1750Shooter
Established
I owe all you Leica owners an apology. years age I owned a 'blad & was unimpressed. I assumed that Leicas were another anacronistic cult toy & ignored them(my format is 6x6 anyway). Was offered a huge deal on an R3 & 35mm lens so I thought, "What the hell, I'll play with it." WOW! I am just blown away by the build quality & smoothness. I know I'm going to keep this one! I know it's not an M, so I'm not really part of the One True Faith, but I'm close. So, my apologies for thinking Leicas were merely overpriced bling. 
DamenS
Well-known
Cool - now just wait till you get to try a REAL Leica !
Gary E
Well-known
So, my apologies for thinking Leicas were merely overpriced bling.
Well you obviously didn't price out an alacarte M7 or MP, see the latest M9/M9P pricing, check the lens market in these scarce times nor did you check what the S System costs (their new Digital SLR). If you go down to your local Leica Boutique (many are opening up around the world but how without stock you might ask...) you'll see your original statement isn't too far off.
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FrankS
Registered User
So, you were incorrect twice.
That's happened to me more often.
That's happened to me more often.
David Murphy
Veteran
The R3 is a smooth camera indeed. The next step in your conversion process will be to try out an M3 with any Leica prime lens from that era - that should fully bring you into the fold
cambolt
Green Spotted Nose Turtle
Or buy an old dog of an M2 for nothing and realise that your spotmatic is smoother
I still love my Leica though
I still love my Leica though
dave lackey
Veteran
I owe all you Leica owners an apology. years age I owned a 'blad & was unimpressed. I assumed that Leicas were another anacronistic cult toy & ignored them(my format is 6x6 anyway). Was offered a huge deal on an R3 & 35mm lens so I thought, "What the hell, I'll play with it." WOW! I am just blown away by the build quality & smoothness. I know I'm going to keep this one! I know it's not an M, so I'm not really part of the One True Faith, but I'm close. So, my apologies for thinking Leicas were merely overpriced bling.
Apology accepted!
Don't let others BS you, the R system IS a real Leica, dammit! I use my R4 right along with my M3 professionally. No larger than the M, great meter, great build quality and very fun to use.Note: This is in jest... just ran out of smilies. But still the best built SLR I ever owned including the F5.
Teuthida
Well-known
Shoulda bought an SL! Now THAT is a real Leica SLR.
dave lackey
Veteran
What is with people here? The OP is happy with his purchase and everyone rains on his parade.... BS rain at that. Why?
What I want to see is the photographs made with the camera!
dave lackey
Veteran
I owe all you Leica owners an apology. years age I owned a 'blad & was unimpressed. I assumed that Leicas were another anacronistic cult toy & ignored them(my format is 6x6 anyway). Was offered a huge deal on an R3 & 35mm lens so I thought, "What the hell, I'll play with it." WOW! I am just blown away by the build quality & smoothness. I know I'm going to keep this one! I know it's not an M, so I'm not really part of the One True Faith, but I'm close. So, my apologies for thinking Leicas were merely overpriced bling.
Explain this "one true faith" thing... I am sure a number of professionals like Thorsten Overgaard, Doug Herr and a lot of others would like to know why owning an R camera is not acceptable.
If it is not acceptable, then the M8/M9 are not either as they use all of their sensors from...gasp...not Germany! So what's the difference?I am working, yes, working making a living with a $200 R4 and a $300 Cron 50. With a 30-year old R4 and a 40-year old M3.... and there is something unholy about this?
shadowfox
Darkroom printing lives
What is with people here? The OP is happy with his purchase and everyone rains on his parade.... BS rain at that. Why?
What I want to see is the photographs made with the camera!
Dave, relax
You know that R3 was made by Minolta, not Leitz.
So in the technical sense, it is not a "real" Leica.
Just like Contax C/Y SLRs (which are among my top favorite SLRs) are not true Contax, because Yashica made them.
But who cares, if the thread starter likes the camera, great! And most importantly, those glorious Summicron R lenses perform just as well.
DamenS
Well-known
Apology accepted!
LOL. Minolta says hello, David.
Why get so offended ? It certainly seems less offensive to me than writing a paean on Leica cameras and saying "Nikon and Canon are the refrigerators of the photographic world" for instance ! My comment was largely in jest (and partly educational). I certainly believe the R3 was one of the best Minolta cameras ever made ...
dave lackey
Veteran
LOL. Minolta says hello, David.
Why get so offended ? My comment was largely in jest (and partly educational). I certainly believe the R3 was one of the best Minolta cameras ever made ...
Not offended and if anyone thinks I am, I apologize. First, Leica R cameras were NOT made by Minolta. They were made in Portugal at the Leica factory. They did collaborate on the design with the electronics. Similar to Leica using Japanese sensors and such for the M9. That's the way industry works now and that is the way it worked then.
Globalization has been around for awhile.
