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Good afternoon, I've finally decide to put some money to buy a M leica camera.

My question is to choose beteween the M3 and the M6 .85x. I always like the

M3, but the M & has light metter. And were to buy it? I form Portugal and only

know Ebay. And the price question? M3 because I may arrange most cheap or buy

the M6 wich cost more?

Please help me. Off topic, I manage to get a tipod but I can'y use my leica

IIIc in it, because the hole in the camera is bigger. Is there a adaptor?

Thank You

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Depends on how much you have to spend. I have few enough funds at my disposal, and would be more than happy with an M3. Another one to find, if you have limited funds, are the CV cameras and the Canon rangefinders, especially the P and the 7-- you'll see 7's with dead meters going for relative peanuts.

 

If you have the money to spend, the .85x is a good one. The meter helps, but is far from essential.

 

Yes, there is a tripod adapter that can allow you to use older cameras on new tripods. Don't remember the sizes, though.

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Any camera store should have an adapter for the tripod socket. <p>Since you already have experienced the great pleasure (and shortfallings) of your IIIC, I believe that a M6 would be a far better idea than a M3.
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If when you receive that "minty" M3 from an eBay seller with lots of positive feedback and find out it needs US$300-worth of repair to get it working right you might come to realize the M6 was the better buy. Of course you could always send the broken M3 back to the great, honest eBay seller. All you'll lose is the $50 you paid to have it shipped from the US and the $50 it cost you to ship it back to him. Wonderful place, eBay. Highly recommended :*).
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You need a 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch tripod screw adapter. Some of us have had great results buying and sellin one Ebay. Perhaps somebody here on the Leica Forum has one they'd like to sell you. We have people here who live in the European Union which would save you on shipping and taxes.
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If you expect this will be your only M, and you don't think you will ever need a built-in light meter, and you don't think you will ever want to use a 35mm lens, then a well-maintained M3 with a clear finder makes sense. If you expect this will be your only M and you might like having a meter sometimes and might want to use a 35mm lens sometime, the M6 gives you those possibilities.

 

If you will not be able to examine the camera before buying, the risk of getting a camera with a problem is less if you choose the M6.

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All in all I like the viewfinder in my M3 more so than the m6ttl (.72) and I can see a difference as well. Physically I like the M3 body for some reason a little better. Film loading is a breeze compares to the M3.

 

The M6 (.85) looks like a nice compromise, something I will likely do as well.

 

My 90 cron just arrived so I feel the need for a third body ;o)!!!

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Rodrigo,

 

There was an M6 .85 for sale on this forum a few days ago for $1,100 a few days ago.

Look in the For Sale section.

 

You could buy an M3 from www.keh.com for about $550. Have it shipped directly to

Sherry @ Golden Touch for a CLA and then you'l have a GREAT M3 for around $850 or so.

 

If something is seriously wrong with the camera, Sherry would tell you. KEH has lots of

M3's in stock lately.

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"Some of us have had great results buying and sellin one Ebay." </p>

 

And some people have played Russian Roulette and not blown their heads off. </p>

 

If a tourist wanders into a bad neigborhood and gets the crap kicked out of him, he <i>could</i> come back for more sightseeing the next day wearing body armor and carrying an Uzi in each hand, but does that make him smart?

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Thank You All. Yes, well My IIIc, I bought in ebay and it was ok in all aspects. But in know the many problems in buying there. So I ask were on-line to buy. I always like more the M3, but I decide to ask You first since many You guys know more. In terms of money to spent, by now I only have 570 � and I want to gather more. I also prefer buy a camera with a lens. In ebay M3 or M6 are more cheap without the lens. But thank You
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Rodrigo, I have conducted well over 100 transactions on e-bay, more than half as a buyer. I would recommend trading there but NOT for someone who is new to Leica M's and relatively new to e-bay. My advice is that you save more than enough to buy whatever might crop up and whatever you don't spend keep towards a lens. Take your time, learn what to look for and DO NOT buy on impulse. Happy hunting, Johnny.
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More ebay horror stories, Mr. "Graham?" Pshaw. You don't bother to learn how to trade

safely, then you spread your disgruntled bile in any thread where the topic is mentioned.

 

Learn the ropes, develop some wits, and quit your bellyaching.

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"I manage to get a tipod but I can'y use my leica IIIc in it, because the hole in the camera is bigger."

 

most tri-pods come with both screws mounts, the 1/4 and the 3/8's. The larger one is for medium and large format. You can get any plate made by monfrotto/gitzo in both thread sizes for any head they make. no need to look for an arcane leica 3/8 to 1/4 spud to do it unless there's something odd about the IIIc that I'm not aware of.

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I have both M6 and M3 so I think I can respond with some knowlege. Buy the M3. The

plastic parts on the M6 will break and drive you crazy. The blinky lights in the M6 start to

get annoying so I just took the batteries out. My M6 ate a roll of kodachrome. The

counter doesn't work. I am not impressed with the quality of the M6.

 

The M3 is smooth and nice. I like the magnification of the finder for 50mm and 90mm.

For 35mm I like the M2 (which I also have and like very much).

 

I hardly use the M6 any more - I really should sell it.

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"Mr. Graham has been on photonet for all of four months, lists no bio information about himself, never posts any photographs, never offers any useful information, so pay attention to his advice...you'll become an expert at?" </p>

 

Add to the list of cards you shouldn't play is the "never offers any useful information" card. Unless you consider the same "beat the hell out of your gear or you aren't a real man", "digital is crap", and "back in 1962 a Leica cost $xxx" as useful information. Oh, I almost forgot the continual bullcrap about all the young girls you date. And I've mentioned a few times that I live in Los Angeles (I'm in the book and just about every high-end tax, bankruptcy and divorce lawyer in the area knows of me since I handle "discreetly" many forced liquidations for people in the entertainment industry). </p>

 

And as for you Mr. "Mendenhall" if you need to assert your superiority by proclaiming because I had a bad experience on eBay and decided not to go back for more I'm a wuss with a little penis, fine. Sticks and stones bro. As to you believing that I (and so it seems, everyone who challenges you) is not who he says he is, again, I really could give a hoot. In fact I'm glad you believe I'm someone else, so if and when you do go postal it'll be his house you show up at with an AK47 at 2AM and not mine :*)

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Well, "John," if you're not the dentist from South Florida, you should really meet the guy. You

two have so much in common! Potty mouth, nasty tempter and a juvenile fascination with

guns and genitalia for starters. Did you marry your office assistant, too? That would really

complete the picture!

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Yeah, I confess. Twenty years ago I flew out to L.A., got a fake driver license in the name of John Graham, got married, had three kids, got divorced, built a multi-million-dollar business and set up this whole fake life while simultaneously practicing dentistry in Miami Beach. I even became active with the SoCal gun-control lobby so nobody would suspect I'm really a crazed NRA supporter, and hid my juvenile fascination with genitalia so well that I was approved as a Big Brother. I did it all so one day twenty years later after they invented this thing called The Internet I could get on the Leica Forum and fool everyone. But one person, Kevin Mendenhall, was just too darn smart for me. Curses, foiled again!

 

BTW, as for marrying my office assistant, as with eBay, irregardless of how much if any of my bad experience was my own fault, I'm not in a hurry to go back down either of those roads :*)

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