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Yesterday I was able to buy a very well-preserved M3 Dounle Stroke with buddha ears (from 1958). The camera works perfectly. It also came with an Elmar 1:2.8 /50 (from 1961) also in good condition.

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Nice!  I’ve tried the DS and I just cannot get used to it and switch to SS anything. Either I forget the second stroke or I try to do the second stroke on the SS! Beautiful looking camera.

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Posted (edited)

Looks like a nice clean camera.

A M3 DS was my first Leica (bought in 1980, very used). I changed it for a M2 because I preferred wider lenses, but was glad not to have a double stroke to wind on.

Edited by LocalHero1953
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Good find! I was given a 1955 DS that had been stored in a hot Texas attic and needed new curtains and a lot of work, and had to re-cover as well. But it was a joy to use. Recently gave it to my son who expressed interest in film and in my collection. I still have a 1960 SS M3, but some of the features on the DS (glass pressure plate, snap-shut rear door, etc) were unique.

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2 hours ago, kivis said:

What are the advantages or disadvantages of the glass plate?

Leitz originally thought there would be less chance of static discharge with fast film advance, and they had good flatness. However, costly to make and potentially more fragile - I recall a story in a Leica Photography issue in the 1960s about an M3 dropped by a skydiver when his chute opened a few thousand feet high. It landed in a farm field and was still working - but when serviced found the pressure plate was broken.

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On 3/4/2025 at 10:59 AM, kivis said:

What are the advantages or disadvantages of the glass plate?

I believe, although I could be mis-remembering, that the glass plate was also more prone to scratching the film, but it may be that it developed rougher edges.  After all they are 50 years old.

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Nice. I had a M3DS is the 80's and sold it to get a Mamiya 645. Last year I came across someone selling a transitional SS with 50mm Summirit for $1200 bucks. I jumped on it, had DAG service it and it's waiting for me to get a weekend off to test it.

That's it before the service. The meter is dead of course but I bought a KEK version to use on it

 

DSC_4017.JPG

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Am 4.3.2025 um 19:50 schrieb TomB_tx:

 

Leitz originally thought there would be less chance of static discharge with fast film advance, and they had good flatness. However, costly to make and potentially more fragile - I recall a story in a Leica Photography issue in the 1960s about an M3 dropped by a skydiver when his chute opened a few thousand feet high. It landed in a farm field and was still working - but when serviced found the pressure plate was broken.

You are possibly refering to the story of this SL2? 

Leicaflex SL2 MOT Highway to the Danger Zone

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13 minutes ago, skahde said:

You are possibly refering to the story of this SL2? 

Leicaflex SL2 MOT Highway to the Danger Zone

Interesting - no - the article I read (In the USA  published" Leica Photography" magazine) was about a skydiver dropping an M3 when the strap broke as his chute opened, It talked about how he found it (after landing) in the muddy field and cleaned the mud off the lens and tried the shutter - it worked. He sent it for service and it specifically mentioned the cracked glass pressure plate as the only real damage - which was only on early M3 DS cameras. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

While looking for a collapsible Elmar 4/90mm some twenty years ago, I found one from 1954, but it came with a M3 DS with glass pressure plate and no preview lever from 1954 and a very nice Summarit 1.5/50mm. I am still happy with all three!

Lex

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