[Leica] Re: how to check a used M3

[Summicron1 at aol.com (Summicron1@aol.com)]

Your best bet is to find a good working M3, handle it for an hour or so, 
then 
compare the other one. Leica "feel" is quite distinct.

Basics:

Put on 1 second -- fire shutter -- listen to gear train. Smooth? SteadY No 
hangups?

Cock and fire shutter with self timer. Same questions.

Go outside and find something half a mile away. Focus on it. Rangefinder 
should focus precisely on infinity -- no overlapping of images either 
horizontal 
or vertical. 

Take bottom off, open back, take lens off, set shutter speed to 1/1000 of a 
second and hold the camera up to a well-lit white ceiling while looking at 
the 
shutter curtain from the back, Fire the shutter and look carefully along the 
left edge for any bright bar that indicates the second curtain has bounced. 
It 
is most likely to do this first time you fire the shutter, less so later. If 
it is bouncing, the camera needs service.

Look through viewfinder. Image should be bright and contrasty, rangefinder 
spot in the center should be distinct, clear, edges between it and the rest 
of 
the viewfinder should be distinct and sharp. If the rangefinder is dim or 
hard 
to see, it may need resilvering. VERY expensive.

Handle the camera -- are all the controls (shutter, rewind lever,rewind 
knob) 
all working smoothly? Firmly? A Leica is a handmade machine, especially so 
with the M3 -- it is "right" in every respct, no slop, no "kentucky windage" 
on 
any operation. The levers don't wobble, the shutter button is crisp, the 
curtain action is firm and predictable. 

Anything at all wrong, it needs service Sherry Krauter charges $175 -- or 
did 
a year ago -- so consider that in any price bargaining. 

c trentelman