Re: [Leica] DS M3 Problem

["Dan Post" <dwpost@email.msn.com>]

RAC-
I had the DS winding head go bad in my M#; Sherry Krauter at Golden Touch
Camera said she could replace the DS head OR upgrade it to SS- which I
did... Didn't cost anywhere near $1000- She did a CLA as well, and it is
came back, polished, buffed, and looking almost new as well as working like
a dervish!
I find that I have a tendency to pick it, or the IIIa, up and take them as
"TOTE" cameras when I am going out the door- you never know when a UFO, or
balloon will land in front of you... and I want to be ready!

It's funny- I have been carrying that thing around for MONTHS- and at over
25 stone, I an nearly invisible with it! The only person who ever noticed
the camera was a young kid _ about 15YOA, who commented, "Boy, that sure is
an old camera!"
I have to tell people, "I got it, thanks!" when I shoot, because they cannot
hear the shutter, and without a flash, they would stand there and grin like
'possums until the sun went down, unless you tell them, that you have the
shot!
Go for the repair!
Dan
- ----- Original Message -----
From: R. Carter <carter@andromeda.rutgers.edu>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Monday, October 25, 1999 9:53 AM
Subject: Re: [Leica] DS M3 Problem


>   I have long been a user of Polaroid PolaPan
> Instant 35mm film.  This produces continuous tone BW
> transparencies.  Developed on Polaroid's proprietary
> machine, it gives snappy, somewhat grainy (i.e.
> a little more than Tri-X in D76) images that are very
> satisfactory for my purposes.  This film is exposed through
> its base, which is noticeably thinner than that of
> conventional 35mm film (.003 inch compared to .006 inch for
> Tri-X).  The leader is conventional in shape, but has two
> cut-outs, which fit over dogs in the takeup spool of the
> developing gadget.
>
>   Because of the thinness and fragility of the punched-out
> leader, this film will not load successfully in M4 and later
> Leicas, because it will not catch in the takeup flower. It
> can be loaded in M2 and earlier Leicas by securing the
> leader to the takeup spool with a small piece of black
> plastic tape.  This works fine with screw-mount cameras, but
> if it is done with an M2, the rapid advance, manipulated at
> normal speed, rips through the sprocket holes.  The solution
> that has worked for me is to use a pair of double-stroke
> M3's. The two-stroke advance puts much less stress on the
> sprocket holes. I run about 200 rolls a year through these
> cameras. But now I am beginning to have a problem with one
> of the M3's which I have been told is not soluble.  Perhaps
> a LUGer can help with information.
>
>   The characteristic failure mode for DS M3's is in the
> clutch that allows the rapid advance lever to snap back to
> the start position after the first half frame has been
> advanced.  One of my bodies is beginning to show warning
> signs (the shutter cannot get through 36 frames without
> squeaking loudly  and the advance lever from time to time
> gives a hop (as if a gear were slipping a cog) at the end of
> the first of the two strokes required for advance.  I have
> been told (by what was Leitz Rockleigh and by Essex Camera
> Repair) that the standard cure for this failure is
> installation of a one-stroke mechanism.  I do not even know
> if the one-stroke kit is still available. And, I fear that
> it would rip the sprocket holes of this film as does the M2.
>
>   Exactly what happens to the two-stroke M3 clutch to make
> it fail?  When experts say repair is not possible, surely
> they must mean that it is not economically feasible. In the
> position I am in, I would be willing to pay almost as much
> for the repair as for a very clean DS M3, i.e. about $1000.
> Is the fix possible at that price?  I am aware that, sooner
> or later, this operation will have to be switched over to
> digital, if only because Polaroid will wake up and stop
> making this film. Until then, I would really like to keep on
> using my M3's.  Help.
> --
>                                              _RAC
>
> Robert A. Carter KB2NTV carter@newark.rutgers.edu
> 15 Washington St. Newark NJ 07102 +1.973.353.5216