Well, I Guess I Joined The Club...

[Spleenrippa]

I'd been watching an auction for the past few days on a beater M3, and before heading out to dinner tonight I set my EvilBay robot (yes, I'm one of those people) to bid $200. It was just a lark, as there was still 1.5 hours left on the auction and the current bid was ~196.

Well, I just came home and checked... And I guess I won. Oops... 😛

Sooo.... What I need to think about now is how much (do you guys think) it will cost to get it up and running once I have it? Here's the link to item on the auction site

What I wonder about is the rangefinder... Wobbly knob? Huh? Can a Leicaphile shed some light on this? Genuine mechanical fault or just an uneducated seller?

 

[BillBingham2]

I have no clue as to what is up but I would take a look through the repair forum and while I have not used him yet (I stress yet) would recommend Youxin Ye. He is not of the caliber of Don G or Sherry, his prices are much more reasonable and he does a good job.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65682&highlight=boston

Your M3 looks like a great user after a bit of work. I suspect that once you get her tune up it will be a WONDERFUL camera for at least another lifetime or two.

B2 (;->

 

[johannielscom]

I guess the rangefinder cam has come undone, it protrudes in one of the shots.

Also, it seems a bit gritty along the film rails and the film transport sprockets might have oil on them, so possibly an amateur lubing job.


Send it off to Youxin, I have not had dealings done with him but many consider him the alternative to Don and Sherry, both in price and turnaround time.

Get a GripTac cover set from CameraLeather to stick onto it, it looks the works and stick to the hand like glue.


Congrats on your new M3, I'm pretty convinced you'll love it!

 

[-doomed-]

Congrats , a good cla and youll be ready to go. I too recently joined the club with an m3 and i must say its a great camera that just feels "right".

 

[ethics_gradient]

Very nice find! I didn't know M3's (even beaters like that) could be had for so little... I'd better just close the tab with eBay in it right now.

 

[drewbarb]

Once the camera arrives, you'll have a better idea of the actual condition; however I would send it off to Youxin Ye. He's done thorough service on both of my M3's- for a very reasonable price (like 1/3rd of what DAG charges) and the turn-around time was about two weeks door-to-door. (Compare that to DAG which can be months!)

You will also need to get a take-up spool (I'd start scouring eBay now; KEH might be a good source, too). Make sure you get a real Leica one for the M2/3; the Russian ones usually don't work in the M3, and sadly neither do the ones for the LTM cameras. Anyway, even after buying a spool and getting the work done, you should have a good working camera at a decent price. And once it's up to snuff, it should stay that way for years to come, so enjoy it!

 

[Spleenrippa]

Thanks so much for the replies and the Youxin suggestion. I've seen him mentioned in other threads- seems like a bang-up guy, and he'll be at the top of my CLA list.
Unfortunately, I won't be sending Mr. M3 anywhere for a good while. I'm off to the east coast until just before xmas... Poor camera will be sitting here waiting, wondering why no one is loving it 😛

 

[jmkelly]

I just joined the M3OG as well (almost threw a bid at that one you closed, rippa, but I have had bad experience buying on eBay from Indonesia I don't wish to repeat) but went with one from a member here instead. I'm hoping the one I bought needs no service, but if I did: Don and Sherry are very good, and so is Youxin. So is Ken Ruth - incredibly good. I have also used Eddy Smolov, and last time we talked he asked me to mention that he works on Leica and Nikon as well as Contax. Like Youxin, Eddy is a guy whose focus is getting your camera to work and turning it around quickly - less interest in cosmetic resotration.