Re: [Leica] Rapidwinder on M3? - (Was Chalk and Charcoal in HC110)

[TTAbrahams@aol.com]

On 1/10/99 Tom A wrote:
>> The old MP was rough in the advance and so were my old M2M's and M4M's.
>> The brass gear will probably wear out in time, but, unless you shoot
10,000's
>> of negs a year, it should last a long time. Also, the brass gears don't
crack
>> - the steel gears have a tendency to do so, particularly when they get a
bit
>> worn.
On 1/11/99 Carl Socolow wrote:
>OK, now we're talking drivetrains and such. Answer me this Leica
>cognescenti. My assistant gave me "Picasso Paints a Portrait" by David
>Douglas Duncan. In it Duncan writes the following: "My custom built M3D
>Leicas featured supersilent shutters." Does anyone know how these
>differed from regular M3 shutters as well as anything else about these
>custom built cameras?

Carl,
DDD had these cameras built in 1956-7. They were precursors to MP. I think
there were 2-3 built. DDD got a couple and Eisenstadt got one with the
engraving M3E. To my knowledge the shutters were the same as the regular M3's.
Leica made some early black paint M3's in 1956, a total of 51 that was a
special order for Brandt Optik in Sweden. The Swedish Pressphotographers Union
had their own purchasing organisation and the press liked the M3, but wanted
it in black. Leica made these up and shipped them to Sweden (and assorted
Swedish photographers around the globe). Most of these cameras were in the
901xxx series and some in 910xxx. They are now excruciatingly rare and highly
collectible. I used to have a couple of them and I think that they were all
with the steel gears from the MP. I know of several of these that were
retrofitted with the M2 drives and equipped with Leicavit MP's. In the 50's
Leica would custom build cameras to user specification at a reasonable charge.
If you find one of these double stroke black M3's and it is mint, it is most
likely a fake. These cameras were user-cameras and the last one I had was a
perfect example of a "Ugly-" M3 according to Jim Lager - and mine was one of
the better ones I have seen. 
 According to a friend of mine, who knows DDD, he still has the M3D and it is
not for sale. It is an interesting camera, but technically it is no different
than the MP or the black paint M3 double stroke.
Tom A