M3 Glass pressure plate broken, help seeked.

[pgk]

FWIW here in the UK if you read the small print on insured parcels by Royal Mail you will find that broken glass is almost certainly excluded. I think that this is true of other shippers too. So I very much doubt whether glass breakage can be insured for .....

 

[retinax]

It also happened to me, and broke even weirder...
I was photographing in Lisbon and had to change my film. While rewinding I feld a little scratching and after opening I cut my thumb as I wiped over the crack (thinking it was dirt or broken plastik).
While bleeding and dripping onto my beloved Leica M3 I put away the film and carefully closed the camera (without a new film) and went to the nearby pharmacy to take care of my cut.

Long story short... the camera didn't fall before or anything that would have cause this. But it happened anyway.

I searched near and far for a replacement piece (and I life in Germany) but nothing. Now I ordered black glass and found a guy who will cut it and sand the corners, so I can replace it.

In the meantime (being in Portugal for 3 month) I just taped the broken pieces so I could still use the camera on the trip.

Your temporary repair looks better than not being able to shoot, but a pressure plate should be really flat for focus. I'd try to stick something stiff and flat on it, maybe material from one of these glass display protection shields for smart phones, hopefully you could cut a section out of it that has the already rounded edges left and right, so the film won't get scratched. Otherwise keep your lens well stopped down and keep in mind that focus may end up being a bit too close.

 

[Huss]

It also happened to me, and broke even weirder...
I was photographing in Lisbon and had to change my film. While rewinding I feld a little scratching and after opening I cut my thumb as I wiped over the crack (thinking it was dirt or broken plastik).
While bleeding and dripping onto my beloved Leica M3 I put away the film and carefully closed the camera (without a new film) and went to the nearby pharmacy to take care of my cut.

Long story short... the camera didn't fall before or anything that would have cause this. But it happened anyway.

I searched near and far for a replacement piece (and I life in Germany) but nothing. Now I ordered black glass and found a guy who will cut it and sand the corners, so I can replace it.

In the meantime (being in Portugal for 3 month) I just taped the broken pieces so I could still use the camera on the trip.

Welcome to RFF and extremely interesting/unusual first post!
Hope it all worked out.

 

[Nina Cherry]

Your temporary repair looks better than not being able to shoot, but a pressure plate should be really flat for focus. I'd try to stick something stiff and flat on it, maybe material from one of these glass display protection shields for smart phones, hopefully you could cut a section out of it that has the already rounded edges left and right, so the film won't get scratched. Otherwise keep your lens well stopped down and keep in mind that focus may end up being a bit too close.

It was just to have nothing loose inside the camera and to use it the last week of my stay. Worked very well for that 🙂
Now I'm busy finding the proper solution for the real repair. I'll update how the glass replacement DIY worked out.

 

[Nina Cherry]

Thank you!
I will update over the outcome soon (I hope)