last of the great M leicas?

[charles_trentelman1]

<p>there is one caveat to selecting the M3 as one of the greatest Leicas ever -- as sherry krauter will tell you, MY M3 (seriel number 853XXX) has over the years developed a bounce in the shutter that is caused by its brake not functioning properly. Sherry has had that poor camera back and forth, getting almost as many frequent flier miles as GM executives going to congress -- and she's got it working right, but she says that earlier M3s had a brake design different from later M3 and parts are somewhat problematic at that vintage.</p>

<p>So, the camera works nicely, but it has developed this problem twice in the 30 years I've owned it, which makes me worry for the future. Apparently even Leican can't make something that will REALLY last forever.</p>

<p>So I use my M2 a lot more -- it's a bit newer (1958) and started out almost unused when I got it.</p>

<p>But, seriously, I must agree with those who say there really is no bad Leica M. A bad M is a lot better than a good Nikon.</p>

<p>And that includes the F2 -- I have one, does not even compare, not even slightly, to the Leicaflex SL2.</p>