slim barrel but are also museum pieces. Great fun film in 3D IMAX.

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Michael Geschlecht   

Michael Geschlecht
Posted

Hello Everybody,

 

Actually, in 1973 the then current "M" camera available was the M5. The M2 had already been replaced with the M4 in 1967 at the same time that the M4 replaced the M3.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

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ehecatl   

ehecatl
Posted

I caught the movie last night here in Ankara! My family and I had a great time.
I was happy to see Alison Brie was shooting with a Leica. I think, though, that the body was the military version of the M4, the KE-7A? 

 

Best,

Santiago

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Michael Geschlecht   

Michael Geschlecht
Posted

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I caught the movie last night here in Ankara! My family and I had a great time.

I was happy to see Alison Brie was shooting with a Leica. I think, though, that the body was the military version of the M4, the KE-7A? 

 

Best,

Santiago

 

Hello Santiago,

 

I just checked again. It is a later model M3 with the shorter rewind release lever.

 

No canted rewind & no lowered top cover.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

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ehecatl   

ehecatl
Posted

Hello Again Santiago,

 

By the way: Welcome to the Forum.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

 

Thanks, Michael!

I've actually been a member of the forum since about 2003. I just don't post all that often (and this is the first time I've posted in the film forum section).

 

Best,

 

Santiago

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Nick Bedford   

Nick Bedford
Posted (edited)

That was really cool yet I never picked up on it being an M3, probably on account of the viewfinder goggles and light meter setup. Very cool! Although they showed the viewfinder focusing like it was an SLR through the lens

Edited by nickjbedford

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Michael Geschlecht   

Michael Geschlecht
Posted

That was really cool yet I never picked up on it being an M3, probably on account of the viewfinder goggles and light meter setup. Very cool! Although they showed the viewfinder focusing like it was an SLR through the lens

 

Hello Nick,

 

That is called "artistic license".

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

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alan mcfall   

alan mcfall
Posted

 

 

 

Just saw the movie, sorry I missed the forum thread in March.  I guess the lens is the 35/3.5 Summaron with removable goggle. She loads the  camera with Kodak Plus-X in one scene. This next photo shows the 3.5 lens serial number 1488,xxx, which is correct for the Summaron.

 

 

Here is shot through the viewfinder, not sure if the is the correct frame to be actuated by the 35 with goggle. 

they may have recreated the shot rather than actually photographing through the leica.  The round glass frame counter of the M3 is obvious in another shot.

 

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Michael Geschlecht   

Michael Geschlecht
Posted (edited)

Hello Alan,

 

The various "goggled" 35mm lenses quite correctly activate the 50mm frame. The 50mm frame is the 1 frame of the 3 frames in an M3 that has rounded corners.

 

The "goggles" expand the 50mm lens's field of view 1.5X left to right & 1.5X up & down to become the angle of coverage which accurately covers the field of view of a 35mm lens.

 

Also: M3's usually have a curved guard around the lens release button which M1's & M2's usually do not.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

Edited by Michael Geschlecht
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Michael Geschlecht   

Michael Geschlecht
Posted

Hello Everybody,

 

Another bit of "artistic license" in the photos just above:

M3's have the rounded frame in the photo above showing the field of view of a 50mm lens. But: The frame goes almost to the edges of what is visible in the range/viewfinder window.

 

And: The view thru & construction of the 50mm frame is much nicer & easier to use than the photo shows.

 

Don't forget that: Even though the M3 was introduced before the M2: The M3 is an UPGRADED M2. Nicer & better range/viewfinder, nice protective frames around windows & lens release button, etc.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

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Tom R   

Tom R
Posted

I found an image large enough to really see the camera. I've attached a very tight crop of the camera. The full size original is here: https://reggiestake.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/kong-skull-island-image-k8.jpg

 

 

 

For about five years, I used an M3 equipped with the 35mm goggles ... identical to the photograph you reference in your message. The only difference was the color and I never used a meter. That being said, this was one hell of a camera/lens combination. The one drawback (other than the size and weight) was working in low light. I reluctantly traded that camera and lens in the mid 1980's for an M2 and a "newer" 35mm Summicron, which I used for another ten years or so.

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Martin B   

Martin B
Posted (edited)

Leica M3 also plays a big role in episode 4 (the one where Margaret stars dating the photographer) of the latest Netflix series in season 2 of "The Crown". Highly recommended!

Edited by Martin B
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MarkP   

MarkP
Posted

Leica M3 also plays a big role in episode 4 (the one where Margaret stars dating the photographer) of the latest Netflix series in season 2 of "The Crown". Highly recommended!

 

 

Yes, it featured largely, even a comment by Snowden about how the Leica was so unobtrusive in use. 

Nice bit of product placement for Leica.

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