Leica M3 - the classic rangefinder

Leica M3

by Karen Nakamura

Overview and Personal Comments

When it was released in 1954, the Leica M3 was received with widespread acclaim. Most industry pundits said that it was clearly the best 35mm rangefinder camera in its class with a superior, combined viewfinder/rangefinder that had bright automatically switching framelines. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

A major revision of the popular Leica III, the new M-bayonet mount on the M3 let you quickly change lenses with one hand and the mount automatically told the camera which framelines to display (50mm, 90mm, or 135mm). It was quickly adopted as the standard camera of photojournalists. Unfortunately, its price kept it out of the hands of most regular people. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

The M3 went through many minor revisions throughout its production history. My M3 (serial #10631xx) is a relatively late 1962 model that has the preview lever; single-stroke; and lever-rewind. Leica M3s with a serial number of over 1,000,000 have a premium among both users and collectors because these were built at the tail-end of production. Not only did they have all the desirable features, but the factory workers were also at their peak in terms of experience in building the hand-made cameras.

Almost all of the Leica M3's produced were in silver-chrome and made in Wetzlar, West Germany (total number 216,000). A very few chrome units were made in Canada (7080), and a very very few were made in black paint (143) or olive paint (143). Almost all of the M3s you see in black-paint are ones that have been painted black after-the-fact. There are lists of serial numbers of the 143 genuinely black units, always double-check before buying. An original black M3 in good condition can reach up to US$6000. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

The M3 was not without its faults. There were two glaring problems with the M3 when it was released: 1) it was incredibly expensive, much more than other rangefinders; and, 2) the 50-90-135mm projected RF framelines, while gloriously bright, did not match the wide-angle needs of photojournalists. In order to use a wide angle lens such as the Summaron 35mm f/2.8 (shown), you had to attach unwieldy "goggles" that corrected the frame of view to that of a 35mm lens. This reduced the brilliant clarity of the Leica viewfinder to something a bit less than brilliant, and also made attaching and detaching lenses less convenient. Other minor complaints centered around the knob rewind and proprietary flash connectors.

In response to these criticisms, Leitz released the Leica M2 in 1957 which was less expensive (at the expense of some features) and had provisions for wider angle lenses (with 35-50-90 framelines instead of 50-90-135). The M2 had very minor changes through its lifetime and continued essentially the same through 1968 when it was replaced by the M4. (There was a small production in 1969 of a M2 with RapidLoading called the M2-R). Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

It's a bit confusing that the M3 is followed by the M2 (then the M1) then the M4. It's not an arithmetic progression. The '3' in the M3 stood for the 3 projected framelines, as well as being a natural development of the Leica IIIf. The M2 was a simplified M3 (and since a Leica II is a simplified Leica III), it was natural that it would be the M2. The M4 was a further development and had four framelines, so it became the M4. The M5 is a totally new redesign that many people did not like. That was followed by the M4-2 and then much later on, the M6 and M6TTL which had six framelines (28-35-50-75-90-135). Then came the M7 with automatic exposure and an electronic shutter; and the latest is the MP which is a return to an all mechanical camera (essentially an M6 with M3 rewind knob). Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

Interesting quirks

Knob rewind: The one thing about the M3 that seems to irritate people the most is the knob rewind. I really don't see what the big deal is about. It's not that difficult to rewind with a knob, especially if you use the two-handed "crank" method. You can buy a variety of M2/M3/MP knob rewind adapters which convert it to a rewind crank. Leica most famously sells their MP rewind crank for $200 which is a bit steep, if you ask me. Steven Gandy has a very nice third-party design that he sells for $99 on his Cameraquest.com website.

Light Meter: All Leicas before the M5 do not have built-in light meters. For the M3, you can either use the classic Metrawatt produced Leicameter MR; or if you want something more modern, use the Gossen Digisix.

The MR is really the only Leicameter that is worth using (as opposed to collecting). The previous models (Meter, Meter 2, Meter M, Meter MC) are all selenium meters. And most selenium meters are now erratic or non-functioning due to the deterioration of the selenium cell. Even when they worked, selenium cells had poor low-light sensitivity.

