jt79
newbie
Reged: 03/10/2007
Posts: 3
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Been offered an M3 for £600 is this worth it?
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Zou
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/02/2007
Posts: 2105
Loc: Edinburgh
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Does it work?
Is it cosmetically in good condition?
Do you want it to resell or to use?
Do you get on with rangefinders?
Your answers would effect whether it waas worth it or not.
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Zou's Flickr Page
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jt79
newbie
Reged: 03/10/2007
Posts: 3
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yes 2 the questions.
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mike_j
nobbut a beginner
Reged: 23/08/2005
Posts: 1333
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Without being dogmatic I would say that is highly priced. You can get a first class M6 for that sort of price which offers built in metering and many less years' wear.
Of course, if the M3 is in some way special, or includes a lens or three that alters the picture.
Purely as an example have a look at Rangefinder forum classifieds
M3 ad
M6 ad
Edited by mike_j (03/10/2007 21:08)
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Woolliscroft
veteran
Reged: 23/08/2005
Posts: 1253
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Ffords currently have six M3s, the most expensive of which is 150 quid cheaper than this. This is body only, though, so as Mike says, any lenses with the camera you have been offered would change the picture.
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David.
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jt79
newbie
Reged: 03/10/2007
Posts: 3
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yeah it comes with 1 lense,leica meter mc and original carry case!
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Woolliscroft
veteran
Reged: 23/08/2005
Posts: 1253
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Quote:
yeah it comes with 1 lense,leica meter mc and original carry case!
What's a lense?
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David.
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TimF
Senior Member
Reged: 30/07/2001
Posts: 16342
Loc: Herts/Beds border
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Does the meter work accurately? Most of that age will have bitten the dust so to speak. Even if it does, you might prefer to use a hand-held (I certainly did - those kind of clip on meters are a PITA IMVHO) or even just guess.
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Tim BSRIPN
You see something happening and you bang away at it. Either you get what you saw or you get something else--and whichever is better you print. - Garry Winogrand
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Mark_Norton
Reged: 29/06/2002
Posts: 1152
Loc: London, UK
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If you want to get in to film Leica M, a classic M6 is the sensible starting point. Older cameras are for the peverse luddites and as Tim says, the selenium cells of older Leica meters have mostly gone west.
I would quite like an M5 though because it dared to be different, but no point really as I haven't used a roll of film in goodness knows how long.
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Mark
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Malcolm_Stewart
Carpal \'Tunnel
Reged: 11/07/2005
Posts: 2541
Loc: Milton Keynes, UK
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Quote:
Quote:
yeah it comes with 1 lense, leica meter mc and original carry case!
What's a lense?
Glad to see that I'm not the only one for whom this "spelling" really grates! Is it generated by some non-UK spell checker, I wonder? Or does it derive from people trying to make a singular out of the plural, "lenses"?
And then there's the abomination "aperature" - I kid you not!
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Malcolm Stewart
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Mark_Norton
Reged: 29/06/2002
Posts: 1152
Loc: London, UK
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Don't get me started on "their", "there" and "they're".
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Mark
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TimF
Senior Member
Reged: 30/07/2001
Posts: 16342
Loc: Herts/Beds border
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Quote:
If you want to get in to film Leica M, a classic M6 is the sensible starting point. Older cameras are for the peverse luddites
Now there I must take exception. The M3 is built to a higher standard than any other Leica until the MP came out, and even that must take second place IMHO. The lack of an internal meter is really not important is it unless one is totally wedded to 'convenience'. Just think of all those truly great photographs captured by photographers working with only a hand-held at best (or even no meter whatsoever), regardless of what camera they were using.
There are times when an internal meter can be a confounded nuisance in fact, when the inexperienced in particular might find themselves "chasing the meter" (to quote one of the Leica Forum stalwarts). It takes a bit of knowledge to know to ignore the wretched thing flashing away at you under certain more tricky conditions.
Unfortunately we seem to be wedded now to clever-dickish aids in every field.
