First time Leica owner: advice?

[MattKing]

You absolutely must start wearing a beret when you go out to photograph!

Although, being a lens from Canada, possibly a toque would do.

More appropriately, you need to take photographs on film with that lens, and then you need to make darkroom prints from that film.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

One of the enjoyable things about getting a new-to-you camera is all the fun research and reading you get to do.

Here's a simple overview that lists some of the M3 variations:

http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Leica_M3

Then there's Stephen Gandy's wonderful site:

https://www.cameraquest.com/classics.htm

Ultimately, what matters is the photos you make. Still, it's nice to feel good about your camera and know about its history. It's not going to matter if yours is single-stroke, double-stroke, has a preview lever, a self-timer, or whether your viewfinder patch has depth-of-field notches or not. But it's cool to know. The Cameraquest site, among others, lets you look up your serial number to find when your camera was made.

 

[Bill Burk]

My great uncle Bill taught me a few things about photography, one thing he cautioned me about was to be careful not to leave the camera pointing at the sun because it would burn holes in the shutter curtain. It's old advice and good advice if the lens can aim a spot of light at the shutter curtain, and the shutter curtain is fabric.

The most likely scenario for shutter curtain burn is when you set the camera down by your side when you eat your lunch. It only takes a comedy of errors to cause the problem. The lens just has to be focused at infinity and set at a fairly open aperture and stay in one place momentarily with the sun bearing down the barrel.

FoidPoosening, I'm sure you understand by now that the lens is always focusing light on the shutter curtain of a Leica rangefinder camera. It's not a problem for Contax rangefinders, which have a corrugated metal barn door type of shutter curtain. But it's harder to keep a Contax in working condition, it's easier to find reliable and fast Leica service people.

 

[CropDusterMan]

M3. Awesome camera. But, don't just think about a 50mm...look at the 35mm focal length...I have a Summarit 35mm and it
is a little champ...sharp and nice contrast. They are reasonably priced...another great lens is the 40mm 'Cron, in fact I love
it as a focal length. You can make a tiny alteration to the 40mm lens mount to bring up the 35mm frame lines instead of the 50mm default. Ultimately though, I'd stick to Leica glass...call me a snob, but I just love them.

 

[Arklatexian]

I've been shooting film for a few years (mostly on the Canon FD system, but some rangefinders in the past too), but I just recently caved and bought myself an M3.

In short, what are the finer points of advice you all think I should know? Anything is welcome, but some of my more specific questions I have include:

• Advice on a lens? I don't have one yet, but know I want 50mm. Very torn between newer version f2, f1.4 pre-ASPH and f1.4 ASPH.
• Any important advice on things I CAN'T do? I know all cameras have their quirks (for example on a Zenit I own, it's advised to change the shutter speed only AFTER the shutter is cocked). I'd rather not make any "dumb" (IE completely avoidable) mistakes and break this beautiful thing by accident.

Thanks all, really looking forward to using this one soon.

First, If I were you, I would buy a 50mm, f2 Summicron, bayounet mount, of some vintage UNLESS YOU NEED A F1.4 LENS WHICH MOST PEOPLE DON"T in my experience. Then go out and use your extremely well-made, rugged camera and have fun and don't worry too much about breaking it. And above all, don"t listen to people who put down Leica rangefinder film cameras, they just "don"t know".......Regards!

 

[calebarchie]

I traded my M6 for an R3A, no regrets old fella!

 

[Arklatexian]

Here in the land down under m8, we take pride in how many holes we can burn in our precious cloth shutters. It is a real status symbol!

In our part of the world, the real "status symbol Leica is one that is 60 yrs. old and still has its first and only shutter. I have only seen one case of this and after buying a new shutter, the owner never took his camera for a ride on the back seat of his car with the lens pointed up again. You did bring up a good point though. It applies to the Speed Graphic with the focal plane shutter cocked and the front lens open pointed at the sun.......Regards!

 

[Ai Print]

Among other Leica M bodies, I have shot with a 1956 M3 converted to single stroke for about 10 years now. I have had all kinds of great 50mm's on it including a silver 50mm 1.4 asph that while sharp and beautiful wide open, it weighed so much being made of brass that it consistently fell apart even with great care. I sent the lens in three times under warranty in 2 years to have the front tightened up as it would come loose under it's own weight and start to wobble which would compromise the image quality. So I finally had enough of that, sold it after a repair and bought a brand new Zeiss ZM 50mm F2 Planar. Not only is it one of the sharpest lenses I have ever used, it is also the lightest and is holding up great.

My "1.4" Leica lens is now a modern 35mm 1.4 FLE ( not pictured ) and I could not be happier, use it on a M240 and an M6TTL. I also have a version 4 35mm Summicron and a 28mm 2.8 Elmarit aspheric.

If it were me, I would get a silver 50 Planar and call it great...because it is.

 

[Xmas]

You have to be careless to burn a hole.
What you need is a fast lens prefocused at six foot.
Because the first blind is closer to the lens than the film the six foot setting will burn a hole PDQ.
Note simple sums I've not managed a hole in +40 years.
Leaving a Leica on a table outside with lens pointing at the sky you going to watch it dissappear...
Neck strap with cap off (at six foot setting) a hole pretty sure thing with our low sun.
A Cosina Voightlander /2.5 (LTM) has a tab and is no different at /5.6 from a type 4 cron or Planar. If you can cope with the (small) size, if you got big hands the Planar or cron better.
You may need the fast load kit. If you use a lotta film the fast load kit means you only need to juggle two items.
You set the lens at 12 foot /5.6 on wrist strap hidden behind back. You don't need to close an eye to use the 0.9 finder.
The camera speed needs to be quicker than 1/125.
12 foot is what HCB used with a 5cm, I use 10.
But a Leica is usable with 35 or 28mm closer in.

