Old to New Leica Lenses

[keatensaba]

My grandfather was very passionate about photography and i have inherited his love for it aswell. I never got to meet him but when my grandmother passed away she wanted my dad to have his leicas and lucky for me my dad lets me use them. Sorry if this sounds groggy i just got out of surgery. Ive been using his leica m3 and loving it i got the shutter curtain fixed, the rangefinder is very faint and hard to focus (also wondering where you can get a new m3 range finder part) Any ways to my question We got a 35mm summaron f3.5 with goggles, summicron 50mm collapsible, and the 135mm hektor ive been using the leica and loving it t0 death but what i am wondering today is how do these old lenses compare to the new lenses sharpness wise and if i was to invest in a newer lens if it would improve the pictures coming out of the M3? thanks for your time!

 

[keatensaba]

anybody? sorry if this as been asked a bunch before.

 

[Livesteamer]

I think the answer is yes and no. The new lenses are great but many of us do just fine with older lenses. I recently got two Nikkor lenses in Leica thread mount from the 1950's and I think they are great. What you have should work well.

Rangefinder repairs are more difficult. CRR Luton in England rebuilds M3 rangefinder units but it is expensive. You can also get a modern, similar replacement that was meant for the M6J.

Good Luck and enjoy. An old M3 was my first Leica but be careful. Leicas can be addictive.

Good Luck, Joe

 

[ferider]

Hi there,

M3 rangefinder overhaul is possible. I recommend to contact Youxin Ye, probably the most affordable alternative. I believe he resilvers M2 and M3 prisms, if cleaning is not sufficient.

Regarding your lenses, check them out by shining a flashlight through. If they have no haze (frequent with old Leica lenses), they are all great performers. Typically, good copies of classic Leica lenses have high center resolution, even wide open, and optimum performance in the corners by f5.6 or f8 or so. More modern lenses will have higher micro-contrast and more corner resolution wide open. If you want to try, I recommend a Cosina Voigtlander lenses, one of the Color Skopars, for instance.

Have fun with your equipment, share some photos !

Roland.

 

[Livesteamer]

I should have added that your rangefinder unit may just need a cleaning. Joe

 

[keatensaba]

Yes thanks for the replys i feel that i do get some sharp images out of my roll with the lenses i have maybe the reason for the ones that arnt so sharp is because the rangefinder is so faint it causes me to miss focus a bit?


35mm Summaron f3.5 with goggles

50mm summicron collapsible
This does not feel particularly sharp to me.

50mm summicron collapsible

50mm summicron collapsible

 

[keatensaba]

feel free to post your photos taken with any of these lenses and please list what film you used. does anybody have a link to a parts store where you can get a m3 rangefinder piece and how much does it cost to get the m3 resilvered?

 

[LeicaFan]

Like Roland said, shine a flashlight through the lenses to make sure that the front and rear elements are clear of any haze, fungus, cleaning marks, etc...

 

[andredossantos]

Resilvering is very costly. I think it's upwards of $500. You may not need that however. I would send it out for a basic CLA (clean, lube, adjust) and overhaul and then see what the repairperson says. There may be a technician in Vancouver who could perform this service and give you an opinion.

 

[johannielscom]

There is a 'sticky' thread (stickies are first listed threads in a forum) in the Leica M forum that has a list of repairpeople and their contact data. You can find somebody close to your place there.

There are no shops that sell RF parts, the RF is a complex construction that in the M3 consists all seven mirror and glass prism parts which are minutely aligned. You need a specialist if anything needs to be done to the RF. Sending it in for inspection or CLA will tell you more, none of us can from here without seeing the camera first.

That first shot could be from a hazy lens, the coll. Summicron shots look fine to me, was that last one with the 135mm? Looks unsharp from camera shake.

Enjoy your kit, get well soon!

 

[rogerzilla]

M3 rangefinder refurb at CRR is 145 GBP plus postage - not all that expensive for a one-off job. I think modern optical resin is used to cement the prisms back together, so they won't fail again. The fault occurs because the original Canada balsam oxidises and becomes brittle.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

I hope this doesn't sound rude but I think you ought to be handing the camera over to an expert repairer and asking his or her opinion. It may just need clearing and a dab of oil rather than a complete repair; it worried me that you are asking for a source for range-finder parts.

It also worries me that a lot of people think cleaning a lens is a simple matter; some of them don't even know that there's a right and wrong way round for the elements. Then they put them back wrongly and, well, you can guess the rest and it doesn't get cheaper.

In a nutshell, don't attempt repairs yourself. Get an expert's opinion and go with it. You will probably be very pleasantly surprised. Especially with the M3 and a contemporary set of lenses; it sounds like a great outfit and should be handled with respect. There are people on this forum who would kill for it.

Regards, David

PS I don't mean the posters on this thread who have given you some sound advice but I've seen and bought ruined lenses in my time and don't want any one to add a few more to the world's stock of them.

 

[keatensaba]

oh no i have a magnificent repair guy but hes given me a price of $1000 for a new rangefinder part i was going to try and find on on the internet maybe for cheaper and then give i to him for repair. And buzzardkid no that last shot was taken with the summicron i dont know what happened there. ive read that the summicron collapsible has had slight off focus problems with people in the past has any one else heard that?
i really wanna get this m3 in to be serviced and running smoothly like a leica should.

 

[Ronald M]

The 35 3.5 is all fogged inside. It is in serious need of element cleaning.

 

[raid]

I just got back a Summicron Version 1 35mm/2.0 from DAG.I thought that I saw haze, but Don told me that there was no internal haze. He identified some some front focusing, and he adjusted for it. Now I feel better about using this lens.