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Tim BSRIPN
You see something happening and you bang away at it. Either you get what you saw or you get something else--and whichever is better you print. - Garry Winogrand
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mike_j
nobbut a beginner
Reged: 23/08/2005
Posts: 1333
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Quote:
The lack of an internal meter is really not important is it unless one is totally wedded to 'convenience'.
My M6 lightmeter packed up when we were on holiday recently due to flat batteries and I didn't think my German was up to buying replacements. Not a great problem, a mixture of 'Sunny 16' rule and occasional use of wife's Coolpix' as a lightmeter coped quite well but I'm glad to have a working meter again.
Separate light meters mean more gear and slower operation - simplicity and portability are the among the great assets of traditional rangefinder photography.
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TimF
Senior Member
Reged: 30/07/2001
Posts: 16342
Loc: Herts/Beds border
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Quote:
Separate light meters mean more gear and slower operation - simplicity and portability are the among the great assets of traditional rangefinder photography.
I used an M3 exclusively when I visited the historic dockyard at Chatham a few years back. Now I'll definitely say that things aren't always the same, but on that occasion the light levels remained pretty constant all the day, so whilst I began by taking a reading , if not for every shot, then certainly whenever I changed the direction I was pointing the camera in, and whenever I moved location, in the end I found it wasn't needed as the readings were always the same regardless. This is the greatest benefit of incident meters IMO, that they are unaffected by any subject brightness. The upshot is that you really only need to take a new reading when the light level changes - even with a contre-jour picture. A reflected light meter will make you think otherwise.
Even today, with all the clever technology inside modern cameras, some of the finest documentary photographers, such as James Nachtwey, still take incident readings and set them manually rather than rely on smart programming.
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Tim BSRIPN
You see something happening and you bang away at it. Either you get what you saw or you get something else--and whichever is better you print. - Garry Winogrand
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TimF
Senior Member
Reged: 30/07/2001
Posts: 16342
Loc: Herts/Beds border
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As an example, this picture was taken against the light using exactly the same readings as were used for this and this, both with the light behind. 
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Tim BSRIPN
You see something happening and you bang away at it. Either you get what you saw or you get something else--and whichever is better you print. - Garry Winogrand
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Mark_Norton
Reged: 29/06/2002
Posts: 1152
Loc: London, UK
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I don't subscribe to all this head-in-the-sand "I don't need a meter" stuff. Might mention that Wey Cameras, who are sadly closing down, have a secondhand M6 for just £495, reduced in their closing-down sale. Stick a 50/2 or 35/2 on the front and you'll be in good shape.
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Mark
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Burgy
Grateful not to have one
Reged: 13/04/2001
Posts: 5199
Loc: This far, from beating 7 shade...
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Quote:
I don't subscribe to all this head-in-the-sand "I don't need a meter" stuff.
Just because you don't doesn't mean that it doesn't have a place. I used to frequently estimate the exposure before the camera was lifted to my eye, depending on the subject matter, set the aperture or shutter speed first then get the other to the right ball park area (I am usually within a stop or so) fine adjustments then made at eye level, if there is time.
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Cheers
Burgy BSRIPN, BSc, DSO and Bar (now open 24/7).
it's not what you've got, its who you do it to
http://togsblog.wordpress.com
http://www.PressPhotosUK.com
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Woolliscroft
veteran
Reged: 23/08/2005
Posts: 1253
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What's "head in the sand" about being a good judge of exposure?
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David.
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Burgy
Grateful not to have one
Reged: 13/04/2001
Posts: 5199
Loc: This far, from beating 7 shade...
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I didn't say it, I quoted! 
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Cheers
Burgy BSRIPN, BSc, DSO and Bar (now open 24/7).
it's not what you've got, its who you do it to
http://togsblog.wordpress.com
http://www.PressPhotosUK.com
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willicwm
newbie
Reged: 13/09/2007
Posts: 1
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M2,3,4 All excelent M6 POOREST CAMERA Ihave ever had in 56yyears use. Faults exactly the same in Pauul Ross photography on the net , FINGS AINT WOT they used to be. willicwm
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