M3 blackout finder

[Ororaro]

I have this M3 with a blackout finder. Not the focusing patch but all the surrounding. I believe it's bad when the patch goes blackout but now it's the opposite.

Can someone help? Anyone ever had this happen?

 

[erikhaugsby]

Can you see the framelines, or are those black as well?

 

[Ororaro]

Can you see the framelines, or are those black as well?

I see them...

 

[rogue_designer]

internal viewfinder element seperation? *shrug*

 

[AusDLK]

My M3 finder had the same problem.

It's bad news. Costly to repair.

I used this as an additional excuse to buy an M2 and swap the good M2 finder (with its 35mm frame lines) into the M3. I have beaucoup $$$ sunk otherwise sunk into the M3 souping it up.

My "M3" is now a Frankenstein Leica with parts of an M2, M3, and M4.

 

[Ororaro]

My M3 finder had the same problem.

It's bad news. Costly to repair.

I used this as an additional excuse to buy an M2 and swap the good M2 finder (with its 35mm frame lines) into the M3. I have beaucoup $$$ sunk otherwise sunk into the M3 souping it up.

My "M3" is now a Frankenstein Leica with parts of an M2, M3, and M4.

I heard it's bad when the patch wears out. In my case it isn't the patch but the finder itself. I feel it's like if a mirror fell off...

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I believe that's caused when the Canada Balsam used to hold the finder's prisms together gives way. I believe it is a costly repair.

 

[Ororaro]

I'm almost tempted to reglue it myself. How hard can it be? 1 hour work?

Okay soooooooo, how does one open this camera? Are there some step by step photos on how to remove the top plate? (I once opened a 85 1.4 AF nikkor and then had to sent it in pieces to Nikon. So a step by step process would be very helpful in my case 🙂 )

 

[Limpovitj]

It is a very difficult repair. I don't think that many repair people will do it. For what it's worth - if I remember correctly - I think Tomosy describes the procedure in one of his repair books, but in the end advices against trying it yourself.

You can get it done here (US):
http://www.focalpointlens.com/fp_intro.html
or here (UK):
http://www.angelfire.com/biz/Leica/page10.html

Best of luck!

 

[ddutchison]

I'm almost tempted to reglue it myself. How hard can it be? 1 hour work?

Okay soooooooo, how does one open this camera? Are there some step by step photos on how to remove the top plate? (I once opened a 85 1.4 AF nikkor and then had to sent it in pieces to Nikon. So a step by step process would be very helpful in my case 🙂 )

It's a pretty hard job, Leica won't attempt it. Luton in England and DAG are the only people I know of who will. You can read about it here .

 

[Per]

I have had this done by Peter at CRR, Luton. He did a superb job. The viewfinder fix was £50 extra to the CLA.
But beware, Peter has a lot to do, I have a CL for repair by him and it will soon be one year since I sent it in.

 

[clintock]

there is a UV-cured adhesive sold at auto parts stores of all places, and I think there was a thread or two about using the stuff to repair large format lens group separation.
Taking apart the finder of the M is a chore, as is getting the top off..

 

[SergioGuerra]

I have been reading a bit on the subject, and if you are able to open your Leica's top, you might be able to re-glue the prism. The problem is: if the prism is broken for a long time, there are big chances the mirror inside it has degraded... (dont ask me why, I am just a good reader). If that happened, you wont do anything good with the UV Glue... That prism needs to be professionaly fixed, and there is only one place i knew that was doing it (in UK)...

 

[kinoglass]

The semi mirror surface may be damaged, then it has to be redone. Few people can do it right and it is expensive. It the mirror is not damaged both prism have to be perfectly clean and recemented. Optical alignment is a must if the RF is to work properly. Again few people can do it right. The most obvious indication of a bad repaired RF shows itself when the viewer's eye is slighted off center the optical axis of the RF, the image moves as if you were in the sinking Titanic. Leica will replace or providde a M6J RF as replacement part for the original M3 RF. The M6J Rf has its own problems. My suggestion? Find a beat M3 with a good RF and use it to replace the bad one in your favorite M3. Need further help? Contact me by email.

 

[Ororaro]

Thanks, guys! You've all ben very informative and helpful. I understand the issue, now. Basically, a repair person has to rub off the Canadian balsam glue while keeping the silver coat underneath it intact. Okay, now that's a hard task which I won't try to do on my own.

Kinoglass, what is the approximate price to fix it? Is the fix a durable option?

 

[kinoglass]

NB23, I assume you're referring to repairing the decemented prisms and rebuilding the RF. In the USA finding a "user" M3 with a good RF is cost effective compared to the alternatives of rebuilding ( a well done job) or replacing with a M6J RF. If you live in a big city where you can visit Leica camera stores you can inspect the RF before buying. Once you know what to look for it is fairly straight. All you need is small loupe and samll flash light. eBay has from time to time good RF's available and some sellers are very decent people, not all unfortunately.