New Leica m3 owner requires help

[spanners79]

Hi all,
I recently took posession of a Leica M3. s#m3-1041 369. My mother received this from her brother whom was part of the US Marine Corp. She took hold of it around 20 years ago, and it was sitting in a box until now. She realised that I had a small passion for photography and thought I might like to use it. It actually scares me a little. Daunting i think is the word.
I was wondering what the value of all of this equipment is??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Anyway here is a list of the associated pieces in the collection.

lenses-

Leitz wetzlar 1895737 summacron 1:2/50.
Leitz wetzlar 2182019 summacron 1:2/50 (with that funny looking attachment .that goes over the view finder. Sorry I am sounding useless here.
Leitz wetzlar 1880374 Elmar 1:4/135.
Leitz wetzlar 1808116 summcron 1:28/35.

other parts-

It has a brown leather case for the camera (stamped Leica).
A light meter to go on top of the camera(which with a new battery appears not to work).
3 boxes of General electric M3B blue bulb (12 peb box) they look really old too).
It also has a flash unit which is hard for me to describe- it opens like a fan and is branded leitz wetzlar. It appears to have a whole heap of batteries for it which look to be in really poor condition.
Leica Film cassette manual.
Leica Meter MR manual.
Leica M3 instructions (2 different ones-1 is a book and the other is a fold out 4 page rapid check list).
It also has a wire attachment so you can take photos with out moving the camera.

So what do you think something like this is worth??????????
How much do you think it would be worth 20 years from now????????????

I would really like to thank you for reading my thread, and appreciate along with value your comments.

PS some guy here in Sydney a couple of years ago offered me $300 for it. He lived in Newport on the Northern Beachs of Sydney. Shame on him. I happily closed the lid of the equipment case and said goodbye. hahahahahaha

 

[rover]

It is hard to tell the value without knowing the condition, both cosmetic and operational. This applies to the body and the lenses. All together you may have over $1500 (us) worth of equipment there, but again, condition is king.

 

[ChrisN]

Hi Spanners - welcome to the forum. Don't be daunted - the Leica's a really good quality bit of gear, but it's just a simple camera. The real value is in the associations with your uncle and your mother - do you have any photos taken by your uncle?

If you really don't want to use it, and don't want to keep it as a mememto, then there will be plenty of people willing to offer you lots of cash for it! As Rover says - condition is everything. If you do want to sell it, ask here first (we love these old cameras and appreciate their qualities). You'll get the best price by parting it out and selling individual pieces. If you were in a hurry any of the better shops would buy the package, for less money.

But I'm hoping you'll keep the outfit and learn to use it - you'l learn a lot about photography along the way. Pick one lens to start with - the 1:2/50 without the funny attachment (I think that's for close-ups) - and try it with a roll of 100 asa film on a sunny day, 1/125 shutter speed and f16 aperture (the ring on the lens). Once you learn the focusing knack, you'll be amazed how easy it is, and you'll be blown away by the quality of the prints! Have fun.

Edited to add: And when you take the roll of film to the camera shop to get it developed, ask for a CD with scans of the negatives, so you can post some here to show us!

 

[spanners79]

Thankyou very much. I am very tempted to use this camera and learn it. I have taken some amazing digital photos, but thats a different ball game. Cheers and Regards.

 

[rover]

Jason, one thing to keep in mind is that a good service, CLA, will do two things which will make it worth the cost, @$250(us). First, it will get the camera up to original specs and make it purr like it should. A well adjusted M3 is a wonderful thing, you will love using it. The other thing it will do is increase the value of the camera. You will get your investment back if you decide to sell it.

But don't sell it, have it serviced and use it, I am sure you will find it will fit in fine with your digital outfit.

 

[spanners79]

what does CLA mean

 

[ChrisN]

CLA is the acronym for Clean Lubricate Adjust - the standard term for the service that every good camera needs every 30 years or so! In Australia the official Leica service agent is Adeal P/L in Melbourne. I recently paid about AUS$400 to have my M4 serviced.

 

[rover]

Clean, Lube and Adjust. It is a general service for a mechanical camera. Some servicemen do a basic exterior cleaning and simple adjustment of the camera, others will disassemble, clean and really tune them up very well. Chris and other folks in Australia I am sure will point you in the right direction to find proper service for your camera.

 

[former member]

Agree that you are looking at $1,500~$2,000 of equipment. The "Dual Range" Summicron fetches $500 these days if in clean condition.

Shine lights through the lenses to look for fogging. A few cleaning marks will not hurt anything. Same for the viewfinder/rangefinder of the camera.

If it needs cleaning, you are looking at several hundred to do it. As you have two 50mm/F2 Summicrons, you can always sell one to pay for the rest to be CLA'd. Better to let one lens go and have a top notch working outfit. And if it works now, keep all of it and use it.

 

[kajabbi]

There is no question that the M3 needs a CLA. If done properly, the camera will work like new(even better as replacement parts will be the latest versions made).

 

[Ben Z]

Jason, one thing to keep in mind is that a good service, CLA, will do two things which will make it worth the cost, @$250(us). First, it will get the camera up to original specs and make it purr like it should. A well adjusted M3 is a wonderful thing, you will love using it. The other thing it will do is increase the value of the camera. You will get your investment back if you decide to sell it.

I would have to qualify that. In this case, since the camera is a gift, I would agree provided the overhaul is done by Leica or one of the "world famous" Leica repair people. Many savvy Leica buyers would rather get their own overhaul done than pay a premium for one that has been overhauled by someone they don't know and trust. And physical condition is the major determinant of price, so in any case nobody is likely to repay a seller the full cost of an overhaul unless he'd bought it for much less than "market value".