Continuing saga of getting a working M3 - jammed film advance

[damien.murphy]

I'm sure you meant an M3 is a great back up for an M2😀

No. He got it right the first time. Try convincing a 35mm shooter that using a body with no 35mm frameline is a good idea 😉

An M2 makes a great complimentary body to an M3, or as a backup (along with any other 0.72 mag. M) to an M3.

Only backup for a 0.72 mag body, as Roger noted, is another 0.72 mag body 🙂

 

[zauhar]

Bill, I think you missed the comment from Dan above that I was responding to - it was tongue-in-cheek (I think).

Regarding the Leica III, I came across an inexpensive one for sale locally - but my bayonet lens would not fit, would it? By that I mean there is an adaptor for screw-mount to bayonet, but not the other way around?

Randy

 

[Pirate]

There is no mounting an M-mount lens on an LTM (screwmount) body.

I sent my M3 to Youxin for some focusing issues the other week. The lens came from Sherry Krauter- she sold it to a friend and I bought it from him. The lens she sold him was out of whack, but she said she CLA'd it. Youxin had my M3 set and back to me in 7 days, and that was 7 days leaving my hands and back in my hands. He also caught the lens out of tolerance issue.

I say, if you have to send it anywhere when the KEH warranty is up, send it to Youxin.

 

[zauhar]

I'd like to add something to this thread, and ask for some collective advice -

My M3 had jammed film advance lever, and KEH has repaired it (see depressing story above). Now it went through a second inspection, to insure that all is well before it's shipped back to me.

The result - the tech is experiencing some "funny" behavior, namely that the lever advances all the way, but the shutter won't fire until you give it an extra "push" (which by the way does not really move the lever).

I had noted this back when the camera had its shutter issue, and thought that a CLA would resolve the problem. Now I wonder what's going on?

Anyone had similar "funny" behavior, or is it time to give up on this particular M3?

Randy

 

[fbf]

Ask for partial refund and send camera to Youxin.

 

[johannielscom]

I'd like to add something to this thread, and ask for some collective advice -

My M3 had jammed film advance lever, and KEH has repaired it (see depressing story above). Now it went through a second inspection, to insure that all is well before it's shipped back to me.

The result - the tech is experiencing some "funny" behavior, namely that the lever advances all the way, but the shutter won't fire until you give it an extra "push" (which by the way does not really move the lever).

I had noted this back when the camera had its shutter issue, and thought that a CLA would resolve the problem. Now I wonder what's going on?

Anyone had similar "funny" behavior, or is it time to give up on this particular M3?

Randy

Hi Randy,

sorry for all the trouble you have to go through! A working M3 is a thing of beauty, hope yours soon is well!

This is exactly the kind of behaviour I posted about before:

Sounds like a gear issue. There's a small brass gear from the advance lever connecting to the rest of the gears and mechanism that is the weak spot here. It should be set absolutely correct or it will jam and strip teeth after a while.

Don Goldberg at DAG sent me a new one for USD 25 but I never got it properly fitted and in the end sent my M3 for a CLA to have it fixed. With M3 no.1 as an example, I have since then managed to get M3 no.2 working as should.

When the gear is not set absolutely right, the issue your repair guy is experiencing is the result, it either needs a bit extra push, or the shutter gets irregular. In short, there's only one single combination of the two gears that is exactly right, and the warped retaining washer on top should be fixed at the exact right pressure to make a half-stroke advance 'stick', so you can advance with little rocks of the advance lever.

I never managed with M3 #1 and gave up, and it took me hours to get it right with M3 #2, using #1 as an example.

Your repair guy obviously cannot get this right straight away and may have to invest 'big time' to get it right, but you can offer KEH to partially refund and send the camera to Youxin Ye for a quick turnaround. I'm pretty sure he can do it within a day, when you know exactly what to do it's probably a job of only minutes 😱


Good luck on getting it sorted, I hope you can shoot the M3 soon!

EDIT: I hope your repair guy gets on the right track if you show him this post! The trick is to apply a little forward tension on the gear that is attached to the shutter before slipping the small brass gear in, this makes one teeth difference on the gears but that is how tight tolerances are. I hope this is 'triggering' some idea with your repair guy (pun intended) and he will be able to get it sorted.

 

[nikon_sam]

It sounds like there's a timing issue within the gear train...I don't have any Leica cameras but I did have a Mamiya m645 with a timing issue that rendered the camera useless...I was able to get it back in time and all is good...it was off by one tooth...
Someone with too many years experience will open it up and say..."There it is..."
Good luck with this problem...I hope it all works out...

 

[zauhar]

Hi Johan,

Thanks for that very detailed analysis. That sounds like the sort of thing that might easily confound a tech who does not work on Leicas everyday.

Since you've kindly given me permission, I will pass that on to my contact at KEH.

For those who have suggested a partial refund, I really don't think they will do that - either a full refund, or another body. If this M3 can be fixed, I would like to keep it, as the viewfinder and focussing patch are very bright compared to the first one they sent, and I already know if takes great pictures - when it's working.

Thanks!!

Randy