M3's and M2's

[Nokton48]

"On the M2, the earliest (from 926000) had a rewind button that you had to hold in place as you rewound, later it was made to stay put when you pressed it in. the problem was it was not very well secured and had a tendency to pop out "

Man, you are so right! I distinctly remember twenty years ago I was in the middle of a commercial shoot , I was photographing classrooms of children engaged in various elementary activities, for an elementary school textbook publisher. Shooting Tri-X at EI800, with 35/50DR Summicron and Minolta Autometer, and while rewinding one of -many- dozens of rolls exposed that week, holding in the rewind button, it suddenly fell out and dropped to the floor!

With a wide smile, I showed it to the other working photographer, (using a Miranda SLR) and then stuck it back in, and turned the screw back in with my thumbnail. Then I reloaded another roll of Tri-X. When I got back to my place, I tightened it snugly with jeweler's screwdriver.

My -new- M2 softly clicks, and the rewind button stays in. I prefer that!

 

[literiter]

I had a M2 and a M3. I sold the M3 years ago because I liked the idea of the 35mm frame lines with the M2. Now I still have that M2 and later I bought a new M4-P.

I'm very fond of the M2. Before it became "valuable" I beat the hell out of it and it didn't mind at all.

 

[Doug]

Yes, I can see why Leica changed from the button rewind to lever. The button on my M2 got loose occasionally but I became aware of this and tightened it before it fell off. Hasn't come loose in years...

Another problem I experienced with the button was occasional overlapping frames from accidentally pressing the button just in holding the camera while winding on. Took quite a while to make that connection!

 

[Paul C. Perkins MD]

I'd regard my M-4 as the perfect Leica were it not for the silly-ass easy-load feature design. I NEVER have any difficulty loading my M-2. The M-4, by comparison has to be loaded a couple times before it is right.

Paul

 

[Stu W]

I always wanted the M3 and when I finally could afford it I bought one. Then another. The only lens problem is the 35 and that's why they have goggled lenses. Anything wider and you still need an auxilliary finder with the 2 or 3.

 

[Tedley]

I use an M2 in preference to an M3 simply because, as a spectacle wearer, I can see all of the 50mm frame with ease.

However, I love the M3 finder: it gives a view with much more "presence" than does the
M2 VF. Bur I still have to wear these damned spectacles!

Ted.

 

[Tuolumne]

WRT loading the M3 and M2, if you have one of those metal film cutting templates, it becomes much easier.

/T

 

[marduk]

I am an M3 user and it's a joy to use because 50mm lens is my primary tool. In my opinion 35mm length is where rules of WA photography start to apply and it requires a different way of thinking and photographing, so I'm still trying to figure out how to use it in street/travel photography properly.

However, I own a 35mm Summaron with eyes and I don't know why someone would want another 35mm lens. It seems to me that the photos I take with Summaron are technically superb to those taken with DR Summicron, in particular when shooting against sun or in the harsh light. But that's another story

To sum up, unless I seriously get into the way of WA photography my next camera will be.. another M3.

 

[Benjamin]

Also, isn't it true that the RF of the M3 is only coupled down to 1m as standard (though I believe that it can be modified) where as the M2 goes to .7m?

Benjamin

 

[Pickett Wilson]

You don't need to trim the leader to load and M2 or M3, it's dead easy. I think Tom A has a utube video showing how to do it, in fact.

 

[Graybeard]

Just thought I'd revive a fine old thread...

Something lost in all this nostalgia over the M3 and M2 is the film loading issue. It's a royal pain in the @$$ with those two cameras unless the rapid load kit is installed. The M4 is much better/simpler in that regard.

Ron

Some of us can load an M3 while chewing gum.

 

[januaryman]

I also found the M2 loaded surely each time with a simple threading of film leader into the spool than the fiddly positioning of the film leader loosely between the three fingers that reside inside my M4, hoping they catch.

I NEVER mis-loaded my M2, while so far I have twice found that the M4 fingers failed me, leaving a VERY short rewind after shooting what I thought was 36 exposures, and ending up with none. For me, loading the M2 is not hard at all. I do it single handed all the time.

 

[Tuolumne]

If you use the rewind lever to tighten the unused film spool after loading, you should see the rewind lever spin every time you advance the film. If it doesn't you're not loaded properly. Fool proof check works every time.

/T

 

[kiemchacsu]

This is a time for old school threads,

Given that I currently have Leica M2 M3 M6 and lenses 35 50 90
I really think that 2 cameras setup is optimum for me and actually I had that setup for 2 years until a new purchased M2 + 50 rigid join the family.
The question is if you were me, which camera would you abandon to keep the theory 2 cameras setup?

 

[Erik van Straten]

The question is if you were me, which camera would you abandon to keep the theory 2 cameras setup?

I would abandon the M6 because of it's much less precise framelines.

Erik.

 

[kiemchacsu]

I would abandon the M6 because of it's much less precise framelines.

Erik.

feedback:

Thanks Erik for the hint. For the last few months, I've been shooting with both M6 and M2 to see which body I like better. In the end, I just sold the M6 and keep the M2 because its brighter and viewfinder, cleaner frame-lines and as you said more precise.