james_elwing

<p>Sounds like you want to use it. <br> Thanks for the review JDM. I never realised it was that expensive once upon a time.</p>

<p>Hi Donald,<br> If you have an old Helios, check its glass colour. The black ones I have are fine, but I have a silver (aluminium?) earlier one that has aged yellow. I assume this has some radioactive elements. None have had mould, but one has separating elements.<br> The pre 3M Zenits are great looking little dinosaurs.<br> I always assumed that they called it 3M to benefit from association, because the Leica M3 was in production at the time, it was derived from a Leica II, and used a Leica thread mount. I can't find a 2M.</p>

<p><em>Brett: I may have one of those around also</em><br> Well, the Global is the same, so you should rummage around. There is a 58 Helios pre-set and a 50mm f3.5 called something I can't read. I am sure there is a 35mm somewhere, probably f2.8. </p>

<p><em>PS I don't plan on doing RAW processing and don't expect to be at that level for a few years.</em><br> Well if you just want to do jpegs, go to the automatic picture styles in your menu & bump up the images. <br> At that level, it hardly matters which format you are working with. Most of these body comparisons you are looking at assume a degree of image translation. You also need to consider having at least one decent lens.<br> Some working with raw files is not rocket science. Don't put it off</p>

<p>Hope you can get it working. It's a very durable camera normally, with sprockets tough enough to happily tear their way through the end piece of film.<br> Easy to use. If it doesn't have a usable lens, you may be looking for a long time, as it's Leica thread, but with a different infinity position.</p>

<p >Christopher, you are assiduous. when they rebuilt the meter, did they deal with the mercury battery issue, or do you have to use air cells? My technician adjusted one of my MR meters to 1.5 volts, for an alkaline battery, but I forgot which one.</p> <p>My Summaron is a bit lumpy with M3 spectacles. Good lens; awful view, useless for any other camera but M3. On my M9, I get asked if I am using film camera.</p> <p> </p>

<p>This is for flash bulbs, is it? You would need to use a longer shutter exposure time. You would have to look up how long the bulb burns and recommended settings, but you only have electronic flash on camera, so exposure would need to be longer.<br> Someone else here will know about this. I don't. Have fun and don't burn out your circuits:-)</p>

<p>Hope it works for you. Just put a film through the M3 once in a while to keep it working.</p>

<p>Christopher - Apparently I was pretty close -- the camera, the 5cm F2 and 3.5cm 3.5 are dated '54. A 90 was bought in '57, and a 135 in '66. His original M meter died and I gave him an MR for Christmas in the late '60's. All except the 3.5 are clean -- that has fogging.<br> So the Summicron is a collapsible one, and the Summaron 35 should be without spectacles ?<br> Each of these are at their best in the central area, therefore an APS C sensor will really benefit. I find the Summaron very sharp in the centre, better than some lenses I replaced it with & have put it back in my camera bag; so it might be worth your while to have it cleaned. My experience is that the collapsible Summicron is as sharp in the centre (bit dodgy in the corners) as the later rigid one mentioned is all the way into the corners.</p>

<p>12 lenses to get rid of? You must have spent a lot. <br> I would want to be sure I would get some tangible benefit before making such a switch.<br> Whatever you decide, the image quality of each generation of cameras is so much better than what came before that you can't really lose.</p> <p> </p>

<p>Heliopan offers new 41mm UV-haze filters. I assume they are coated, and there are ads out there for screw in lens hoods. Best to get the Leica XOONS hood, but they are a bit expensive.</p>

<p>Lens looks clean. Try to find a lens hood. The original is quite expensive. Maybe you can get a clamp on hood for 40.5 filter type lens like Contax 50. <br> So the filter is no good? 41mm is hard to find, but someone makes them new. <br> Great deal. That was the earliest M Meter; unlikely to still work anyway, but nice to have. </p>

<p>Thanks, Michael.<br> Glen, I have bought a number of TM Leicas over the years, and they have usually worked fine, if occasionally a little tardy with some slow speeds.<br> TM Leicas tailed off after 1954, while the more sophisticated Canons are all newer than that, so should be compared with M3 or M2, which are in that same age group.<br> All of them could probably do with a CLA, but....<br> Why not get an old black Leica II with nickel Elmar 50. No slow speeds, but you got to love them.</p>

