"New" Leica M3

FrankHarries said:
How do you all can afford even an old Leica with lens for more than 1000 USD and even some more?
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It is a matter of priorities.

A few people were surprised when I bought a new M6 in grad school, on a pretty minimal income; they didn't think about the fact that through more than 90% of college and grad school, I did not waste money by owning a car, and I managed to live cheaply. I chose to go to grad school in Portland, where (at the time) the cost of living was low compared to places like San Francisco and Boston, yet the graduate stipends were comparable. Over the same interval I paid off two of my three student loans. I also don't have cable TV and I borrow CDs and books from the public library. My wife and I share one eleven year old auto, and take public transit a lot of the time. We live in a beautiful corner of North America, and most of our vacations are local and involve camping or hostels, rather than fancy hotels. All of these savings add up.

We feel fortunate to live well -- by our own standards -- and to have productive and enjoyable jobs at this time when the economy is so difficult.

I am patient. I have saved money for my gear over periods of years, and I hang on to my gear for a long time. My first SLR, purchased with funds from newspaper delivery in high school, was a cheap, used K-mount Ricoh with a 50 mm lens. My second SLR, a Nikon, was paid for by work that I did for the same newspaper, using the Ricoh. Over the ensuing years I ended up with 3 Nikon bodies and several lenses. For most of this period, I also bulk-loaded and developed all of my own film.

Then in grad school I sold almost all the Nikon stuff to buy a new M6 and two used lenses. I've since sold one of the Leica lenses (for more than I paid for it, making a decade of use essentially free), but I will continue to shoot the same M6 until I can no longer get film or the camera is lost or destroyed.

Today you can get absolutely marvelous cameras used for very little money. A Nikon FE or FM in terrific condition with a great 50mm lens can be had for $200 to $250. A fixed-lens rangefinder can be had for even less money. For practical purposes, these cameras will do what my M6 does, for somewhere between 1/5 and 1/10th the price.

I'm not kidding: that battered old Ricoh body (today worth maybe $25) is sitting on my desk as I write this, freshly loaded with Tri-X and fitted with a Pentax 50mm lens that I got for $30. I'm as stoked about taking that camera out as I am about the M6.

Here are MTFs for the Leica Summicron-M and Pentax 50mm f/2 lenses. The Summicron does better wide open but by f/8 they are almost indistinguishable, except in the very corners of the frame.
 
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thanks for the comments and stories! And no worries frank, i had been getting criticized a lot all day so i was kind of just in a bad mood when i wrote that.

Here are some more pictures:

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I'm really, really..... really liking this combination and black and white film :)
 
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Greg, excellent work! Your camera is in talented hands (and not the other way around). Good stuff. Look forward to seeing more.

Can you share you scanning technique?

Thanks,

- Ray
 
For scanning:

I have an epson 4490 and i use the stock software on my apple macbook. I set my settings to greyscale (16bit) and then scan at 4800 dpi, save as JPEG.

I'm not sure if this is a good setting.... but it seems to work well enough for me.

and thanks a bunch for the comments. They're mean a lot!
 
And you scan the negatives? or do you scan the prints?
I'm looking myself at getting a decent scanner for my negatives, but I'm not sure yet what I want/need to get to make good scans.
Do you scan color as well?
 
Hey - your pictures are still great! I asked you to show some bad ones for me!!! Well, I quitt this day not only beeing yeallous about that great M3 but also about your photographic eye! Really well done - the M3 has an ownere who deserves it! Looking for more!
And all you other guys - I liked your storys about your committement and whow you aimed for the first Leica.
 
scan the negatives using the given negative holders. I got the scanner for like $100 refurbished from the epson website.

I usually don't shoot color filim, but there are some color shots in my flickr under my canonet set if you want to check them out.

I think an Epson V500 would be a good first scanner, or at least that seems to be the general consensus, and if you have some spare cash, get the v700 instead.

FrankHarries:
haha sorry! Thank you for the compliments. If you are lusting after a leica, i 100% recommend refraining on buying any photo gear until you have the camera you want. I recommend a M2 or M3 as they're the cheapest. I think they're definitely worth the price.
 
Ok! Took that advice - got myself a M2 :) It will arrive in the middle of April. My wife said, she would be glad if I even would consider to take HER advice once in a while..:D
 
Wow, just wanted to say that I absolutely love your style. Every shot you've posted so far has been fantastic. If these are all from a single roll, then you've got a lot going for you.

Thank you for sharing. This has been incredibly inspiring.
 
GoneSavage said:
Wow, just wanted to say that I absolutely love your style. Every shot you've posted so far has been fantastic. If these are all from a single roll, then you've got a lot going for you.

Thank you for sharing. This has been incredibly inspiring.
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Let me second all of that! Really nice work. Gorgeous frames, not a stinker in the bunch!
 
GoneSavage said:
Wow, just wanted to say that I absolutely love your style. Every shot you've posted so far has been fantastic. If these are all from a single roll, then you've got a lot going for you.

Thank you for sharing. This has been incredibly inspiring.
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Thanks a ton guys, I really, really appreciate your words. The first 2 sets of pictures are from my first roll, the third group of pictures is from the next couple of rolls i believe. If you want to see more check out my flickr!!

Thanks again, I appreciate it :)
 
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Gregory, congrats on the "new" M3, you're clearly enjoying the rig. I don't think we need to justify purchases, except perhaps to ourselves and spouses! But the stories of saving for the treasured Leica are interesting.

I have a similar story too... I was just out of a stint in the Air Force, taking engineering classes at UofW in Seattle and working at Boeing as a technician, part time in winter, full time in summer. The second summer I bought a used M2, ten years old at the time, and a new 35 Summicron. That cost equaled 3/4 of a months' wages, so it was planned & carefully considered. I still have and use that M2 and lens now, 43 years later, so I think it was a choice I could live with! :)

Enjoy, and good shooting!
 
Doug: Wow! That's an amazing story... I really hope to still have my M3 when I'm older. For that matter, I hope i'm still into photography! Truly an inspiring story
 
Crikey! That's an awesome lens. And yet here we are again with another proof that a cheap-as lens, in competent hands, can produce outstanding results, easily matching anything else that's worth 4x as much!

I only have the 50/2.5 Color Skopar myself and even that impesses me.
 
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