Camera is here!
Underwhelmed when handling it. Will have to give it a proper cleaning. EM works! And its values look halfway credible. Shutter release and mirror slap sounds great. DoF preview lever works and feels more robust than the one on my R bodies. Viewfinder bright but a bit dirty. Minimal desilvering in the area where the shutter times are being displayed. Leatherette smells a it, will use some soap or window cleaner to remove that perfume.
Dont know why people on forums often write "build like a tank/brick". To me, it feels just like a typical late 60s/early70s "full-size" 35mm SLR. To me, the R3 feels more square and old-fashioned.
Still, it looks a bit bland - maybe because we are conditioned to see a red dot on a Leica (despite the dot-less M2,3,5). Maybe I am going to buy a red Leica rope strap, it can work wonders on their sober bodies.
And I somehow feel my beloved quirky Super Angulon 4.0/21mm (picked up for the price of a 5 Guys dinner for 5 guys) is going to be stuck on it forever. Its chunky body gives a nice visual counterbalance to the silver body. The pig-nosed early 1- or 2-cam Summicrons look a bit...pignosed on it.
So, a nice addition to the collection. Well, this is how the other half lives! Buying a Leica, just so, mid-week. Leica, Champagne...living the high life.
By the way, no website, forum thread or Leica user manual is really showing in which direction the battery has to be put in. So I am going to keep it a secret, too.
UPDATE: The proven high tech method of Breathing Into The Camera Body And Messing About With A 5 EUR Air Ballon Brush From Amazon did wonders to the dirt on the mirror. All fine for now.
2nd UPDATE: The first thing I always do when acquiring a new (to me) old camera body or lens is to freshen up the lettering, from cataract to toothpaste white. The shutter times wheel now looks like new. Small difference but still..maybe I will change the colour of the ASA wheel lettering from Dont You Eat That Yellow Snow to Snowwhite, too.
3nd UPDATE: I just did that. Makes the camera look much fresher. And maybe I should to the same to the "feet" markers on the lens.
The camera is now sitting on my desk, as I am writing this. As per the serial number, it was made in 1969-70. I remember when a "55 year old camera" used to be some Agfa Clique or Claque or some box with a weird mirror finder. This camera here, if the silver part of the body would be spotless, could easily defend its place next to a contemporary M-A or M-P in chrome.