Yay first M!

[Bassism]

It's heeeereee!

I just ran through the Cameraquest M buyers' guide, and it mostly all checks out.

The only real problem with the camera is that the framelines are sticky. However, I've been exercising them and they seem to be loosening up.

The viewfinder is a little bit cloudy, but still far brighter than anything else I've ever used. The rangefinder patch looks to me like it might be a bit low in contrast and there are also what look like spiderline cracks encroaching upon the edge of the image. I'm hoping that this is more of a sign of dirt than of needing a mirror replacement.

The wind lever has what seems to me a bit of an odd action, but for all I know it may be normal for a Leica. It's buttery smooth all the way through the end where there's a little bit of extra resistance. It's not grinding and doesn't seem bad at all, I'm just curious whether it's to be expected.

The obvious solution would be to send it out for a CLA, but as long as the shutter speeds check out okay in practice, I might open it up myself and do a bit of lubrication and cleaning. I'm rapidly running out of money, and would like to wait until the summer when I've got a source of income before I spend something like that. Of course, it seems perfectly functional as it is, so these are all minor issues.

My only problem with taking it apart is that I don't have a set of flexiclamps. Otherwise, it'd probably already be in pieces.... I usually can't help myself from taking a camera apart as soon as I get it home.

But all in all, I'm overjoyed with the camera. Everything they say about a Leica is true. I wish I could run a roll of film through it, but I can't mount a lens just yet.

I've got an LTM adaptor in the mail to use my Industar. But more importantly, I managed to win a clean looking Summicron DR for 150 dollars, which is also on its way. Whichever one gets here first wins 😛

 

[Ronald_H]

Congrats! I did the same thing, M2 and a DR 'cron. 150$ is really cheap for a DR too!

Run a bit of film through it and see how it turns out. My M2's shutter was waaaaay off (my first roll was slide film). CLA was around 200 euros, done by Will van Manen over here in the Netherlands.

 

[Tom A]

Martain, good luck with the M2. The combination of a DR and the M2 will do you well - as well as strengthen your muscles. the DR is not a lightweight lens, but the build is second to none!
The "notch" at the end of the stroke is quite normal. It is simply the "lock" for the shutter curtain, indicating that it is ready to fire. The "notchiness" can vary a bit, but it is nothing to worry about. The viewfinder "haze" is probably easily removed - it is caused by degassing of lubricants over the years and cleaning it usually clears up the rangefinder patch too.
I would suggest shooting some rolls with it, once you get your lenses and check the shutterspeeds and shutter function. With age and inactivity, the m shutter can start capping at the higher speeds and also the slow speeds can be a bit erratic. Prior to getting the lenses, just "dry fire" the camera at all speeds - several times at each speed. That will "limber" it up in anticipation of real film!

 

[januaryman]

And if you are looking for a J3, try Fedka first. He's more reliable than most ebay sellers and he is located in the US. If you don't need the extra .5 f stop, you can also try the Jupiter 8, a 53mm 2.0 Sonnar-copy lens just a tad slower than the 3, but lots cheaper and usually more likely to operate correctly. Again, I think Fedka.com ios your best bet.

 

[icebear]

Hi Bassism,

I hope the spiderlines you see in the VF don't look like this :
Which is a perfect example of finder separation i.e. separation of the main prisms because of dried out natural resin. It needed some TLC by Don...