What went wrong here? Leica R3

[borstad_ankdamm]

I used a roll of TMAX 400 in a Leica R3 without batteries.
I thought the exposure was adequate for the settings and everything sounded ok in the camera as i took the photos but when i processed it today, (D76 and Polymax fixer) i get NOTHING on the frames but a black line. Only a black stripe where the frame starts/ends but no image. I don't think it has anything to do with the way i developed it since i always do the same thing and it always works, so i believe there is an issue with the camera.

When taking a photo the camera acts normal and the times seems fine so i wonder if anyone has encountered this before? Could it have something to do about the lack of batteries?

 

[BobNewYork]

I know little about the R3, but I would think that it is, indeed, the lack of batteries. The batteries in cameras do not just enable the meter to work, they also power the circuitry that times the shutter. If you have a horizontal-travel, focal plane shutter, the lack of batteries could have caused the shutter to freeze partially open - hence the black line. The OK sound you hear is probably not the shutter but rather the reflex mirror. Advancing the film would reset the shutter curtains. Try shooting with no batteries and no film but with the camera back open and see how the shutter reacts.

 

[katphood]

As Bob said, the R3 has an electronic shutter, meaning it must have batteries.

There are some cameras that do not need batteries to power the shutter. (The Nikon FM series, for example, uses the battery only for the meter.) Unfortunately, the R3 isn't one of them.

 

[Lee L]

The R3 has only one mechanical shutter speed. Set it to the flash synch speed, X on the shutter dial, and you'll get 1/90th second mechanical shutter speed. As others have said, the other shutter speeds are electronically timed and don't work without batteries.

Lee

 

[nemo999]

If the black lines you have on the film are ACROSS this, it sounds as if the shutter is staying closed for the vast majority of the distance it travels over the film and only opening right at the end of this. As others have said, the R3 shutter will operate only at 1/90 without batteries - if the exposure you wanted was a lot longer than this, this would account for the film being underexposed but not the lines. I have 3 R3s, they are solid well-made cameras, and there are quite a few examples around in near-mint condition, very little used and ofen having lain totally unused for years. These will work really well after a CLA but before that are likely to have problems with the light seals at the rear (obviously not the problem in your case) and also with corrosion of an aperture commutator ring which basically transfers the aperture setting from the lens to the meter. This can easily be fixed by cleaning but in a dirty state can cause the meter to be wildly unaccurate.

 

[nicefor88]

The R3 cannot be repaired any longer by Leica in Europe. No more parts. How is it in your country?