p._so1 Posted September 8, 2003 Share Posted September 8, 2003 Hi all, I never ever thought I would get to own (heck...even hold!) one of these gems. My father in law saw how much I liked taking pictures and gave me his old M3 rangefinder for free! It pays off to have a good relationship with the inlaws! I have a few questions... 1 - Are there any good books or websites for a Leica newbie? There are a gazillion knobs on this machine and I would love to know how to use them. 2 - How good is the lens on this rangefinder? The one on the body has the following markings... Summarit f=5cm 1:15 (I assume this is a 50mm prime...not sure what the 1:15 is) Ernst Leitz GmbH Wetzlar and there is a "Nr." followed by some numbers. Any help is greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chad_hahn Posted September 8, 2003 Share Posted September 8, 2003 It seems like it is a law that all librarys are required to have a copy of "Leica Manual 15th Edition" by Morgan & Morgan, at least the older branches. Although the manual came out the same time as the M5, it deals with all the previous models. There are also lots of good articles and pictures. If your library doesn't have a Leica manual, you can often find them at used book stores. Good luck, and enjoy your new camera Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob F. Posted September 8, 2003 Share Posted September 8, 2003 "There are a gazillion knobs on this machine and I would love to know how to use them." ---No. Not a gazillion. You have a shutter speed knob, and a film rewinding knob. That's only two. Don't get overwhelmed. There is a thumb-operated film advance lever. It needs one stroke or two, depending on the year of your M3. There's a little lever on the front, just in front of the shutter release and winding lever. That's to release the film just before rewinding. below that, you may have a self-timer lever. You can ignore it until you get comfortable with the other stuff. The button inside the guard ring is to release the lens. You don't need to do that until you get more lenses. You may have a frame selector lever on the other side of the lens. If there is one, look through the finder and flick the lever left and right. You will see three different framelines for different lenses. Let go of it, and it shows you the frame for the lens that's on it now, the 50mm Summarit. Until you get more lenses, you don't need to worry about this one, either. Loading the film will be a bigger challenge than learning what the controls do. Get your father in law to show you that. So here's all it boils down to: Once the camera is loaded, you deal with the film advance lever and the shutter speed dial. On the lens, you set the aperture ring to an f-stop, and you focus. When ready to shoot, you press the shutter release, at the pivot point of the winding lever. That's it. The world's simplest camera, almost. DO you have a light meter? If not, try taking some shots outdoors with ISO 100 color print film. The approximate setting on a sunny day will be 1/125 on the shutter speed dial, and about f/11 to f/16 on the lens. Your M3 might have 1/100 instead of 1/125. That's OK. Focus using the rangefinder. Better get help from dad on that. Just remember the word SAFE: Shutter Aperture Focus Expose You are lucky, getting that Summarit. Lots of guys love them. Place on the web to get help? Right here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen_w. Posted September 8, 2003 Share Posted September 8, 2003 http://www.horizon.bc.ca/~dnr/instruction_index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grant_. Posted September 8, 2003 Share Posted September 8, 2003 yea, nice lens, good luck! post some pix when u get em... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry_lehrer Posted September 8, 2003 Share Posted September 8, 2003 Stella Some gals get all the luck! My in-laws left me nothing but "rest home", hospital and funeral expenses which almost bankrupt me. Be happy with your M3 or sell it to someone who appreciates it. Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_shihanian Posted September 8, 2003 Share Posted September 8, 2003 Yes, lots of luck and enjoy the camera. You'll probably need a light meter. One thing that helped me out (I'm still a Leica newcomer) was joining the LHSA (Leica Historical Society of America). Their quarterly magazine- "Viewfinder" is VERY helpful. Lots of good people to keep in touch with there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulr Posted September 8, 2003 Share Posted September 8, 2003 Shoot a lot of the film you may already be used to. Color or black and white. All the books you may find are fine, but getting out there and using the camera is the best teacher. All the knobs and stuff? Did it come with a manual? If not, maybe some other generous person can send one your way. Might want to ask your father-in-law if he ever had it serviced. Post some photos of your father-in-law so we can admire him. Very generous person and you have been given a very fine camera and lens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew n.bra hrefhttp Posted September 8, 2003 Share Posted September 8, 2003 Welcome to Leica-Land. :?) The Leica FAQ I maintain at <<A HREF="http://nemeng.com/leica"> nemeng.com/leica</A>> may be useful, although admittedly the M3 side is pretty light at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bart feliciano Posted September 9, 2003 Share Posted September 9, 2003 Find a working MR meter, they are fun. Kind of like Flintstones Aperture Priority AE :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Williams Posted September 9, 2003 Share Posted September 9, 2003 <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> <title></title> </head> <body> <a href="http://www.joe-chan.com/manuals">Joe Chan's Instruction Manuals</a><br> </body> </html> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ed_balko3 Posted September 9, 2003 Share Posted September 9, 2003 The 14th edition of Willard Morgan's "Leica Manual" is a good one for the M3 (the 15th edition spends a lot of time on the M5 and the Leicaflex SL). You can get this for well under $20 (got mine for $5) using Alibris, Amazon, or one of the other second hand book web sites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerry_szarek Posted September 9, 2003 Share Posted September 9, 2003 First the best site for information is right here! The film loading will be a b*tch until you learn how to do it. I recommend you go to your local photo store and buy some out of date film to practice loading with. Once you get that down I recommend you test the shutter speeds as follows: Outside on a reasonably bright day exposure with ASA 100 film will be 1/125 at f11 or f16, the next combo is 1/250 at F8, etc. Then do the same thing indoors to test the slow shutter speeds. You will need a light meter. Congrats on getting your new toy, don't be afraid to search the archieves or post questions, but try to search first! GS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay_. Posted September 9, 2003 Share Posted September 9, 2003 <<Leica Fell in My Lap!>> You have no idea how lucky you are that it didn't have a Leicavit/Rapidwinder attached. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p._so1 Posted September 9, 2003 Author Share Posted September 9, 2003 You are all as generous as my popinlaw w/ your responses. Lots of good stuff here...time to do some reading! haha and yes, when I get a good one, I will post a shot of my kind father in law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p._so1 Posted September 9, 2003 Author Share Posted September 9, 2003 Unfortunately (heck I will take it) it didn't come with any instruction manuals or anything...just the body, slightly dented lens which works fine, and case. The lens doesn't have a cap and is a bit dusty but it should serve its purpose just fine. Thanks again everyone. This forum is fantastic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg_mason Posted September 9, 2003 Share Posted September 9, 2003 stella: there should be a 6 or 7 digit serial number on the top of your camera. if you could post it we would be able to supply you with more information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bart feliciano Posted September 11, 2003 Share Posted September 11, 2003 And keep the serial numbers in a place OTHER than the bag you carry it in :\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ray_moth Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 What Jay means is that the Leicavit or RapidWinder has a sharp spike underneath for winding on the film. It would cause something between alarm and agony if it landed in your lap with the spike open. It's a manually operated film advance accessory that replaces the baseplate on some models of Leica (not the M3, though). Your Summarit lens has a 50mm focal length, as you assume. The marking you read as 1:15 is probably actually 1:1.5, which means that f/1.5 is the lens's widest aperture. I'm guessing here, because I've never actually seen a Summarit lens, but that's the way Leica normally indicates aperture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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