An M3 has landed!

[SolaresLarrave]

The UPS man must be new on the job. He came in the morning. Usually, the brown truck's deliveries around this area are later in the afternoon but today he probably took a day off and they sent another guy instead.

He brought me a Leica M3.

My wife asked: "What did you get this time?"

I said: "A fatherless Leica."

She replied: "Another?"

To which I said: "Yep!"

That was it!

The vulcanite is falling off. Very spontaneously. I must be careful. The top plate is kinda sorry looking, but the shutterspeeds sound fine, and the viewfinder is incredibly clear and well lit. Now the MR meter I purchased a while ago makes perfect sense! And my eyeglasses are protected (got some nifty rings from Aki in eBay).

The film advance is a bit strange (we're talking a DS here) but, in general shape, it looks fine. It's smaller than my M6TTL, and feels like it fits the hand better. Loading film isn't too bad, and rewinding it wasn't as difficult as I expected (I played with a roll of dummy film).

So, here it is!

 

[back alley]

the dark side is strong in this one...

i vote red!
for a cover that is.

congrats my friend and welcome to the land of no built in meter.

joe

 

[Todd.Hanz]

great "experienced" looking M3, looks like it knows what to do so let it do it! Can't wait to see how your meter works!

Todd

 

[taffer]

Congrats Francisco !!!! 😀 Agree with Todd, that's a seasoned camera. Now you only need a classic Chrome Summilux to go with it 🙄

Oscar (GAS Propagation Agent)

 

[rover]

A little TLC and a collapsible Summicron or Elmar is my vote.

 

[back alley]

i may have a canon collapsible that might go quite handsomely with that camera.

joe

 

[FrankS]

Congratulations, Francisco! My M3 is awaiting another cover from Mr. Aki Asahi. Have you dicided on a particular cover yet? Mine will be exotic.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

For now, given my scarce funds and a chiropractor visit that turned out to be a bit over the budget... I'll have to put off the collapsible Leica or FSU I had in mind. But not the Cameraleather! In fact, I was so ready that I got some eyeglass protection from Mr. Asaki (and the little rings came in today!). It's about time: two bits of vulcanite fell off while I was handling the camera.

Now... no wonder this camera has a following! Never in my life had I seen through a viewfinder like this one. The 'cron 50 looks as if I were seeing through the 35mm framelines in my M6TTL. And talk about the 'cron 90! The meter (got proof!) works like a charm too.

Only one slight problem: when I picked up the film from my "test drive", the lab girl said all the photos turned up ok except the last 4. Assuming she had included the negs, I didn't check until I came home a while later (I was running errands) and didn't find them. I checked if the shutter had died on me but no... so I hope I made the famous mistake of leaving the lens cap on.

Other than that... I even finished my book two nights ago and mailed it out to Holland today! 🙂

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Another dubious accomplishment: I just ordered the black VH material from Cameraleather.com. Let's see when it comes and how I can make some time to give this camera an about-face.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks for your nice comments! 🙂

 

[RML]

Congratulations, Francisco! My M3 is awaiting another cover from Mr. Aki Asahi. Have you dicided on a particular cover yet? Mine will be exotic.

"Exotic" like in "Paradise Pink", Frank? Or more like in "Japanesque Gold"? 😛

.

 

[RML]

Congrats, Fransisco!

I'm just wondering... isn't collecting Leicas a bit more expensive than collecting FEDs?

.

 

[chug]

I wish an M3 landed for me.. *looks up to the sky and puts on a hardhat* 😉

 

[Doug]

That's going to be one happy M3 when you're done spiffing it up, Francisco! And it'll make you a happy photog, I bet.

 

[thmk]

Congrats to this lovely piece of equipment. Must be M3 week this week. I got my DS back from CLA yesterday (after more than 4 weeks in Solms). Now my wallet is very empty but I am blinded by the bright finder. That was it worth 😀

 

[former member]

Congratulations on the M3! You get used to the double-stroke in no time. Just in "case", Leica made a case for the camera with meter mounted. I picked one up on Ebay for under $20.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Case? Remember Gil Gabo, from Michigan? Remember his FS post? Do you know who picked his old case? Do you know who`s gonna take it to a shoe repair shop just to have the strap looked at?

Yep... That'll be me.

Thanks for the notes! I believe I got the "lover's Leica." You know, an old man dies and tells the wife "Let the proceeds of my (expensive item here) go to So-and-so" (who happens to be the man's mistress). The widow goes and sells or consigns the item for pennies... and gladly passes the funds to the designated beneficiary.

So, this one was very low priced. Just under $500. EDIT: And free shipping from MN. That was sweet...

Time for a CLA! Brian, did you send yours to Essex? 😕

 

[the lobster]

Excellent acquisition! How you're friends for a long time.

Just another endorsement for Morgan Sparks- I bought a Black Levant leather covering for my IIIc from cameraleather.com and it is excellent.

Enjoy! And hopefully a CLA won't double the great price you got on the camera itself!

 

[spetsnaz]

I like the original valcanite style covering. I've just had a kit from Aki done on my M4 nicely. It's almost the same pattern to the original one. My M4 still have the original valcanite left on the back film door, hardly seen the different even they're side by side on the same body.

PoP

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Well... I was a bit leery about the last frames in the first film being unexposed, so I went and loaded another roll. This time it was slide film...

And all the frames came up fine. Now, not all were correctly exposed, but they were there. The shutter works!

This is one happy shooter. And the Leica case fits the camera with a lens and meter too.

I guess this is a keeper...

 

[Uncle Bill]

All you have to do is get a CLA job, replace the Vulcanite and a get a fast 50mm lens and off you go. Leica M3's are way cooler than what's coming out now.

Bill