M3, I think I get it

alexnotalex said:
As luck would have it, there was a M3 next to it. "Can i just have a quick look at the M3"
Hmm. Oh yes. Wind, click. Aaah. OH YES!!!. Smooth, tight, positive, precise, solid, honest, nothing more or less than required.

I get it. I mean, I get what people mean when they go on about it. Now I need to find the cash, then I will get it. M3, you will be mine.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. It happened to me yesterday with a user-M2.
 
My M3 has a pristine finder in it and yes, the shutter is like a kiss Dave! 🙄

When it's really dark though, my Ikon is more a effective tool because it has a better finder.
 
The store in Hamilton, Bermuda where I used to buy my supplies in the 60s always had at least a couple of screw Leicas for sale, and one of my school friends had one, so I was always aware of how nice they are (though to this day, I reckon the nearest SLR to a Leica is the Pentax SV, which is what I had in those days).

After amassing a LOT of screw Leica gear, including SCNOO, stereo beamsplitter, etc., I suddenly realized in the early 70s that it might be a better idea to buy a camera with the external finders, etc., built in, as this would make it easier to take pictures -- hence my first M3. Which was used very little after I got an M2. I must have had two or three M3s, maybe even four, including one in black paint, and they've aways been the smoothest, sweetest Leicas, but the absence of a 35mm frame means I sold my last one many years ago. Now it's M2, M4-P (which I'd cheerfully sell), MP, M8, M9.

Cheers,

R.
 
The feel of an m3 or m2 will stay with you forever. My m6 while not shabby is nothing like it, not even close. The precision with which everything in the old stuff fits together and the smoothness of the gears and levers... "aaah... Oh yes!" as you say 😉
 
alex@!!! lol you are so dead, so so dead! I agree, the shutter particularly I can't let go. The M2 (M3 for the glasses wearing dudes) is one of the cameras I'd never ever sell.

When you get yours, bring it to trips, bring lots of cheap fuji 100, lucky shd whatnot, shoot it like your iPhone and grin gently as your mates runs out of battery and scramble for a recharge. Then gracefully walk over, frowning, and ask them for assistance for you cannot find where to put in the battery in your spanking smooth M3. teehee.

My story though, I started with a Nikon D40x and was so happy learning this shooting thing. Then I thought I knew it all and I called home and had a chat with my dad because I remember he used to shoot his contax. He asked, son, so what camera you're shooting? I said a Nikon! with both arms up \o/ He was like, uh.. son, you know, in the old days, we only shoot leica, contax, or rolleiflexes. None of this canon, nikon stuff you get laughed at.

I felt so small and wrinkled and from that day on, I set out to make my dad proud. So now I have 2 rolleiflex, 2 leica, no contax. My last trip home I brought along some cameras with a IIIf due to arrive in toronto to save shipping. There was this big grin on his face when I opened the package and we went out for dim sum afterwards. That was so good, the end 😀.
 
Thanks for all your comments, I'm glad I'm not the only crazy one.

'sfunny you should mention glasses bronney - I wear specs all the time, and that's one of the reasons I'm having trouble with the CanonP rangefinder- I need to squish my glasses to see the 50 lines... I had to kind of do the same thing with the M3 but it seemed a bit less difficult or maybe my heart was just beating too fast and I didn't notice...

so the next question is for those glasses wearing fifties shooting folks - M2 or M3?
 
M3 - One of the Best - But "frustrated with the P's dim viewfinder", it should be clear and Perfect. Mine P have 100% clear viewfinder.
 
j_newy said:
I drool over many pictures of them here and i think if I sold all 30+ of my cameras and a kidney I might come close to a M3....
Click to expand...

So each of your 30+ camera's is worth about 40 USD (you can find a good M3, maybe even with lens, for about 1200 USD) ? Please send me the "for sale" list first (I asked first 😉).

