M2 -> M3 VF swap?

[mooge]

hei,

how difficult is it to swap a M3's viewfinder for one from an M2 (or other...)? do you have to modify anything?
and should the frosted glass be changed to the fresnel lens thing?

then again... it ain't easy/cheap to get other RF assemblies, right?

cheers...

 

[Pickett Wilson]

Wouldn't that just make the M3 into an M2? I don't get it.

 

[drewbarb]

I suppose if you prefer the M3's frame counter or more decorative top plate with the frame surrounds but want the 35mm-friendly, lower magnification finder, the sort of swap you are talking about might make some sense- but you'd better be prepared to spend some serious dough.

Otherwise, it's got to be a lot cheaper just to sell the M3 and buy an M2. You could probably even manage a straight trade if you look for someone who'd be interested.

 

[ferider]

Unless your M3 VF needs fixing anyways, don't do it. Just sell the M3 and buy an M2. Might get you some money, even, and somebody else will enjoy the M3.

Cheers,

Roland.

 

[mooge]

well...
with all this praise for the M3's VF, wouldn't someone want to make the trade? or perhaps a repair place... hmm... it's possible, isn't it?

I think a M3 + .72VF + M4 wind lever would be a pretty darn nice camera for me. why'd they get rid of the lens release guard anyways?

anyone know about the frosted glass thing though?

saving my pennies...
Dragunovskaya

 

[Al Kaplan]

It's probably possible, yes. But just because it'd be cool looking? Go use what you have and be thankful that you have the money to afford an M3. You'll most likely be money ahead to keep the M3 as is and buy an M2 also. I think you have that new mutated strain of GAS. Let's hope it's not fatal.

 

[Tom A]

It can be done, I know as I have had it done. Today a nice M3 viewfinder set up is worth a bit of money so you might "trade" finders (the M2 finder is just the grandfather of the M4/M4-2 and M6 finder). Is it worth it - not really. You can have the lens release guard installed on your M2/M4 if you want to. M2/M3 advance levers are easily exchanged too. The film counter is a different story - it gets complicated and expensive.
Your best bet is to buy a M2, swap levers and lens release lock and go shoot instead. On the M2 you know when you are at the end of the roll when you cant advance anymore.
Back in the "good old days" Leica would swap out the M3 finder in the original MP for the M2 finder as a lot of users wanted the 35 frame-lines. It wasen't expensive either.

 

[Al Kaplan]

Tom, back in the "good old days" the M2 without a self timer was $200, with S.T. $250, and $288 would get you an M3. When the M4 first hit the market it too was $288. A gallon of gas or pack of cigarettes was 27 cents and minimum wage was $1.00 an hour. Everything was "cheap" back then including the money we got paid. It still cost a bloody fortune to buy a new Leica back then, let alone swap the finder innards.

The biggest "problem" with those half a century old Leicas is that they still operate smooth as silk, in many cases without ever being CLA'd.

 

[mooge]

well, many other classic cameras from those times-ish still work silky smooth. and that's awful expensive for a self timer!

no mutated GAS here, just wondering, really. sounds like too much fuss for me. (we'll see in a few years!)

thanks!

 

[payasam]

One alternative is to use -- as I did for seventeen years -- an M3 with SBLOO. I often think that it was better than the M2 I now use. My reason for so thinking is not the advance lever or the lens release guard, which to my mind are of no consequence, but finder magnification.