Black M3 Holy S***!

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ernstk said:
Congratulations! That's a great find.

I bought an original black paint M4 last week, in excellent condition, for $1200. It's not as rare as your M3 but it just shows that these things are out there, waiting to be found.

Let us know if you decide to keep it or to sell it...

Regards
Ernst
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Wow! Where did you find that?
 
matt fury said:
Wow! Where did you find that?
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I bought it from a dealer in Scotland who sell lots of Leica equipment, which was why I was surprised by the price.

Ernst
 
You see it can happen as i wrote it two weeks ago

marcel said:
Knowing there are people somewhere in this world who have a black M3
on the attic somewhere in an old bag.Inheritance from family
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Holy cow!


The black paint 50 Summicron alone is worth a fortune! Congratualtions.

If you are going to sell this camera, try getting it appraised by an auction house,
not a dealer. Also try to get the name of the original owner. Perhaps they were a known photographer.
 
Keep it! Sell the M2 and M3 chrome. The black paint M3 can always be sold later to cover your rugrats education.
 
Is everyone excited just because the black M3 is worth so much more? Then yeah I'd say sell the camera and reap the profits from someone who's willing to pay top $$ for the set.
 
A couple of years ago I found a Leitz 50mm Anastigmat lens, very early, very rare and as it turned out, very valuable. I really didn't know what to do with it but it was way outside my league.

In the end I sold it at the Westlicht auctions. Since then I have had plenty of enjoyment out of buying and using LTMs, more M bits and even a Leicaflex and monster Telyt.

Moral?

The Holy Grail is a great find but the cash alternative is a whole lot more fun!

Michael
(no funds left now)
 
ywenz said:
Is everyone excited just because the black M3 is worth so much more? Then yeah I'd say sell the camera and reap the profits from someone who's willing to pay top $$ for the set.
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Not just the value, but it also just 'cause it's so...*cool*.
 
Nice find!

As Erik says this is a dream kit, but I believe this is a collector's dream kit.

If I were you I would sell it for a huge amount of money and I'd buy a user's dream kit.

You should be able to afford a MP, M7 or M8 and a couple of very nice lenses, with some spare cash to boot!
 
OK, lots of people have been saying "Sell it and buy other kit". Now, that makes totally sane and rational economic sense.
But......if it was me (and it isn't, and I'm jealous as hell!) I'd be keeping it and using it.
Why? I guess because I'm a bit soft, I can't help but think what that camera has been through to get worn like that. Considering that black M's were originally not that popular except with pro photographers (per CameraQuest), that one I'll bet could tell some stories.
Think of the bloke's Grandfather......you reckon he wouldn't get a kick out of his camera being used and enjoyed and cherished? Rather than its inevitable alternative fate, stuck in a display cabinet or worse a safe, and never having film put thru it again?
Way too much time these days is spent stressing over money. You have been incredibly lucky and found a beautiful bit of not only photographic kit, but history, for a price that allows you to actually own it. Keep it and use it with pride, enjoying your link with the past.

Just my .02c worth... :) I still hate you for finding such a deal! :)
 
The same logic makes me determined that if I ever won the lottery, I'd find an orginal MP, buy it, and USE it with pride............

(until, of course, I got lynched by a pack of rabid collectors)

:D
 
You can always sell it, & the longer you keep it the more it will be worth. In the meantime I would make a lot of photos with it. Get to know the lenses & the looks they produce. Try it with colour neg, reversal and with B&W. After a year or two you will know what it is capable of & how much you want to keep it. Even if you really like it but have to sell it for the money you will know that you made good use of it.
 
matt fury said:
Not just the value, but it also just 'cause it's so...*cool*.
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If it wasn't for the "collector's $ value" I'd take a modern bp MP over this M3 anyday.. The only thing it's got going is its value in the collector's market.

I value self-induced brassing on a new MP more than brassing created by a camera's previous owner. Sure the old M3 is full of stories, but they're someone else's stories.
 
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Use it, enough of this snobby collectors crap!

I have a black paint MP-3 kit with matching Leicavit and 50 ASPH. I am going to continue use it.

Be different, keep it and use it!
 
ywenz said:
If it wasn't for the "collector's $ value" I'd take a modern bp MP over this M3 anyday.. The only thing it's got going is its value in the collector's market.

I value self-induced brassing on a new MP more than brassing created by a camera's previous owner. Sure the old M3 is full of stories, but they're someone else's stories.
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Hey, I'm not saying than a self-worn MP isn't cool either. But you can't just walk into an store and pick up a black paint M3. Overall, it just has a certain..je ne sais quoi.
 
While part of me says yes, use it, IMHO it’s just worth too much. Yes, there is no question she deserves to be used, but the total value is just too high. She must be smooth and beautiful thing to hold.

Go out and get a good M3, maybe a good lenses. Have the M3 CLAed by Sherry and use the crap out of the kit, enjoy it. I sold a black Leica SL-MOT years ago for a 21/2.8 Elmarit and used it, sold the 21 recently when I needed funds for the mortgage. While it’s not in the same class as your find, for me family comes first. Put the extra money in a college fund for your son (and perhaps others). Not sure you live but college just keeps going up and up in costs here in the US.

I would bet if you did this your wife would not question your purchases ever again.

B2 (;->
 
Dralowid said:
A couple of years ago I found a Leitz 50mm Anastigmat lens, very early, very rare and as it turned out, very valuable. I really didn't know what to do with it but it was way outside my league.

In the end I sold it at the Westlicht auctions. Since then I have had plenty of enjoyment out of buying and using LTMs, more M bits and even a Leicaflex and monster Telyt.

Moral?

The Holy Grail is a great find but the cash alternative is a whole lot more fun!

Michael
(no funds left now)
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Was it this one?
04b9a5676c019431d4345f71281e60e8


If it was, that's one incredible lens. 5040 Euros (granted, including the premium)!
 
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