Weird M3 shutter behavior

[melaniec]

I'm thinking my M3 is in need of a CLA.

 

I'm in the middle of my fourth roll through it. Up to now everything has worked just fine,

except that some of the slow shutter speeds stick. Yesterday, I pulled the camera out,

cocked it, composed my shot, and tried to press the shutter button. Nothing. It felt

dampened and nothing fired. Without thinking, I held the camera in my left hand and gave

it a solid whack with the right (I know, I know, please stop shuddering and covering your

eyes, I just wasn't thinking) and then the shutter worked. But for the next shot, the same

thing happened. This time I kept my wits about me, reminded myself about rangefinder

alignment (I have no idea how this works, but I have read that it is something I need to be

worried about) and simply tried the shutter button three or four more times and it worked.

 

It was humid out. Could that have something to do with it? Is this a symptom of something

sinister?

 

I'm now in the market for a cheap but decent rangefinder (Canonet?) to play with while my

M3 is at the veterinarian. Wish me luck. I'm having pre-withdrawal.

 

-- Melanie

[vivek iyer]

Old age always results in sluggish behaviour.

[thomas_t]

Don Goldberg DAG www.dagcamera.com does great work.

 

Sherry Krauter is reputed to be great too (though no personal experience)

[david k.]

Malanie, one of the problems with buying prestine condition 50 cameras, they need a CLA. One of the nice things about a 50 leica, a CLA will have it working like new.....not a problem.

[david k.]

Sorry about the spelling MELANIE!!

[ronald_moravec1]

Don will fix it. Old lubricants.

[yeffe]

I recently bought a late model M3 on ebay. It arrived with leatherette cracking off and a

shutter that seized up as soon as I tried to use the self-timer. Dead larvae exo-skeletons

decorated the crevices around the flash shoe.

 

I sent it to Youxin Ye at wye7@yahoo.com He CLA'd for $80. and replaced the leatherette

for $50. Now it operates and almost looks like 'buddah.'

 

He specializes in the M3s. If there's no creeping blackness in the rangefinder view, you've

got a viable machine.

[frederick_muller]

One of the first things to check with a new old Leica are the slow speeds. Trip it at 1 sec and listen to the whirr of the escapement after the release. Those slow speeds should not stick!

[david_kelly1]

If you send it to DAG, ask him to check the rf prisms for any sign that they are starting to decement -another thing that happens to Leicas of this age. If he says "yes" have him recement them now, since you've already paid to have the camera opened. That done, the camera should be good to go until you pass it on to your kids.

[melaniec]

Hi all,

 

Thanks for the advice. The slow speeds on this camera do stick, but not in a consistent

pattern (i.e., the slowest one sticks, the next one doesn't, the next one does, etc.). The

sticky shutter button thing only started yesterday.

 

The rangefinder appears to be in perfect condition, despite my intemperate whacking.

 

My budget is tight so if Y. Ye is reliable I may be persuaded to send my camera there. (For

those of you who didn't see my first posts here, this camera was my father's I didn't buy it.

So, I know exactly where it's been for 20 years, and how much use it's gotten, namely,

none until about a month ago.)

 

-- Melanie

[graham john miles]

Sit down for a while and fire the shutter off 20 or 30 times. It might loosen things up and let you use it long enough to save up for a cleaning. In fact any camera with a mechanical shutter should be given this excercise occasionally, especially if it hasn't been used for a while.

[love4leica]

Melanie....... I ,not occasionally but regularly, exercise my M3 camera while watching T.V.