kxl
Social Documentary
@Yokosuka Mike - By the way, I'll be in your part of the world in mid October (in the Shinjuku area). Maybe we can meet halfway (Yokohama?) for some street photography and a heaping bowl of sanmamen?
Considering my first Leica M body (film)
- Thread starter kxl
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rfaspen
[insert pithy phrase here]
Well too late to influence kxl's decision. But, M6TTL 0.72 was my absolute favorite M to use. Never had one of my own though so was on the lookout. One was offered to me some years ago for $1200. I wasn't feeling rich at the time and figured another will come along at same or cheaper price. Ummm ....no.
It's all good though. Still have the M2, M3, MDa, CL, M9, M240, and M10. Use them all!
It's all good though. Still have the M2, M3, MDa, CL, M9, M240, and M10. Use them all!
Godfrey
somewhat colored
Congrats, enjoy it!
I'd run a couple of rolls of film through it before sending it off for service, see if it actually needs anything. For example, my 1978 M4-2 hadn't been serviced at all since 1978 when I bought it in 2012, and all it needed was to have the viewfinder/rangefinder assembly CLA'ed (from twenty plus years of being improperly stored in a sock drawer...). My M6TTL, new in 2000, has never been serviced and works perfectly.
As long as these cameras have been kept properly, they tend to be just fine. 🙂
G
JohnWolf
Well-known
Agree with Godfrey; “ If it ain’t broke….”. And CLAs sometimes cause problems. Not to mention time without your new wonder.
Richard G
Veteran
I agree, no CLA unless needed. Twice I've had camera come back from adjustments I was just fussing over and I had to then adjust the rangefinder vertical alignment myself. You can hear a camera in need of lubricant. It's shrill. If the 1 second is smooth and even, and lasts only a 1s, that's a good sign. The 1/15th should be a beautiful low pitched sound, not actually a whisper, but close. The 1/1000 should seem to be a single sound. My IIIf needs a service as the 1/500th and 1/1000th are not producing good pictures. Forget what that signifies. I am just avoiding those two speed for the moment. My M2 is perfect, last adjusted for a sticky 1s in 2007. Before that it had some part replaced in 1977.
deadrangefinder76
Established
The ultimate M2 all metal! Excellente! After that nothing get close all just the same, just like iphone 4s the OG.
Love the viewfinder too! Sooo minimalist, Magnifico! My first M, sold it many years ago, regret it forever! somehow got M4 it is not that bad.
Love dead rangefinder, tinker tinker....
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38Deardorff
Well-known
"M4 it is not that bad."
DR, you're a master of understatement..... the M4 is all of that & more 🙂
Leon C
Well-known
As with a lot of mechanical devices they work fine if used as intended on a regular basis and it's when they are not, that problems occur.
deadrangefinder76
Established
But it is true, M2 is the OG, what year is the M4 came out? it is after right? M4 is just a hybrid of M3 and M2 "with a PITA plastic on shutter lever that keep on losing while on the fly, really? I am not downplaying it, it is true. We all do. And you know there is a little doubt after in that succeding M's after M2.Lol!
38Deardorff
Well-known
That may be your truth... but it's not a universal truth. Have you ever lost part of the articulated winder? I didn't think so. I have a great appreciation for the M2...it was the first Leica i bought, but the M4 is not the red-haired stepchild by any stretch of the imagination. Mine is still going strong since '68....
& To use your term, the M3 is the OG. 🙂
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chuckroast
Well-known
I have an M4 that I bought last year right after Sherry Krauter CLAed it. It is pretty much just like new. I still kind of like the M2 finder a bit more, and - unlike most people - I like the M2 takeup reel loading more than the M4's "tulip". Both are terrific, though, as is my M5. They are all somewhat different and really fun to use.
chuckroast
Well-known
What do you mean by "articulated winder"?
I'm sure the M3 is great but I shoot 75% of my work (or more) with a 35mm f/2 ASPH Summicron. The goggles thing never much appealed to me.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
The M3 was the original Leica M, released in 1954. It went through several mechanical revisions until its final form was arrived at in about 1957, and remained in production until 1966.
