anyone got this M3???

[dan denmark]

i just found, in an old camera case of my grandfather's (i'm 61+...) a User Manual for an M3. and my grandfather's business card with the M3 SN on the back, as well as the 50/2 lens SN. now i don't really expect anyone to pop up with the ownership info, just thought it was interesting and someone might like to know its history. the camera was bought new so he (or my dad, looks like his handwriting) was the original owner...and he may have bought it in England as the manual is printed in england...? doesn't matter, really. he used to live in england about that time. never knew what happened to that camera. everyone's carc'd it now except my brother and me. grandad called it a "sub-miniature" so it must have been my dad's as gramps never went below 5x4.

M3 SN: 282933 and the Summar 50/f2 SN is 422646

IF!!! someone actually has this camera...what a hoot... PM me and i'll forward the history.

...according to the note i found today.

just a bit of trivia...

-dd

 

[payasam]

M3 and Summar is a somewhat unusual combination.

 

[dan denmark]

neither my grandfather, my dad, my mum, my brother nor myself ever really towed the party line much. so if it is an unusual combination they'd of had a reason. or got done. dad was a bit naive at times... i can only go by the docket... bottom line is, i don't have the camera and wish i did and worry some drongo has it in a glass case somewhere...

-dd

 

[jonmanjiro]

I'm no Leica expert (by a long shot) but 282933 doesn't sound like an M3 serial number. More details here (link).

Edited to add: It does sound like a Leica IIIb serial number though. More info here.

 

[former member]

The Serial Number probably makes it a Leica III or IIIa. The Summar is late production. Leica model numbers, as many camera manufacturers, can be confusing.

I don't have your grandDad's camera, but i'd still like to hear the story. I do have a III and IIIa. Both are 1935~1936 manufacture.

 

[payasam]

Just checked a couple of sources. Both say that the first M3 was 700000.

 

[dan denmark]

yeah, i lookd it up as well. funny, the SNs for lens and body and Manual were together in the camera case, the SNs hand written on a note stuck into the manual, which is an M3 manual. i am just assuming the combo were related as it is the only reference to a 35mm camera that i have that they both used, being studio photographers working with larger formats. my association of the biz card, SNs and manual are what i drew my conclusion on (and the notation fo the lens being a Summar f2).

no one to check with except the statistics so i guess it'll remain a mystery in the family. my dad was a bit secretive, could have been three separate elements in an arsenal of components purchased with other bits and pieces. but my brother doesn't know, either (also a photographer) so the mystery remains.

thanks, all, for the input. my perplexion will diminish with wine.

-dd

 

[colyn]

That serial number sounds more like a Leica IIIa maybe??