Re: [Leica] My First M3!

["Gerry Walden" <gerrywalden@cwcom.net>]

Welcome to the slippery downward slope of neurosis and money spending.   I
bought my first one 4 years ago but it never stops there!   Firstly you
start writing to the LUG, and then you get caught up with all kind of
strange people.   Then you see another lens that you can't possibly live
without and suddenly you are an addict and need a fix at least twice a day
by signing on to your email.   Gradually you sink even lower as you
collection grows, and you suddenly realise that you are listening to strange
people with even stranger names like Dr. Blacktape or Johnny Deadman.   You
are really hooked now, ad soon the kids are standing on street corners
begging for pennies so daddy can support wife and four hungry Leicas.

Welcome to the club!

Gerry


- ----- Original Message -----
From: Doug Cooper <visigoth@echonyc.com>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Cc: <leica-users-digest@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: 14 March 2000 05:07
Subject: [Leica] My First M3!


>
>
> Well, I traded some equipment for an M3 today.  Very exciting:  I've
> wanted one my whole life.  And I like this camera a lot.  I'd say
> it's Ex/Ex+ -- finder is crystal clear; curtain is pristine; shutter
> speeds seem dead on.
>
> I have some questions about my latest foundling, however.  It's a pretty
> early example:  SN 748xxx.  It has what looks to me like the glass
> pressure plate (although it's hard to tell; certainly it's held in place
> the way the glass one was).  But it has certain mods:  it's been converted
> to single stroke, and has a frame preview lever.
>
> My questions:
>
> a) Do these modifications affect the resale value?  (I'm happy with them
> -- they're useful! -- and it's clearly a user's camera; not for a
> collector.  But knowin' me, I'll trade or sell it some day.)
>
> b) Were these mods probably done by Leica itself?  (The preview lever
> looks pretty authentic.  The film advance lever has an uncoated brass
> assembly -- like a washer -- between it and the body.  Is this a pretty
> standard conversion to single stroke?  There is a black wax plug over the
> screw in the mount, but it doesn't have an "L" embossed, so I'm wondering
> if someone else made these changes.)
>
> c) I've heard about conversions to M4 flash sync; what would such a mod
> look like?  And what would it do?  (Dunno if I have it.)
>
> d) What's this thing worth?
>
>
>
> Dumb questions, all.  Truth is, I just really like this camera body, and
> am waiting for the opportunity to shoot with it.  As all my current
> rangefinder lenses are LTM, I'm going to have to buy adapters before I can
> take it out for a test drive.  (Think I'm going to hunt down an old DR
> Summicron, sans eyes<tm Shakespeare>, as per Mike Johnston's suggestion
> long ago.  This will be my cheap and wonderful introduction to Leitz
> glass.)
>
> My next gig takes me to Kyoto, where discretion is crucial.  I suspect
> I'll be shooting mostly with this and the Canon LTM.
>
>
> cheers all,
>
> Douglas Cooper
>