Beginner's M3 E39 Questions

[taymour]

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I recently inherited an M3 from my father and I'm slowly learning how to use it. It has a 50mm summicron lens and I have just found some E39 filters which screw onto it. One says UVA and the other says GGr on the side. I have no idea what they do... I'd be enormously grateful if someone could guide me. The Leica manual I downloaded doesn't mention anything about them. I also found some screw on bits that look similar but which say close up +1, +2 and +3 for summarit C... Those don't fit so I'm assuming they're for another lens. Am I right? And what do they do? Apologies in advance for what I imagine are silly questions. Hugely grateful for any help.

Thanks.

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[danmitch]

Hi

 

The UVA filter cuts UV light, these would have been used to reduce haze or colour casts but modern film is relatively insensitive to this now. The most common use today is to protect the front element of a lens from dust, scratches or other damage.

 

The GGr (Green) filter would be used in Black and White photography to lighten trees / grass etc. and darken skies.

 

The Close up "filters" are actually lenses that would screw into the front of another lens to enable close focussing for close up work, the numbers refer to the dioptre or magnification factor. Close up filters would normally be used with SLR cameras where you can see the image the lens is actually viewing via the viewfinder, unlike your M3 with its separate finder.

 

Not silly questions at all!

 

Best - Dan

[taymour]

Thank you so much! That's very helpful.