My "new" M3

[marke]

Picked this up at the Chicago camera collectors show yesterday. I jsut dropped off a roll at Walgreens I shot through it this morning.

Love that 0.91x VF!

 

[sleepyhead]

Congrads, the M3 is a great camera - enjoy it!

 

[drewbarb]

That's a beaut! Congrats.

Yeah, Leica got it right in 1954. I still shoot with two M3's, and love them fiercely. I've owned several newer M's, but didn't care for them as much. The M6 flared so badly it was nearly worthless; the M4p's crank kept breaking- and neither of them felt as nice as the M3. I'd like to add an M2, for a what I hope will be similar experience to my M3's, but suitable for a 35mm lens; otherwise, you can keep the newer Leicas.

 

[marke]

Thanks, sleepyhead and drewbarb.

drewbarb: I sold my M6 TTL at the show. I never cared much for the rewind crank. It always felt as if I might rip it off if I was in the middle of a frantic film change. But with the rewind knob, I never think about that. Even though I rarely used the M6 TTL since getting my MP, the only reason it was difficult to part with was because of the 0.58x VF. Even though I wear eyeglasses, the 0.72x VF of my MP is fine with a 35mm focal length. And for anyting wider, I think I would just get an external VF anyway.

BTW, did you have to get the mirrors replaced in your M3s? Even though I don't notice any problem while viewing through it, you can clearly see some "crazing" of the mirror when viewed through the front. I plan to have DAG do a CLA on this at some time, and I figured I should get all done at once. Then I'll reskin it myself.

 

[Cale Arthur]

Nice one, Marke! That was a fun show.. lots of great stuff, some of which followed me home. 🙂

 

[drewbarb]

Marke- no, my M3's are just fine, with their original finders intact, and still very bright. There is crazing visible in both, but neither has gotten any worse at all in the years I've owned them (one for ten years, one for six). I know it's possible they could delaminate, but I don't worry about it. They both went to Youxin Ye a couple of years ago for CLA's (he does great work, BTW- much faster and much cheaper than DAG, and almost as highly regarded); he cleaned the finders when he had them open, and said they both showed nothing to worry about. They work great, just as they have for 50 and 47 years, respectively. I expect to get many more years out of them.

 

[marke]

Nice one, Marke! That was a fun show.. lots of great stuff, some of which followed me home. 🙂

Cale, that's disappointing to know that someone from here was there, but I didn't know who anybody was! Were you there long? I got there at 10 am and stayed until about 1 pm. I was the tall guy with dark hair, wearing a blue jacket and walking around in a daze, usually with either a black paint MP hanging from my shoulder, or a small black Domke FX5 bag. 😛

What kind of goodies followed you home?!!!

 

[marke]

Marke- no, my M3's are just fine, with their original finders intact, and still very bright. There is crazing visible in both, but neither has gotten any worse at all in the years I've owned them (one for ten years, one for six). I know it's possible they could delaminate, but I don't worry about it. They both went to Youxin Ye a couple of years ago for CLA's (he does great work, BTW- much faster and much cheaper than DAG, and almost as highly regarded); he cleaned the finders when he had them open, and said they both showed nothing to worry about. They work great, just as they have for 50 and 47 years, respectively. I expect to get many more years out of them.

Drew, thanks for the response. I just read some old quote from Don where he said pretty much the same thing that you've experienced. There seems to be nothing visible while looking through the VF, so I'm just going to leave it be. In fact, just taking a brief look at the negs I shot today seem to show that everything was working properly, although I haven't tested an slow shutter speeds yet. So maybe all I'll do for now it order some new skin. Today, I had a couple small pieces of the original vulcanite flake off in my hand. Hmmm...I might just get crazy and try something like cobalt blue! I've always wanted a cobalt blue chrome MP after I saw someone post a picture of theirs in this forum. I doubt I would ever have the nerve to do that to an actual MP though! 😱

 

[Cale Arthur]

Cale, that's disappointing to know that someone from here was there, but I didn't know who anybody was! Were you there long? I got there at 10 am and stayed until about 1 pm. I was the tall guy with dark hair, wearing a blue jacket and walking around in a daze, usually with either a black paint MP hanging from my shoulder, or a small black Domke FX5 bag. 😛

What kind of goodies followed you home?!!!

I was the guy wearing the Nippon Kogaku Tokyo t-shirt.. 🙂 I was there from 10 'til 1:30 or so, and spent the latter part talking to Robert Rotoloni.. a super-nice fella, and amazingly informative re: all things Nikon RF!

Nothing extra-special acquired.. I picked up an early Nikon F for my girlfriend, and a Nikonos II for my 'work-related' camera needs.. (or at least that's how i justified it at the time) All in all, i was able to behave myself, and that's something!

I was literally seconds away from being an M3 owner, though.. i couldn't believe how little they were going for, and in seemingly fine shape to boot! I handled the same one about 4 times, but decided to hold off.. kind of regretting it now.