I'll let you keep your kidney for the time being (I have no use for it at this moment, but it's nice to know there's a spare somewhere 😀)

That said, feeling a M2 at work (I had an M3 but prefer the M2) is an experience in itself.

Stefan.
 
Last edited:
Cannot tell for the Canon, nor for the M2, but I own two M3 and they are of so superb craftmanship, that I cannot believe somebody can make it better...

I was buying new glasses for me, just a year ago or so, and in this optician shop, they had a new MP lying around. After I bought the glasses, I just ask, if I could have a look at the Leica MP.

Well, what can I say? I was a little bit disappointed. The finish wasn't nearly that good as on my M3's. Just have a look at the brightline finder lever! I thought it is the same, but in fact, it isn't!

At the old stuff, you feel and see, that really every single screw is hand polished. Look at the body! Every edge is hand polished, every single unit is different!
On the new MP, I had the feeling, that it is just machine made with harder edges, etc. 😱 No feeling for the 110%. Finished without love.

Also: Look at the engravings! The old ones are sooo incredible well made. I have a new Leica shade for a 90mm lens. The engravings are just a little piece of sh*t. I will sell this shade, because of the poor engravings.

Also, I read before, that the shutter mechanism is much smoother at the new MP.
For me, it was like the same, compared to my CLA'd M3. No big difference.

With the Leica cameras of the 50s and 60s it is the same as with old audio Hifi gear. In these times, costs did not matter. It was like a competition between the companies, who is going to built the best!

Yesterday i could not resist and bought an M2 for less than 300€. Cannot wait to be arrived!!!😀
 
Last edited:
FrankS said:
You got it - you felt the difference, right? Apparently some people don't........There is also a tactile intelligence - some people know how hard to torque a bolt by feel so as not to snap it and others do not. These people get the Leica by its feel. Others can not, so they attribute the lust for Leica to less noble motivations, like snobbery, desire for man-jewelry, and blind belief of the marketing generated Leica mystique. Glad that you got it.
Click to expand...

OK, everybody who do not get it/do not have a tactile intelligence, but own a M3 raise a hand.....😀

Dang, I will never pick up a M3 if the result can be that what I really want is a man bag
 
I can understand. I felt like that when I first felt my m6 after using just Canonets and Yashica electros. The weight of it was surprising, then the wind lever felt so smooth, then I handled my friend's M2 and it was even smoother!
 
The only reason I would use film these days is to use cameras like old leicas and nikons. I understand completely... so much so that I use an outdated digital M just so I can kind of feel like I'm using a film M.
 
jsrockit said:
The only reason I would use film these days is to use cameras like old leicas and nikons. I understand completely... so much so that I use an outdated digital M just so I can kind of feel like I'm using a film M.
Click to expand...

Of course there are LOTS of more modern and sophisticated interchangeable-lens digital RF cameras, so digital Ms are hopelessly outdated.

Cheers,

R.
 
I LOVE my M3, but it does kind of put you in a trap where focal length is concerned. I think that most RF shooters like to shoot wide. I kind of miss that with the M3. Since you asked, I'd say go for the M2 to get the magic trio of 35-50-90. You can do it with an M3, but you'll have to use an accessory VF in the shoe or use one of the 35s with goggles designed for the M3 (I think the last choice is too restrictive).
 
Oh how I used to sneer at the M3 crowd, I thought I could resist it's sweet embrace.... what could it hurt to look at one, maybe even hold it for a little while? Before i knew it I was in over my head, I could not fight it ... it consumed me, I had to have one. before long one was not enough, I had to increase the dosage, I bought another one ..... now after fighting the fever for many years a pretty M4-P appeared in the RFF classifieds... how quickly I thought of excuses to buy it .... I recently started wearing glasses and it would be good to check out a different viewfinder, my birthday is in june, I have been a reasonably good boy, etc... etc... etc... Now I find I kind of like using that camera also
My name is Mish and I have not bought an Leica for 15 days
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom