Leica M3 DS (Ser:875xxx)
The Leica M3 was introduced in 1954, it was the first camera to use the new bayonet mount lenses. It also merged the Viewfinder and Rangefinder windows into one. The 'M' signifies the new bayonet mount and the '3' is to signify that is has 3 frameline settings
This one is one of the earlier DS or Double Stroke models, where each frame advance requires 2 operations of the advance lever.
The serial number of this one puts its manufacture some time between 25th March and 6th May 1957, which coincidentally is also when I was born :) [the best guess date based on 5000 produced within that period puts its actual day as 22nd April, assuming that approximately the same number came off the line each day!]
Originally it came with an Elmar 50mm f/3.5 lens (shown above), the main advantage of which is that it slides into the camera when not in use making the camera fit in the coat pocket a lot easier. It produces good images too.
However, I decided to add a Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.4 lens, for 2 reasons, I wanted a wider aperture for lower light possibilities and I also wanted a slightly wider field of view. A small disadvantage is that the Nokton can focus closer but the M3 rangefinder only covers down to 1 metre.
This is one of the few cameras that I paid more than fiver for! It only needed a general clean and minor CLA, the lens (Elmar) needed a bit more work so was completely dismantled, glass cleaned and all grease replaced with silicon/teflon grease making it much smoother to operate.
Shutter speeds were measured with a laser/sensor and an oscilloscope. (more details about this on the 'Tools and Techniques' page) Interestingly I found a variation in speed depending on which edge of the shutter I monitored, suggesting that the shutter was open slightly longer over the left hand side of the image than the right. However, I have had a few films through this camera and see no evidence of exposure variation across the frame. I may yet send it off for a full professional CLA to see if this can be addressed. Full test results below.
The Leica M3 was introduced in 1954, it was the first camera to use the new bayonet mount lenses. It also merged the Viewfinder and Rangefinder windows into one. The 'M' signifies the new bayonet mount and the '3' is to signify that is has 3 frameline settings
This one is one of the earlier DS or Double Stroke models, where each frame advance requires 2 operations of the advance lever.
The serial number of this one puts its manufacture some time between 25th March and 6th May 1957, which coincidentally is also when I was born :) [the best guess date based on 5000 produced within that period puts its actual day as 22nd April, assuming that approximately the same number came off the line each day!]
Originally it came with an Elmar 50mm f/3.5 lens (shown above), the main advantage of which is that it slides into the camera when not in use making the camera fit in the coat pocket a lot easier. It produces good images too.
However, I decided to add a Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.4 lens, for 2 reasons, I wanted a wider aperture for lower light possibilities and I also wanted a slightly wider field of view. A small disadvantage is that the Nokton can focus closer but the M3 rangefinder only covers down to 1 metre.
This is one of the few cameras that I paid more than fiver for! It only needed a general clean and minor CLA, the lens (Elmar) needed a bit more work so was completely dismantled, glass cleaned and all grease replaced with silicon/teflon grease making it much smoother to operate.
Shutter speeds were measured with a laser/sensor and an oscilloscope. (more details about this on the 'Tools and Techniques' page) Interestingly I found a variation in speed depending on which edge of the shutter I monitored, suggesting that the shutter was open slightly longer over the left hand side of the image than the right. However, I have had a few films through this camera and see no evidence of exposure variation across the frame. I may yet send it off for a full professional CLA to see if this can be addressed. Full test results below.
Shutter Speed results (Oct 2014)
The normal user range would be 1/15th to 1/500th anyway so a maximum 1/4 stop error does not worry me too much, and not worth sending off for CLA. The 1/1000 is probably just caused by sticky lubricant somewhere, even that is only 1/2 stop overexposing. As I tend to guess the exposure most of the time anyway errors are more likely my fault than the shutter speed.
The normal user range would be 1/15th to 1/500th anyway so a maximum 1/4 stop error does not worry me too much, and not worth sending off for CLA. The 1/1000 is probably just caused by sticky lubricant somewhere, even that is only 1/2 stop overexposing. As I tend to guess the exposure most of the time anyway errors are more likely my fault than the shutter speed.
