I got my 1956 DS M3 today...I'm having a hard time getting any work done..
🙂
All in all, unless KEH's EX & EX+ are devoid of any bright marks, this ebay M3 was a score. There are no scratches or dings and are only a few tiny bright marks on the camera with an expected but not copious amount of wear on the bottom plate.
At the present, most of the operation is perfect, all speeds check out so far. I even checked the sync with a pocket wizard as it came with the plug, all good. Coming from a pair of M6's, I now see what all the rave is about. The 50 asph is right at home with the finder. There is about a 2% haze of a dappled / spotted variety on all three of the front windows, but hardly a problem as I can whip it into focus in near-total darkness. The L seal is intact. Besides a test roll, is there any way I can reliably test the RF accuracy?
I spent at least an hour going cleaning the whole camera, removed the back plate and flossed all the gaps. That really helped the "fondle-factor" as it is now spotless, looks to be what I would expect from a KEH EX.
To my surprise, the loading was really easy, I guess that patience comes from sneaking in the garage as a kid and playing with my dad's old folding 120 and 35's. I might even like the rewind better than the M6,'s it really does feel much stronger and is about 80-90% as fast, less obvious too when working low profile. The only thing that is a bit of a nuisance is the self timer location, it sits right where my middle finger rests on any camera, not a big deal though. This thing is really smooth, shutter, advance, it's all an after thought in near silence.
I'm happy, in shooting for over 30 years, this is my very first camera purchased as an antique / collectable. I think everyone should own one of these. Now to find a decent lens...as I already have a working 50, I am not under any pressure to jump on any vintage version, but I will keep an eye out. A nice and clean 50 collapsable or a unusually good deal on a good rigid will help me spend faster, so we'll see how that pans out.
I have ordered the Granite Kid Skin leatherette replacement kit from Cameraleather.com, but I am not sure that I will put it on now as I really like the character of a couple of tiny missing pieces on it. If I do, I will try to score another back plate and the four front screws and strip them to silver to really set it off:
http://www.cameraleather.com/colors/granite_kid.htm
The M3 is a stunning camera, it even smells old, really cool.
..............Maybe that is why I go it, I turn 40 in a few weeks, up until today, I am a good bit older than every piece of gear I own, LOL!!
