Pricing an M3 to sell for parts/repair

capitalK

capitalK

Warrior Poet :P
Local time
5:25 PM
Joined
Oct 7, 2007
Messages
1,230
View My Gallery
Last year I purchased a beater M3 that worked really well... until I dropped it.

Since then, the action is really stiff and I get inconsistent spacing/overlapping of frames.

Otherwise it seems to be fine. Optics/focusing work great. There's a few scratches and a dent on the rewind knob (where it landed).

I don't think I am going to send it for repair, not sure it is worth it for a beater.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of M3s for parts or repair, so I am not sure where to price it.

It's an ELC (made in Canada) SS M3, nothing special about it. Some scratches and leatherette missing in spots. It was a good user, though.

Also, the collapsible 50mm Summicron I have has what I would call moderate to heavy cleaning marks/scratches. Mostly it works well but god help you if you are shooting into a light source. Not sure how to price that, either.

Any advice is appreciated.
 
Would it be an idea to sent it to someone like Youxin Yee for evaluation? The damage might not be serious and at worst you have a real idea of just how busted it really is.

If you don't want to pay the cost of repair maybe someone on RFF will give it a new home.
 
Hard to say what it's worth (worth to who?) but it might be more than you think. have a look on ebay for sold listings for "Leica M3 as is" or "parts" or "broken". With how dumb leica pricing is now, and the exchange rate, it's probably worth $400-700 CAD (to a buyer - including shipping, tax, whatever -- as a seller you'd get a decent amount less due to ebay fees etc). Yours looks to me like an easy ("easy") fix too - the finder being in one piece makes it a good repair candidate.
 
steveyork said:
I once dropped an M4 into three feet of sea water. Not fun.
Click to expand...

I just about destroyed my M4 in Iraq. Wearing it around my neck one day when a rocket came in and I dove right onto the camera. Stripped the winder shaft clean of brass. Repaired it with a set of channel locks, swiss army knife and a set of jeweler's screwdrivers. I had a machinist in our shop help me with replacing a brass shaft. It worked great for the rest of the deployment...
...until I got to Spain. On one of my three days off work during the couple weeks I was there, I was walking along a jetty in Rota and stepped on a rock that rolled. I slipped off and wound up in water that was about six feet deep. The M4 with a 28mm Kobalux, was hanging from my right shoulder and like the Lady in the Lake, handing Excalubur to Arthur, I trust the camera out of the water and walked up onto the beach. Having taken the camera apart before I was familiar with it so I took it apart right there as soon as I got to the sidewalk. Tried to dry it out as best I could but it locked up the following day. Sherry overhauled it in 2006 for as much as the camera cost but I had been through too much with it to not get it fixed. I need to send it off to Youxin for a CLA since it's been more than a decade, but I had it out today and it still works fine. If I had a dropped M3 that still worked and didn't have a blacked out beamsplitter, I would totally get it fixed.

Phil Forrest
 
Maybe that's the problem. I bought it and broke it soon after, so I am not attached to it in any big way (except that I really wanted it).

My thinking was, because it was a beater, even if I fix it it will still look like a beater. But maybe it's not about the that. Maybe it's about the adventures I am yet to have with it. I don't think I will be dodging any missiles, but there is fun to be had with it. Maybe a repair is not such a bad idea.
 
Buyers have less tolerance for small nicks and scratches these days. Everything should look like new even when 50+ years old.
 
I think you were lucky (so far) as NOT to lose the beam-splitter and viewfinder.
A "user" is not really liked by Leica wannabees!
Mine look horrible!
Chrome warn away, vulcanite looking "moth" eaten..
Get an approx. quote..
Selling as scrap is silly.
Unlike digital, mechanical analogs can be serviced and repaired.
Then make a decision..
If you wanna sell, see what offers here at RFF.
 
Maybe that's the problem. I bought it and broke it soon after, so I am not attached to it in any big way (except that I really wanted it).

My thinking was, because it was a beater, even if I fix it it will still look like a beater. But maybe it's not about the that. Maybe it's about the adventures I am yet to have with it. I don't think I will be dodging any missiles, but there is fun to be had with it. Maybe a repair is not such a bad idea.
Click to expand...

It, sir, is a Leica. An M3, the finest camera ever made. It is not a beater, no way--it simply has...character.

Those things were designed to go through all hell and keep working, and if something does happen to break because of rocket attack or Armageddon, a few passes of the hands over it by Wetzlar-trained magicians with their special tools forged in mystical fires will have it good as new in no time. Or within 10 months, depending on their backlog.

🙂

Seriously, I'd get it fixed unless it's just *so* trashed it's not at all economically feasible. This latest trauma is simply part of the history of an instrument that could reasonably be making great photos long after you're passed to the Great Beyond.
 
FWIW, I sold an M3 in need of a shutter CLA and with a bad light leak for about $650 on eBay about a year ago. Prices fluctuate, but seems like you could probably get 500-650 out of it.
 
jarski said:
Buyers have less tolerance for small nicks and scratches these days.
Click to expand...

If only this was true. I have a couple of 'well used' M4s which have seen better days which are anything but collectable, but that's not the point, They have seen life and this no longer seems to substantially devalue them. I'd repair a 'beater' M3 just to give it a new lease of life. Well worth repairing IMO. And it will sell easily enough with a repair receipt even if a beater.
 
capitalK said:
Maybe that's the problem. I bought it and broke it soon after, so I am not attached to it in any big way (except that I really wanted it).

My thinking was, because it was a beater, even if I fix it it will still look like a beater. But maybe it's not about the that. Maybe it's about the adventures I am yet to have with it. I don't think I will be dodging any missiles, but there is fun to be had with it. Maybe a repair is not such a bad idea.
Click to expand...

My guess is that, if you repair it, you could use it for some time, and then sell it to recover the repair cost and get some additional cash.

I think looks has some impact on price. I offered a M3 with good curtain, good shutter speeds, but seems person didn't like it because I was missing a part of the vulcanite. I could go with $400.00 but was offered $275 so I would rather keep it.

Regards

Marcelo
 
Bill Clark said:
Perhaps try with the outer part of the rewind knob pulled up to see if that helps. The inner part turns as the film is advanced. Maybe an issue there.

Just a thought to possibly help.
Click to expand...

Oh dip. That actually seems to help quite a bit. Not perfect, but it clears up probably 80 per cent of the hesitation/stiffness.

I'll try a roll tomorrow. If it solves the spacing issue that might be a great workaround in the interim. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
It's easy to remove that rewind shaft then stick a metal rod in there and gently bend the cover and chassis back. You don't even need much force since not much was imparted to bend it in the first place. While the winder is out you can also check to see if those parts are bent at all and they can be rolled out or sanded straight as well. This is a weekend project at the longest and at the end of it you'll have that connection with your camera.

Phil Forrest
 
Tried shooting a roll with the outer rewind knob extended. Worked just about perfectly. Frame spacing is back to normal and very little stiffness in the winding.

Now I will look at the rewind shaft and see if I can fix myself.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R
Leica M3 Lens issue
Replies
16
Views
1K
Richard G
Richard G
S
Zorki-4 repair?
Replies
7
Views
570
WoodallP
WoodallP
Chriscrawfordphoto
Watch Repair
6 7 8
Replies
142
Views
10K
Chriscrawfordphoto
Chriscrawfordphoto
Miles.
Leica M3 - Returning to Where I Started
2 3
Replies
43
Views
5K
helen.HH
helen.HH
A
Anyone ever had a Summitar with a mismatch of parts and gotten it to work?
Replies
9
Views
533
wlewisiii
W
Back
Top Bottom