M3 or M2 for a 50mm?

m3 + 50 & 90!

M2 or m4, m4-P, m5, m6, m7+ 35 & 28!

The M3 is the Leica par excellence and the only (with the 3000$++ MP or M6J or 0.85 M7) that should be operating a 50mm lens. Any other Leicas are second rate for 50mm+ lenses.

IMO but I'm sticking to it.
 
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M3 - why? Greater viewfinder magnification makes for speedier, more accurate focusing, all other things being equal. Side benefit: the 90mm frames in the M3 vf are the best of any of the Ms, hands down.
 
Depends on the glasses. I wear glasses (have since elementary school) & prefer the M3--it has just the right amount of room around the 50mm frames, whereas for me, the M2's frames were always just off (50mm frames too small & the 35mm frames too close to the edge of the VF).

Ronald M said:
M3 if you do not wear glasses. M2 if you do.
 
M2 is my choice because I need glasses and can´t see the framelines in the M3 viewfinder. But - as furcafe´s answer shows - it depends. Try it out.

If you don´t wear glasses the M3 is an alternative. But keep in mind that the M2 viewfinder has one advantage: it can be replaced by somehow similiar viewfinders in modern M cameras like M6, M7 or MP. The viewfinder of the M3 is different, very complicated and expensive to repair. Maybe that´s something to consider.

Thomas

P.S. I thought TomA wrote something about the viewfinders and just found the thread:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44381.
 
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Xmm, just on time....
Few weeks ago a friend of mine managed to figure locally two beater, non-functioning M3s, bought both for just a mere of 220$. I decided to pick one of them specifically for my 90mm Elmarit. Besides, it appeared to be excellent with my 50mm 'Cron, even though I wear obstacles. 90mm frame of M3 appears to be almost as convenient as 500mm frame in my M6 (yet a bit smaller, but still very nice one).
I can imagine, once they will be back from CAL/repair (hopefully will be reasonably priced), it will happily carry both 90mm and 50mm lenses, or at least will be glued to 90mm one....
 
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