I owned the Minolta camera that was similar to the Leica. I now own the Leica R4 and they are yes, similar, but not the same. I reckon that the % of "German made" of the Leicra R cameras was probably about the same or more than the M9 is today. BTW, what the heck is it about getting Made in Germany stamped on it anyway? I dunno.:angel:
taskoni
Well-known
LOL. Minolta says hello, David.
Why get so offended ? My comment was largely in jest (and partly educational). I certainly believe the R3 was one of the best Minolta cameras ever made ...
May be CL is better
The R system is a real Leica (that's what Dave is saying - he's not saying R3 is not Minolta made...) He's giving an example with his R4 - pretty real leica if you ask me when taking Leica R lenses... as well as my R7s and 6.2, so hello back
DamenS
Well-known
In fact, early R3's were made in Wetzlar, Germany.
For my part, I don't care where the camera is made. In some respects it would have been BETTER if they had been made by Minolta as all the electronic R series up to the R9 (which seems fine) have been afflicted by electronic problems which does not seem to have been the case with their Minolta brethren.
The problem (if you can call it that) with the R3 is that it is the R camera on which Leica clearly had the least design input (and that design input was absolutely minimal). The Leica R3 is almost entirely a Minolta design (Minolta XE-1) with a Leica lens mount, viewfinder, spot metering system and DOF lever. This is in direct contrast to, say, a Leica CL which - although made by Minolta - had significant design input from Leica. Of course, there are people who may argue that the R7 was the first "true" electronic Leica R camera (as regards design input) or even the R8 (as regards not even using a Minolta body casing etc).
None of which is really important. A good camera is a good camera, regardless of who designed it or where it was made. In this particular case however (the early R's) I would have preferred them to have been manufactured by Minolta.
For my part, I don't care where the camera is made. In some respects it would have been BETTER if they had been made by Minolta as all the electronic R series up to the R9 (which seems fine) have been afflicted by electronic problems which does not seem to have been the case with their Minolta brethren.
The problem (if you can call it that) with the R3 is that it is the R camera on which Leica clearly had the least design input (and that design input was absolutely minimal). The Leica R3 is almost entirely a Minolta design (Minolta XE-1) with a Leica lens mount, viewfinder, spot metering system and DOF lever. This is in direct contrast to, say, a Leica CL which - although made by Minolta - had significant design input from Leica. Of course, there are people who may argue that the R7 was the first "true" electronic Leica R camera (as regards design input) or even the R8 (as regards not even using a Minolta body casing etc).
None of which is really important. A good camera is a good camera, regardless of who designed it or where it was made. In this particular case however (the early R's) I would have preferred them to have been manufactured by Minolta.
DamenS
Well-known
May be CL is better
The R system is a real Leica (that's what Dave is saying - he's not saying R3 is not Minolta made...) He's giving an example with his R4 - pretty real leica if you ask me when taking Leica R lenses... as well as my R7s and 6.2, so hello back
Hmmn - maybe "tongue in cheek" didn't come across so well - I should have used a "smiley face" icon at the end of my original post. This is an old and tired and pointless debate. Any camera with a Leica badge on it is a "true Leica" in a sense (even those rebadged Panasonic Lx-3's etc).
The R7 and R6 (R6.2) were the first cameras in the R series where Leica had a significant design input, but once again, this is irrelevant (as is what lenses a camera is mounting - when we mount our Leica lenses on our Konica Hexar or our Nikon D700, we don't suddenly proclaim that the camera has become a "Leica").
Anyway - everybody KNOWS the only "true Leica" is the Leica M3 ... (yes - this is tongue in cheek ... or is it ?)
PS. The R3 is categorically NOT "Minolta made".
dave lackey
Veteran
Heh, tongue-in-cheek backfires on me a lot...what's up with that Crown Graphic? :angel:
Back OT, the OP has to post some pictures or, as they say tongue-in-cheek, it didn't happen!
DamenS
Well-known
The Crown Graphic was because I needed a small "walk around" camera ... ahem (actually people like Weegee used to do that so I shouldn't laugh too hard).
It's a well-made (almost Leica-esque) camera, but I don't find the wind-on to be as smooth ...
It is also probably the 2nd best camera Minolta ever made
PS. Don't tell anyone, but the rangefinder on mine doesn't actually work so it probably shouldn't be here.
I agree, post some pictures if you have them. I assume the 35 is the Summicron ?
You did well to get ANYTHING Leica for a good price at the moment !
It's a well-made (almost Leica-esque) camera, but I don't find the wind-on to be as smooth ...
It is also probably the 2nd best camera Minolta ever made
PS. Don't tell anyone, but the rangefinder on mine doesn't actually work so it probably shouldn't be here.
I agree, post some pictures if you have them. I assume the 35 is the Summicron ?
You did well to get ANYTHING Leica for a good price at the moment !
dave lackey
Veteran
I can only dream of a Speed Graphic.
In the meanwhile, we need pics of the R3 and images made by the same to dream of it, too.:angel:
In the meanwhile, we need pics of the R3 and images made by the same to dream of it, too.:angel:
Congrats on the R. Are you going to try a M now?