M3 focus

[TJV]

I posted a thread over on LUF a few days ago and have received some info that was real news to me!
Apparently M3's were only designed to be used with lenses that focused down to 1m. Newer lenses that focus to 0.7m don't register focus in the RF under the 1m mark and the body needs to be modifyed to work with them properly.
Has anyone out there sent their M3 to anyone to have the modification done?
The reason it's such a strange revelation to me is that I shot with an M3 for about three years and it worked perfectly with all lenses. Strange!
Tim

 

[colyn]

I just tried my 35mm f/2.8 Summaron which has on the scale 0.65m-infinity on my M3 and it focus fine.

 

[abenner]

Is that Summaron goggled? The goggles corrected the focus range, without body modification.

Don Goldberg can perform this mod. I would assume Sherry Krauter could. I asked Youxin Ye, he didn't know how.

 

[joebt]

I read the same thing the other day, so I tried my 50mm Summicron and it did not focus below 1m.

So, I will just have to use my M6 for such endeavours.

 

[colyn]

Is that Summaron goggled? The goggles corrected the focus range, without body modification.

Don Goldberg can perform this mod. I would assume Sherry Krauter could. I asked Youxin Ye, he didn't know how.

Actually it was a screw mount Summaron with the screw to M adapter installed..

 

[maddoc]

Here is the link where 0.7m focussing issue is explained. I found this site because I consider renewing the silver coating of the rangefinder of my M3 (quite yellow ...) Did somebody send his camera over to them for renewing of the range finder ?

-Gabor

 

[MadMan2k]

My 35mm goes down to .7m, and I've taken plenty of shots at the closest distance and wide open which were focused fine.

 

[TJV]

Oh my goodness!
I've read over that page millions of times and never noticed this bit of info! I've just sent my M3 off to get a light leak fixed and the rangefinder adjusted for close focus and pray they can make it work down to 0.7m without massive expense. This is crazy to me as the general condition of the camera is in pristine condition, just a few scratches on the top plate from a light metre, and the serial number is about 10016xx, that's about 5000 units newer than my last M3 that focused perfectly with all lenses. I got rid of my last to help fund an M8 but since getting rid of that thought I step back to the old school. I saw this new one and it looked a dream come true! Hope it can be modded and the light leak fixed. Think I'd keep it regardless, I just love the large viewfinder. I plan to use it mainly with my noctilux but would like the option of putting my new 35 lux on it also. Hope I didn't waste my money on my new 35mm viewfinder!
Tim:bang:

 

[TJV]

Cool,
another question then...
Does mounting a lens, such as the 35 lux ASPH, on an un-modded body result in damage to said lens or body? Using these closer focusing lenses won't damage anything will it? PLEASE SAY NOOOOOOOOO!

 

[maddoc]

From my - very limited - experience with the M3 (received it yesterday ...) and the Summilux vs 3 focussing close to 0.7 m, I found that simply the rangefinder mechanism stops moving when focussing closer than 1m. Which means that focussing closer than 1m is mechanically the same as removing the lens from the camera body, because the inner barrel moves away from the mount when focussing to close distances.

- Gabor

 

[Matthew Runkel]

Cool,
another question then...
Does mounting a lens, such as the 35 lux ASPH, on an un-modded body result in damage to said lens or body? Using these closer focusing lenses won't damage anything will it? PLEASE SAY NOOOOOOOOO!

No, no damage.

My understanding, based on reading the CRR page, is that the modification can be done on any single-stroke M3, and some of the double-stroke models. If your prior M3's rangefinder coupled below 1m, that suggests the camera had been modified before coming into your possession.

I spoke to Sherry Krauter about the modification a while ago. She said it was something she could do easily on my SS model, but that it might not be possible to get all the way to .7m with a given camera. She suggested that focusing accuracy in the newly "liberated" range might be less than in the range the M3 was designed for. Parallax becomes more of an issue too, of course.

 

[minmingg]

i use 50/2 dr with goggle can goes down to 0.45m

 

[TJV]

Wow, thanks all for your input!
I've sent my camera to someone here in the hope that they can fix all the problems. Thought I'd support local business before sending the troubled unit to the UK. Lets just hope the guy gives it the same care as it would receive in Luton.
Tim

 

[Particular]

I had a repair done on my m3 15 years ago or so to fix a light leak, and for general adjustments. The guy must have been drunk or something, because he among other things forgot (or lost) the stop-screw for the rangefinder cam. The upshot was that I now could focus to 0.7m. Five years after that I needed to get my rangefinder realigned, and the (a different) repair person argued that it was due to that missing screw. So I had him put it back.
Presumably you could replace it with a shorter screw without a stopper block to still allow closer focussing. I am guessing that that is what the 'mod' is mentioned above.