 

[Helinophoto]

So I finally had enough of that, sold it after a repair and bought a brand new Zeiss ZM 50mm F2 Planar. Not only is it one of the sharpest lenses I have ever used, it is also the lightest and is holding up great.

Ditto, I also have a Zeiss Zm F2 Planar (Silver edition) and it's very solid, light weight and very sharp.
I cannot fault that lens at all (bought it used from Japan, looks brand new, came with Zeiss UV filter and hood, in box + papers).
Fits my silver M6 perfectly.

Some say it's closer to 46mm in reality and I think I've noticed that it does indeed capture a little more than the frame lines on my M6 (and on my R3M).
Read a lot of reviews and compared to Leica glass, the Zeiss is probably the best 50mm deal you can get these days, incredible value for money and almost impossible to flare, they have done something with that glass for sure.

 

[dynachrome]

My RF cameras all have fixed lenses and leaf shutters so I have never run into a burn hole with one of them. Some months ago I received a Minolta SRT Super body. It has two nice burn holes in its shutter. Someone obviously locked the mirror up. At some point I will have the camera overhauled and get the shutter curtains replaced. Do burn holes in a cloth shutter happen? Yes they do.

 

[Huss]

How did you manage that? Perhaps you pressed a soldering iron through it.

Quite a strange remark. You may have never done it, I have never done it. I knew about the possibility and so made sure that I would not do anything that could cause it. But I know quite a few people who have, and you can finds lots online who it has happened to.
So, it would be of better effect to let the OP know about the possibility, then attempt to belittle those who have provided the information. There is no agenda here.

Dead Link Removed

 

[Huss]

I traded my M6 for an R3A, no regrets old fella!

I liked my R3A, but not enough to keep it. It just felt clunky and clattery, and the pressed metal body just did not have that feel that made me want to use it. I liked the 1:1 finder, and that the finder lines were set manually (as you could use any ltm adapter), but did not like the shutter speed readout that needed your eye placed just so to see. Much prefer my CLEs or any of my Leicas. But I did like the R3A much more than my CL which I unloaded as soon as I got it. (bought it for the lens attached to it).
I'm pretty sure the shutter guts and electrics in the Nikon/Cosina FM10 is what is in the Bessa R3A.

Anyway, this is about the M3.

 

[cliveh]

Quite a strange remark. You may have never done it, I have never done it. I knew about the possibility and so made sure that I would not do anything that could cause it. But I know quite a few people who have, and you can finds lots online who it has happened to.
So, it would be of better effect to let the OP know about the possibility, then attempt to belittle those who have provided the information. There is no agenda here.

Dead Link Removed

Well I think such an event is so unlikely to happen, never happened to me and I never use a lens cap, never heard of anyone it has happened to. So to mention it in a thread when the OP is a new Leica user, is in my opinion just scare mongering.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

... never happened to me ...

That's what the IT Dept. says when I complain about Microsoft crap

So, the thing is - you don't have any sunlight in England. I never saw it the whole time I was there.

Here's proof: the Lotus Elise was produced starting in 1996 and made it over to the States in 2005. Suddenly, within months, Lotus were getting reports of a problem they hadn't seen before:

"... a design flaw in the headlamps that magnified the sun’s light, allowing the inside of the lamp housings to be melted by the sun."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Elise

The solution was to install a tube-like protective cover.

Which proves that in a nine year period the sun's rays never penetrated the cloud cover in England.

 

[Huss]

Well I think such an event is so unlikely to happen, never happened to me and I never use a lens cap, never heard of anyone it has happened to. So to mention it in a thread when the OP is a new Leica user, is in my opinion just scare mongering.

I've never seen a hippopotamus in real life. I don't care if you have. Or if there are pictures of them.
I have never seen one so it does not exist.

143,000 results in under 1 second of searching..

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=leica shutter burn

 

[cliveh]

I've never seen a hippopotamus in real life. I don't care if you have. Or if there are pictures of them.
I have never seen one so it does not exist.

143,000 results in under 1 second of searching..

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=leica shutter burn

Yes, but if you start scrolling through your 143,000 results you will find only a tiny fraction relate to sun burns in shutter curtains. Such is the nature of word association and Google.

 

[Huss]

Clive, have you seen a hippopotamus?

 

[cliveh]

Clive, have you seen a hippopotamus?

Yes I have, but have never seen sun burn on a focal plane shutter.

 

[removed account4]

my only word of advice is use it, and use it all the time.
make using it like second nature. it doesn't matter the lens
just get one put it on the camera and use it.
get used to the weight, get used to the wind lever and shutter dial
get used to loading it and holding it to your face.
its a great camera and should be used often.
its like any camera, really ...
it gets used, its magical, it sits around .. it just sits around

 

[ColColt]

it gets used, its magical, it sits around .. it just sits around

I liken cameras that sit around doing nothing to old tube radios that sit and do nothing. I use to repair those tube radios, replacing the old wax capacitors, resistors, inductors, tweaked the IF transformers, replaced tubes, etc and then set them on the shelf after assuring myself they'd play. One day you turn it on only to hear static. It sit too long and the capacitor dried out or a tube went bad. They were meant to be used at least a few hours a week...just like cameras. Use it or loose it.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

In that vein, the more cameras you have, the less use any particular camera gets.

So: no more cameras for you!

 

[ColColt]

Oh, I'm done...at least for this year.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

... and I'm thinking of a IIIf <sigh>

 

[ColColt]

They're still out there. I wanted a decent looking M3 and found one about a month ago.