The M2 was released in 1957, and was a stripped down version of the M3 in some mechanical respects, with a viewfinder addressing a different range of framelines (35, 50, 90 vs the M3's 50, 90, 135). It was conceived of as a budget model and lacked the M3's automatic frame counter, had a few other small omissions as well. It stayed in production until 1969, overlapping with the M4 model by two years. I suspect it was discontinued from the line-up due to cost of manufacture (really not much different from the M3 or M4 after all was said and done), the M4 was a big hit and sales for the M2 might have dropped off, and Leica was planning on a new economy model to debut in 1973 (the CL developed in collaboration with Minolta).
The M4 was released in 1967 and remained in production until 1975 (with a short hiatus in 1972-1973 due to the M5 release/failure in the market). It expanded on both the M3 and M2 models' feature set: 0.72x viewfinder with four frameline sets, 35/50/90/135; improvements to the film transport internally; the faster operating folding rewind crank; Quick Load film loading; improved shutter details; and other minor improvements/changes.
I listed the film Ms I've owned in a previous post. All but the M3 have had the plastic-tipped film advance lever... and I've never once had a single problem with the advance lever (or the rewind crank) on any of them. The folding rewind crank is faster operating than the knurled knob, the plastic tipped film advance is nice in that it folds out of the way. In either case, it's more what you like than a functional issue.
I'd sold off my Leica M camera equipment in 2003-2004 to fund a Hasselblad kit, which was subsequently sold a little later to fund a digital SLR kit as I was running a photo business in those years and needed digital capture. When I returned to Leica M in 2011-2012, I chose the M4-2 model as it had the simpler viewfinder of the M4, a hot shoe to trigger off-camera flash units, and new steel film transport gears—it was the first M model that could be fitted with a motorized film winder, which I thought I might want at some point. Never did, but the M4-2 has proven to be a reliable and consistent performer for the past dozen years.
G
38Deardorff
Well-known
CR... the two piece film advance.... what DR called "PITA plastic on shutter lever"
BTW i also use a 35 mostly. My referring to the M3..... to use DR's street term ...OG (original gangster)....simply because it predated the M2 by 3 years.
(I had an M3 for about a week until i could trade it off)
Bill Blackwell
Leica M Shooter
Congrats on your find.
I wouldn't automatically sent the camera out for a CLA unless it really needs it. Check the slow speeds in particular and look for any haze in the RF.
Also note: There will likely be a considerable price difference between these two repair shops. And I don't know that one is any better than the other. You're in for a considerable wait time either way (but I understand YYE offers a fast turnaround for an added fee).
chuckroast
Well-known
DAG is leagues better than anyone else in the US doing this work, with the exception of Sherry Krauter who I understand is semiretired (not confirmed), who is comparable.
YYE is fine for simple stuff but anything as complex as an M overhaul, I'd send only to DAG. He is Wetzlar trained and is now training his son to follow in his footsteps.
Yes, you wait 6-8 weeks for DAGs overhauls but they come back pretty much operating flawlessly. And he stands behind his work. I sent him a IIIf he'd only done very minor work on with an entirely different problem almost a year later. He declared it to be warranty work and charged me only the return shipping.
I bought my M2 after the prior owner had just had DAG do repair and CLA work, and it's been pretty much perfect ever since. He also did my M5 and it also has been perfect. In fact, he did some minor vulcanite fixes on it later because I am anal-retentive about that camera since it is so very nice.
chuckroast
Well-known
Yes, but that's an M4 and later thing. I have never seen an M2 or M3 with that articulated winder.
I believe that DAG can fit an M4 or later with an M2 style non-articulated winder, but I am not certain of this.
Certainly, the M3 isthe ur M of legend. I just don't like the frameline choices so I opted for the M2 as my first M body. Never regretted it.
The truth is that we're discussing tiny angels on the head of a tiny pin. Pretty much any well tuned M body is a joy to use, and despite noise to the contrary, that includes the M5...
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38Deardorff
Well-known
Another high recommendation for Don Goldberg here. He's done work on two of my Leicas. Apart from his apprenticeship at Leitz Germany, & his skill level, it's worth remembering that Don has parts that no one else does, and the ability to fabricate parts. He replaced the meter cell on my Leica CL anniversary.... & while overhauling my M4 (shutter speeds were off when i bought it in 2018)...he made it compatible to the Leicavit film advance.
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chuckroast
Well-known
Just for clarity, neither did the M2.
For those who find the articulating advance onerous, I believe DAG can fit an M2/M3 style rigid advance onto the later bodies.
Like you, I have several Ms (M2, M4, and M6) and I have not had any issues with the articulating advance on the later models..
