Leica M3 Preview Lever?

B

bennett2136

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Hey guys, Im looking at a couple Leica M3's at the moment and I found really early M3 DS in great condition that was freshly CLA'd for $499. I looked around the forums but didn't find a description of what this lever does. Can anyone help me figure out if I need this and what it does? Sorry if it's a stupid question, I'm really new to rangefinders.

Thanks, Bennett
 
the lever is used to switch the framelines in the viewfinder so you can preview what the it would look like with a different lens on the camera or to check what lens you might want to use... so if you had the 50mm on you could check out the framelines for the 90 or 135 or vice versa .....................M3 double stroke you will never regret it
 
The preview lever allows you to toggle between the 50/90/135 framelines , though if you mount a 50 youll see just the 50 frameline, but youll be able to see the composition if you used a 90 or 135 with the preview lever
 
Thats pretty cool. I'm only going to have a 50mm lens at first though. Do you think I should get a one with a preview lever even if I just have a 50mm lens?
 
I would look for the best camera regardless of whether it had the preview lever or not. Personally, I like the simpler way w/o the preview. One less thing to go wrong, and the frame lines are going to change when you mount another focal length lens anyway. But if one camera was in better shape and had a preview lever, that would be the one to get.

I agree w/ MISH too. After having several M3 SS models and a Bessa R3A, when I got my DS it just felt so much better.
 
I love my M3 DS too. And I happen to have an old school collapsible Elmar f/2.8 for sale that would make a smashing kit. PM me if you're interested. It came mounted on my M3 and I shot nothing else for the first six months I had the camera.

Chris
 
The preview lever is also useful if you mount a Leicameter MR (or similar) on the camera, because the field of view of the lightmeter is about the same as the 90mm frameline indicates in the viewfinder.
 
I never used the preview lever on an M3 and an M2. However, I know of people who were obliged to use it when frame line adjustment was off and they did not come up correctly. Never heard of this particular problem in an M3 without a preview lever.
 
The preview lever on M cameras can be handy, but I suspect for many folks- especially regular shooters- it's a little used feature. Probably the best reason to go for an M3 with the preview lever as opposed to one without is age; only the earlier cameras were built without it. So not only will a camera with the lever will be slightly newer, but it's more likely to include more of the minor internal improvements made over the course of production.

Practically speaking, it doesn't really matter.
 
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