Gonna buy another M3.

[kshapero]

Yep, just can't resist. Thinking of getting a double stroke version but not a glass plate. Never had that style. Here I go.

 

[owlie]

The best IMO. For a rangefinder I feel EBL + both eyes open > frame lines.

 

[Mackinaw]

I totally get it. Last year I sent my DS M3 off to Kanto for a complete overhaul. It took four months, but it came back in brand new condition. The M3 will always be my favorite 35mm camera.

Jim B.

 

[Evergreen States]

Love my M3 DS. No idea what the pressure plate on mine is made of but it sure seems to keep the film flat.

 

[Pioneer]

Yep, just can't resist. Thinking of getting a double stroke version but not a glass plate. Never had that style. Here I go.

Enjoy. They are marvelous cameras. Lately all I have been buying is film and that alone has kept my bank account in seeming perpetual agony. But I'm glad someone is still buying gear.

 

[JohnWolf]

I use an M2 but am keen to try an M3 and see what all the hubbub is about. Enjoy yours!

 

[mdarnton]

I had two DS M3s with the glass plate when I was shooting daily news half a century ago. Never a problem, great camera. It was really hard to get used to single stroke because the DS dislodges your right hand much less from shooting position. Have wondered if my M4s could be made into DS cameras with M3 winding levers.

 

[splitimageview]

I usually double wind the single strokes.

 

[rfaspen]

My poor M3 needs some attention from DAG. As a result, I just grab the M2 if I feel like doing a film day. Putting off that trip to the spa for my M3....

 

[Harry the K]

I don´t get the advantage of ds versus ss. Can anybody tell me?

 

[oldwino]

I use an M2 but am keen to try an M3 and see what all the hubbub is about. Enjoy yours!

It's all about the viewfinder...if you're partial to 50mm & 90mm it is great.

 

[JeffS7444]

I don´t get the advantage of ds versus ss. Can anybody tell me?

IMO, Leica cameras from the late 1950s-early 1960s are among the prettiest in terms of camera as a work of machinist's art. The M3 DS falls within this era. Newer M3 cameras gained functionality in the form of single-stoke film advance, a depth of field indicator, and preview lever. But earlier cameras had lovely details such as a bright, spun-finish shutter speed dial, and ball-bearing latches for the door, all of which were subsequently "simplified" in later production.

 

[Harry the K]

This, Jeff, is a little contradictory to the quote from the Classic Camera Profiles from the site owner, Mr. Gandy:

"M3's with serial numbers over 1,000,000 havea premium placed on them, providing they are in collectible Mint- or bettercondition. Many people believe, rightly or wrongly, that these cameras are thehighpoint of Leitz craftsmanship. It was the end of production with a veryexperienced work crew of craftsman. The serial #'s over 1.1 million are evenmore highly regarded, for the exact same reasons. Most of the very last M3's (aprox1,000) had the later and in some people's mind less desirable M2 type lens release. Whether the later M3's really are better made by a small amount is not thatimportant in practical terms, that they sell for more is. "

???

 

[santino]

Makes sense, they probably got rid off „teething troubles“.

 

[Mackinaw]

I don´t get the advantage of ds versus ss. Can anybody tell me?

Early DS M3's had a glass pressure plate. Supposedly rapid film winding could cause static electricity, which would leave marks on the film. Leica used a dual-stroke advance to prevent this from happening.

I have a DS M3 (with glass pressure plate) and love how it works. Personal preference, of course.

Jim B.

 

[Godfrey]

It's all about the viewfinder...if you're partial to 50mm & 90mm it is great.

Last year I purchased an M6TTL with 0.85x magnification viewfinder, which is very very close to an M3 viewfinder feel. It's the most 'comfortable' viewfinder I'd had on an M in that I can actually see all the framelines from 35 to 135mm easily, and the focusing patch is larger as well. And when I want to use a 28 or wider lens, I just fit an accessory viewfinder for framing.

That M6TTL is about the nicest of the film Ms I've had over the years which included M2, M3, M4, M4-P, M4-2, M6, and M6TTL(.72x) models. I still have the early-production M4-2 as well, which has viewfinder optics identical to the original M4. This M6TTL 0.85x seems somehow tighter, smoother, and quieter than all the others, and the meter is absolutely superb.

G

 

[Retro-Grouch]

I don´t get the advantage of ds versus ss. Can anybody tell me?

The double stroke burns more calories. Double stroke users, in case you haven't noticed, are usually ripped!

 

[owlie]

I don´t get the advantage of ds versus ss. Can anybody tell me?

You can wind without taking the camera away from your eye.

 

[Retro-Grouch]

I don´t get the advantage of ds versus ss. Can anybody tell me?

Seriously, what I've read is that the DS, the original M3, was designed that way to put less stress on the wind lever and its gearing. When it became clear to Leica engineers that they could design a SS whose gearing could withstand pro use, they did so. For shooters who valued rapid handling (which would be most pro Leica shooters at that time), the SS made for a more appealing camera, though the increase in speed was marginal.
Remember that the DS M3 was Leica's first lever-wind camera, and a complete redesign of the Barnacks. I think they were still feeling their way through some aspects of the M design.

 

[Retro-Grouch]

You can wind without taking the camera away from your eye.

The majority of people are right eye dominant, so this is much less of an issue for them. We lefties are usually frustrated by the placement of wind levers.