Gifted an M3

[Mudman]

A friend knew I was looking for a second film M body for portrait and wedding work, and has gifted me a M3!! Very humbled by the gesture. The caveat is that the camera is currently inoperable, so I'm having to see if it can be repaired. He even dropped it off at the shop for me as it's in his neck of the woods, and I have a newborn. I haven't seen it yet, but it's reasonably clean and the rangefinder is in good working order. The problem is the shutter is jammed.

Hope to hear from the repairman next week (he's a sole proprietor so isn't affected by the shutdown). Fingers crossed it can be resurrected.

 

[splitimageview]

very nice! shouldn't be much problem fixing that.

 

[Mudman]

very nice! shouldn't be much problem fixing that.

That's the hope! I literally haven't even seen a photo of it yet, just a description on the phone. My tech has done wonders bringing stuff back to life for me at reasonable prices, so here's hoping he can do it again.

 

[BillBingham2]

The early Ms have strength I’m sure new life to her.

Congrats.

B2 (;->

 

[rolfe]

Shutter jams are usually an easy fix.

Congrats on the gift!

Rolfe

 

[jacquot]

Lucky you! Nice gift indeed.

 

[peterm1]

You are very lucky. As others said this should be eminently fixable. M3s are ALL mechanical. Which means no unreplacable electronics to fail. And they have a well deserved reputation for lasting, and lasting, and lasting. With luck cleaning and adjustment may be all that is required.
BTW do you have a lens with it? If so what is it. If not I am sure some folks here can give you good advice on some affordable alternatives which need not be Leica - for example many Leica users, myself included sometimes use old Soviet era Russian lens (copied from the Germans after WW2) and these are usually very good optically, if much less good mechanically.

 

[Mudman]

You are very lucky. As others said this should be eminently fixable. M3s are ALL mechanical. Which means no unreplacable electronics to fail. And they have a well deserved reputation for lasting, and lasting, and lasting. With luck cleaning and adjustment may be all that is required.
BTW do you have a lens with it? If so what is it. If not I am sure some folks here can give you good advice on some affordable alternatives which need not be Leica - for example many Leica users, myself included sometimes use old Soviet era Russian lens (copied from the Germans after WW2) and these are usually very good optically, if much less good mechanically.

That's the hope! It should be worked on this week hopefully. I do have plenty of lenses for it. I've been shooting Ms since 2009. I shoot professionally, and right before covid hit, I was starting to get requests for film again. I was looking for a second body, and my friend decided to be generous since this one has been a paperweight for over a decade at his house.

 

[Mudman]

I heard from my repairman today, and the outlook isn't as good as I'd hoped. It's in worse shape than his initial prognosis - not from neglect, but heavy, heavy use. He thinks the rewind gear is stripped, and there are several screws that have literally been rubbed to nibs that will have to be drilled out in order to remove them. The cost is still potentially feasible, depending on parts costs and availability. We'll see.

 

[xasthur]

I had a M3 few months ago I got for cheap which had stripped advance gear. Quoted by 2 different repairmen 400 to fix it. The problem was when the camera had film in it and you go to advance to the next frame the arm was skip ending up not advancing enough to cock the shutter until after like 2 advances. Without film it advanced fine.

 

[Huss]

I had a M3 few months ago I got for cheap which had stripped advance gear. Quoted by 2 different repairmen 400 to fix it. The problem was when the camera had film in it and you go to advance to the next frame the arm was skip ending up not advancing enough to cock the shutter until after like 2 advances. Without film it advanced fine.

I had a brand new Bessa L do that. It was exchanged for another.

 

[Mudman]

Talked a bit further with my repairman today, directed him over towards DAG in case he has trouble finding the gear that he needs.

Also got the serial number for it today, and it is an early bird! 7322XX. 1955, so within the first 20,000 made. It'll be interesting to compare with my late transitional DS 884,XXX. Here's hoping the repair is economical. Almost think you have to get it working when it's from so early on in the life of the M3.

 

[Graybeard]

I heard from my repairman today, and the outlook isn't as good as I'd hoped. It's in worse shape than his initial prognosis - not from neglect, but heavy, heavy use. He thinks the rewind gear is stripped, and there are several screws that have literally been rubbed to nibs that will have to be drilled out in order to remove them. The cost is still potentially feasible, depending on parts costs and availability. We'll see.

Is Al your repairman?

 

[Mudman]

Is Al your repairman?

Haha yes! He's great.

 

[Mudman]

Update, parts are on order! Hopefully it'll be alive again in 2 weeks or so.

 

[Mudman]

Gifted an M3

8 gears, pawls, and other parts (including the lens lock mechanism) later and it is alive! He just has to fine tune all of the different settings now. Should be back to me and shooting next week.

 

[Huss]

Are the parts new or salvaged? Kind of amazing if new, given the camera could be 70 years old.

 

[Mudman]

Are the parts new or salvaged? Kind of amazing if new, given the camera could be 70 years old.

I have no idea, my tech sourced them for me.

 

[raid]

Good luck with it all. A very kind person indeed.

 

[Mudman]

It lives! Still a bit quirky and needs new leather on the door, but it lives.

Two issues still - the pressure plate has a crack. Outside the film plane, so it shouldn't be an issue, but any sources for a replacement?

Second and larger issue is the rangefinder is dim. Still works, but the silver is very oxidized. Any replacement or place that fixes them? I haven't asked youxin or dag yet.

Right now I still have wiggle room to keep resurrecting it - the cla to get it to this point was only $250.