<p>I am sure I bought a somewhat worn M3 double wind in good working condition for $400 two years ago from a dealer. I appreciate Ebay doesn't have anything under $700 just now, and most are just under $1000.<br> I think, however, that some sellers are dreaming they are sitting on a gold mine and just won't shift what they have.<br> Am I dreaming and living in the past? dunno</p>

<p>I agree with John. I admire old RF cameras: TM Leicas, Contax based cameras like Nikon, also Canons, and I love the Contax II and Leica II.<br> If I want to take pictures, however, I would rather use M series Leicas. M3 & M2 in good working order are not particularly expensive, and you don't need a complete set of lenses to start.</p>

<p>Usually I am only a bit right, David<br> Keith is right, the lens should unscrew in a conventional anti-clockwise direction. That lens and its coatings are extremely soft on all surfaces, which is why it shows so bad on the front.<br> Once the lens is off, you can see if the shutter is OK, and get some idea if slow speeds work when 1/30 sec selected on top. You need to download some Leica instruction info to operate speed selection. Google or this forum should supply.<br> Otherwise, it's condition of viewfinder, rangefinder, then lens, as the exterior is pretty well described from your photos.<br> Don't sell it if you can't get much; join the ranks of Leica owners. Exotic</p>

<p>They all look like an injured Summarit to me, David.<br> With no other information about working condition, and considering the amount of corrosion and presumably mould inside lens, I would find it difficult to pay more than $200, but I imagine you could get a little more just because it's a Leica.</p>

<p>Don't know about ugly, but the one you show looks modern, would probably be more convenient, and anonymous. Looks like that hood would fit a lot of different lenses with various adaptors.</p>

<p>1.35x Japan Exposures Magnifier works for Leica M camera viewfinders. It has a variable diopter adjustment built in, from -3.0 to +1.5 diopters by turning the focus mechanism. <br> That's basically what I use for Leica M9, and I set it to my unassisted taking eye, but of course it suits the 50+ mm lenses I mostly use. I mostly can't be bothered taking it off for 35mm, but absolutely have to for 28mm.<br> With specs pushed up, It works perfectly. I don't know if you can work with magnified view with the Polaroid. You need something like that, with minimal magnification, that has that adjustment. I note they also have a 1.15x magnifier with -3 to +1 also to fit the Leica viewfinder screw, '..<strong>due to Leica patent restrictions, this product is not available to customers for rangefinder camera use in Germany and the United States of America!</strong>' (Japanese website)<br> </p>

<p>'... finding a great, functional (and budget) rangefinder. I'm fine with 3rd body lenses and bodies, as I've seen that Leica can get very expensive.'<br> You can't get a system RF with ability to be built on too cheap. If you buy something that can sell at roughly the same price or better, that's the best you can do.<br> Thus:<br> What is called a 'beater' M3 or M2 in good working condition is reasonably priced. A 50mm or 35mm Leitz lens may cost more, though older 90 or 135 lenses are quite cheap. Older Leicas are working antiques, really; fun maybe & if you want that, A IIIa with clean 50mm Summar or Elmar can be economical. </p>

<p>f stop is just f stop, a mathematical relationship between aperture and focal length, crop factor makes no difference</p>

<p>Rick, Surely that little thingy on the RHS is focus, and probably operated with the chrome wheel thingy on the LHS, or am I just tired. I used to use one of these things once upon a time, only I think I had to move focus manually, but in the same place.</p>

<p>Such language is not a problem in Australia. My old mother used it all the time :-)</p>

<p>Good; seems to be working just fine. Still compact, but comparatively heavy in the plastic age.</p>

<p>Don't get me wrong, James; I assume that having the lens locked at infinity is what Leitz would have advised us to do, and that's not normally a problem.<br> It's just something I noticed happened with some of my own lenses, and winding it out seemed to eliminate the problem you describe.<br> I always, however, wind out any TM 135, (Hektor/Elmar) because it has a limited RF cam, and the RF wheel on the camera would be moved on each revolution screwing it in.</p>