amcrory
Newbie
Recently I was at my mother-in-law's house. Her husband is extremely handy and has some great woodworking/metal tools. He helped me take two big dents out of the filter ring of my 1950 Serenar 85/2 LTM for my Canon 7.
When I was finished, MiL asked if I'd be interested in her father's old camera. She thought it was a Leica or something. Of course I said yes! The trick was locating it. When he died in the 1970s, a lot of his stuff - cars, cameras, watches, shotguns, etc. was scattered throughout my wife's family.
A week later, she had tracked it down. Her oldest son had it in storage in Vermont and would send it to me. It had sat unused for 30+ years, and my expectations were pretty low.
I received it this week, and was pleasantly surprised: a 1959 M3 (SS, round lugs), a Summicron 50/2 DR with goggles, a 35/3.4 Summaron, a somewhat functional Leicameter MC, and fairly rough case.
Good news, the M3 is pretty solid. The vulcanite was flaking off in chunks and it needed a thorough cleaning. The 'cron is amazing. A teeny bit of haze, but doesn't seem to affect IQ. Bad news: the summaron is pretty bad. Stuck on infinity focus, the focus ring requires Popeyes's firearms to move, and I think it might have fungus.
I've already begun cosmetic restoration, stripping and cleaning all the vulcanite and old glue, and shipped the 35 to a repair friend. Im very excited to start incorporating this cam into my work when it's finished!
When I was finished, MiL asked if I'd be interested in her father's old camera. She thought it was a Leica or something. Of course I said yes! The trick was locating it. When he died in the 1970s, a lot of his stuff - cars, cameras, watches, shotguns, etc. was scattered throughout my wife's family.
A week later, she had tracked it down. Her oldest son had it in storage in Vermont and would send it to me. It had sat unused for 30+ years, and my expectations were pretty low.
I received it this week, and was pleasantly surprised: a 1959 M3 (SS, round lugs), a Summicron 50/2 DR with goggles, a 35/3.4 Summaron, a somewhat functional Leicameter MC, and fairly rough case.
Good news, the M3 is pretty solid. The vulcanite was flaking off in chunks and it needed a thorough cleaning. The 'cron is amazing. A teeny bit of haze, but doesn't seem to affect IQ. Bad news: the summaron is pretty bad. Stuck on infinity focus, the focus ring requires Popeyes's firearms to move, and I think it might have fungus.
I've already begun cosmetic restoration, stripping and cleaning all the vulcanite and old glue, and shipped the 35 to a repair friend. Im very excited to start incorporating this cam into my work when it's finished!
