M3 Owner Satisfaction

M3 Owner Satisfaction

  • Total voters
    120
  • Poll closed .
My first Leica was an M3, the second one as well, which came partly dismantled from Italy. Don goldberg assisted me in finding the right parts, I fitted them and in a later stage disassembled the camera again, to dechrome it and paint it black. That wasn't a success, so during the past year I fitted an aftermarket black bottom, bought a black advance lever and retaining ring and last month, an original spare black top plate.

My M3 is a 1955 DS, 734xxx black camera, with the original glass pressure plate. No serial on top.

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Yes, its camera porn, yes I invested good money in it, but I shoot it on a daily basis. Just this morning pulled a roll of expired Orwopan 400 through Rodinal 1:100. I'm só enjoying shooting this camera! My M3 and I are a happy couple.
 
that is quite a gorgeous camera you have here! May you tell us how much did it cost?

CLE-RF said:
My first Leica was an M3, the second one as well, which came partly dismantled from Italy. Don goldberg assisted me in finding the right parts, I fitted them and in a later stage disassembled the camera again, to dechrome it and paint it black. That wasn't a success, so during the past year I fitted an aftermarket black bottom, bought a black advance lever and retaining ring and last month, an original spare black top plate.

My M3 is a 1955 DS, 734xxx black camera, with the original glass pressure plate. No serial on top.

3731034653_a9d47e43ac.jpg




Yes, its camera porn, yes I invested good money in it, but I shoot it on a daily basis. Just this morning pulled a roll of expired Orwopan 400 through Rodinal 1:100. I'm só enjoying shooting this camera! My M3 and I are a happy couple.
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I love the high magnification .91x of the VF for focus accuracy! Framelines for the 50 and 90 are outstanding!

The M3 sucks with a 35mm lens which is a focal length I do use a lot. The M3 has no 75 lines; approximating using the inside of the 50 lines works...but it is not perfect. The 75 lux I use deserves its own framelines....at least that's what the lens intimates when I reach to use it on my M3; and it is a rather big lens ;P

Overall the M3 leaves me somewhat satisfied. The high mag finder is something I crave for focussing, and I do not need loads of room around my 35 lines in the VF as I can happily keep my second eye open while composing, but I do want the 35 lines in the finder! That's why a MP .85x is better VF for me. A high mag finder but I still get the 35 and 75 lines included.
 
M3 was my first M camera. Good, but I never really "connected" to it. Same story with M6. Both were fully serviced and all, but still just didnt feel right. i now use Hexars RF and M5 and these are the best cameras for me. So, I suppose it's all just personal preference, really.
 
My workhorse kit is an M6TTL with either a 28 or 35 mounted and an M3 with either a 50 or a 90 mounted. I literally want for nothing more, that is why I will probably sell the 15 4.5 "Hellyar" as anything wider than 28 and I usually reach for an FM3A or my XPan.

The M3 is my favorite camera of all time, the shutter release is sublime, I own two.
 
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A used M3 was my first Leica back in the 80s when I work shooting weddings, banquets and PR functions. No sweat, delivers everyday.

Then in the 90s, traded it for a used M4-2 (which I still have) , but I miss my M3.

The M4-2 is good but not up to par with the M3.

Cheers,

Hermann
 
The M3 was a GREAT camera for its time. DR 50mm to try and compete with the then new SLR's, Goggles to enable users to use a 35mm lens and eventually a goggled 135mm, just some great engineering from the Germans. I have a SS M3 and a RF 35mm Summicron, 50mm DR. 90mm Summicron and 135RF.
But that was the past and I have moved on. First an M6 and now a pair of M7's with ASPH lense from 21mm to 90mm.
The major problem was the coupled external metering system, slow. I used to use the internal meter in my Nikon Ftn to meter for the M3. The M6 was definate improvemnt and the M7 allows me to concentrate on focus and composition and forget about exposure for the most part. The shutter/exposure lock of the M7 is a great feature as its so intuitive in use.
I really can't take part in your Poll.
The M3 was a great camera for its time but not today.-Dick
 
RichardB said:
The M3 was a great camera for its time but not today.-Dick
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I'm not sure I'd agree, Dick: I'm enjoying going in the other direction - from an M7 to an M3 as it provides me with more what I'm looking for. I have an R3A to do what the M7 did but no Voigtlander can do what the M3 does.
 
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KM-25 said:
You should add, "For me" for accuracy as this only applies to you, not the rest of us who think it is still one of the best M bodies ever.
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Take the same lens and same film emulsion and take a picture with an M3, M4, M6, MP and M7. Can you tell them apart? I think not.
The fact that the M3 might feel better to a user or sound quieter is mostly subjective. The Japanese magazine Leica did run issues with shutter noise level graphs comparing the above cameras sound levels and for the most part, there really the same with the M7 actually being the quietest for long exposures. But the reality is, they all do the same job. Since it is much easier, faster and yields more accurate exposures for me to use an M7 rather than an M3 or M6, that's what i use.
I appreciate the engineering and build of the M3 and products of that era but today the M7 completely outclasses the M3 in the ability to get the picture. -Dick
 
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