Flash Synchronization : The M3 has two sockets on the rear to attach both electronic ('X') and bulb flash units. The accessory shoe itself is 'cold'. Unfortunately, Leitz chose a proprietary flash connector so you need to use an adaptor if you want to use a flash that has a standard PC flash connector. In Leitz's defense, the Leitz flash connector is sturdier and less likely to break or fall out than the PC connector. However, the location of the flash sockets means that the connector will poke you in the eye if you are a left-eye shooter. The X-sync speed is a measly 1/50th of a second, necessary because of the M3's slow-travelling horizontal cloth shutter. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

High-Magnification Finder: At 0.92x, the M3 has the highest magnification finder of all the M series. Many consider it the best finder Leica ever produced, it's certainly the most complex. But is does have a slight blue tinge (the focusing spot is slightly gold color) that was designed to increase focusing contrast. So it does seem darker compared to the more neutral, contemporary models.

The high magnification makes the M3 ideal for accurately focusing 50mm 1.4, 90mm, and 135mm lenses. The highest magnification after the M3 is the 0.85x finder available in the M6/M7/MP models. I have the regular 0.72x M7 and a 0.60x Hexar RF, which are better for wider angle lenses.

M3 Problems
The main problem that the fifty-year old M3 is having these days is balsam separation in the rangefinder. Unlike the minor shutter lubrication issues that are to be expected and can be easily fixed, the rangefinder balsam separation is a major problem.

The M3 rangefinder is a very intricate design using multiple prisms glued together using Canadian balsam glue, made from the resin of pine trees. Unfortunately, as an organic glue it has a finite life span and will degrade. This may show up in the finder either as minor "crazing" or cracking along the edges where two surfaces are glued together. It may look iridiscent or opaque. Basically crazing is the first step towards finder separation. Hold your camera up to the light and look at it from the front (lens side) and make sure all of the edges of the finder frame are complete.

Total prism separation is also possible. In this case, the entire viewfinder will black out, or the rangefinder patch will become invisible or black out. This can happen gradually as the result of crazing, or suddenly due to a strong force (dropping or knocking the camera).

Previously, it was thought that this was the end of the finder and that the only option would be to put in the (much inferior) Leica M6 finder as a replacement. However, several repair places are now offering to repair your M3 finder by regluing and/or resilvering them:

• CRR Luton: M3 Finder Restoration (United Kingdom)

Clean, Lubricate, Adjust (CLA)
Because the M3s are now almost fifty years old, their bones are creaking a bit. Most M3s will benefit greatly from a Clean-Lube-Adjust (CLA) done at your local friendly Leica repair depot. I had my M3 CLAed and it is literally a new camera. The somewhat stiff wind lever is now butter smooth. The slow speeds sound like a swiss watch. I have a list of independent Leica repair people on my Camera Repair Page (scroll down a bit).

Technical Details

My Leica Mount Lens Collection (15mm , 25mm, 28mm, 35mm, 40mm, 45 mm, 50mm, 52mm, 85mm, 90mm, 100mm, 135mm)

About Leitz/Leica

Leitz was originally a microscope and scientific optics company. The first series of screwmount Leicas were designed by Oskar Barnack and have been named Barnack cameras by some. The prototype Ur-Leica was designed in 1918, but mass production did not start until 1925 when the Leica I came out. I have a write-up of the Leica III (1933).

The Leica M3 rangefinder was released in 1954 and represented the end of the Barnack-series of screwmount Leicas. The M-series had an integrated viewfinder/rangefinder with automatically switching projected framelines, coincident and split-image rangefinder, lever wind, hinged rear door, integrated shutterspeed dial, and M-bayonet mount. I have write-ups of the M3 (1954), M2 (1957), MD (1963), and M7 (2002). The Leica CL (1973) is technically not an M-Leica but it uses the M-bayonet mount.

The design of the Leica M has not changed considerably since the M3 of 1954. In 1967, the M4 came out with a crank-rewind instead of a knob rewind. Since then, the M series remained essentially unchanged from the Leica M4 (1968) up to the current M7. The only difference is that the M7 has an electronically controlled shutter and automatic exposure metering. (This leaves out the fiasco of the M5 which was considerably different and considerably unpopular at the time).

Leica's single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras have not been as popular as their rangefinders. I have write-ups of the original Leicaflex SL camera as well as the newer R3 and R6 SLRs and the R-mount lenses.

Leitz... blah blah.... and in 2000, fashion conglomerate Hermes bought 31% of Leica's stock. The only tangible result of this has been the emergence of the Hermes Special Edition Leica MP, dressed in the best coach leather and costing a mere US$8000.

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