After being asleep for 25 years the Leica M3 rises again

Dec 31, 2020 8:33 AM

Titweasel

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The M3 has been in my family since 1959.

My father handed it over to me last year.

I have always been in love with the design and amazed by the craftsmanship needed to put it together without CAD and/or CAM. The mechanics of the camera run as smoothly as they did 60+(!) years ago without any maintenance.

It's in great condition.

It seemed fitting to take it to the Ruhrgebiet for a testdrive because it is possible the metal used to build it was extracted from iron ore here

Blast furnaces

Then off to Copenhagen (it was in the before times....)

The Danes love bricks (so do I) and make beautiful architecture with them.

Amazing façade

They also make great beer!

Switched to color film. Church almost entirely made of bricks.

Ok, and some metal.

But a lot of bricks.

And a lot of metal.

Thingy

Last stop Ardennes (Belgium) because they also make great beer there! Please note I'm not a great photographer but I hope you enjoyed this post!

Edit: Thanks my dudes! Didn't know there was that much love for analog photography and the M3. I will post some new pics in the new year. Stay safe and stay healthy!

Update: https://imgur.com/gallery/mpyi5qu (The continued adventures of the Leica M3)

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Timeless camera and very nice shots!

5 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Great photographs. Me Leica very much.

5 years ago | Likes 20 Dislikes 1

#9 Basic Lego building

5 years ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Wow, the quality of those shots!

5 years ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

You'd never be able to tell those photos were taken any more recently than the day that camera came out. Well done.

5 years ago | Likes 8 Dislikes 0

The three hot blast stoves feed superheated air to the actual blast furnace off picture. Otherwise very noice.

5 years ago | Likes 30 Dislikes 1

Thanks! Today I learned somthing!

5 years ago | Likes 10 Dislikes 0

Wow, lucky you! Cherish it! And i bet you do ???

5 years ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Absolutly beautiful camera that still shoots true

5 years ago | Likes 137 Dislikes 0

I regret selling mine so bad.

5 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Keep taking photos - you have good eye for composition and framing a shot. Beaut of a camera.

5 years ago | Likes 458 Dislikes 0

Agree 100% with this statement, keep going @op!

5 years ago | Likes 9 Dislikes 0

I love how you can see EVERY SINGLE BRICK! Great camera! I have the copied ussr lenses from the fifties 1/2

5 years ago | Likes 32 Dislikes 0

Still need to try them out

5 years ago | Likes 8 Dislikes 0

Your pictures are a work of art.

5 years ago | Likes 16 Dislikes 0

Thnx!

5 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Love this shot.

5 years ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Leica, the Rolls Royce of cameras - and just as pricey (relatively speaking).

5 years ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0

Meh, Leica is the mass-market luxury Mercedes of cameras; Hasselblad is the no-cost-spared level. Or Arca-Swiss but that's a different sport

5 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

I feel like those three are the status symbols of their respective formats. Extremely competent tools, but priced rather lavishly.

5 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Used to work for a camera shop and whenever someone brought in an old Leica we would all coo over it. Brilliant cameras.

5 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

The black and white fotos look like they could be hanging big scale in an expensive mansion.

5 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Those leicas have gorgeous glass on them. This is a real treasure you've got

5 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Leica : you lucky, lucky bastard !!

5 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Everything I know about Leica, I learned from this movie

5 years ago | Likes 35 Dislikes 0

Which is...?

5 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Eurotrip

5 years ago | Likes 7 Dislikes 0

Worst twins ever

5 years ago | Likes 8 Dislikes 0

v

5 years ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

I was thinking the exact same thing

5 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Niels Bohr owned a house that shared a wall with the Carlsberg factory. When he won the Nobel Prize, Carlsberg set up a pipe, so Bohrs 1/2

5 years ago | Likes 48 Dislikes 0

had beer permanently on tap in his own house!

5 years ago | Likes 37 Dislikes 0

5 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

I sure hope Carlsberg was better during the time Bohr lived though, and not the bored goblin piss it is now...

5 years ago | Likes 11 Dislikes 0

5 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Properly the worst lager in the world, no for sure.

5 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 1

Definitely not. Estrella Dam from Spain, Kokanee from Canada, etc are much worse IMO.

5 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

So you haven't tasted Bud then

5 years ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0

"(it was in the before times....)" Sad this has to be added, but glad you aren't trying to be a Typhoid Mary.

5 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

God Leica’s produce such stunning photographs, I’ve always wanted to get my hands on one

5 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Voll geil. +1 Ruhrgebiet!!

5 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Well done!!! Who developed the film?

5 years ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

.

5 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Professional photo place in my city. They develop the film and digitize the negatives for me. I get them via wetransfer.

5 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

And pick the negatives up later.

5 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

That's so great! Happy New Year!!!!

5 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Thnx! U2!

5 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Super camera. Good photos.

5 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Leica also makes some pretty sweet dissecting microscopes

5 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

dude I work for Leica's microscope division. We do lots and lots of microscopes, not just dissection. Even super resolution STED microscopes

5 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I’m sure, but I’ve only ever used the dissection scopes, so that’s all I can comment on

5 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Wow. The camera and the photos.

5 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Love the camera! So jealous! It's my favorite camera. Alfred Eisenstaedt used one for his Life Magazine photos, including the famous ones.

5 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Supposed to have a silent shutter. This makes candid portraits possible. Eisenstaedt would hold the camera at chest level and shoot.

5 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

True, shutter is very quiet.

5 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Can still get the color photos printed in black and white. You might give it a try to see the contrasts. Zeiss lenses known for contrast.

5 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Fantastic.

5 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

have a TLR but am finding getting the film developed to be expensive :(

5 years ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Look into doing it yourself. Up front cost us a bit but after that you save

5 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

arent the materials used toxic? or they are safe to dispose on normal sink?

5 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Good question. In the Netherlands it's considered to be chemical waste. You have to take it to the municipality to have it disposed of.

5 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

yeah. that's thr problematic bit for me. :(

5 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

For back and white sure, but doing C41 (color neg) is a bit more difficult, and E6 (color slides) even more so; it's usually worth paying.

5 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I've developed and printed film when I was a kid. Not very hard (B&W) and a lot of fun! Maybe will do it again in the future.

5 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I love the single coated lens look.

5 years ago | Likes 70 Dislikes 0

I Leica the single coated lens look*

5 years ago | Likes 14 Dislikes 0

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5 years ago (deleted Dec 31, 2020 9:16 PM) | Likes 0 Dislikes 0

The standard shot without telephoto lense via Leica, I would guess, in comparison to modern CCD cameras able to take crisper pictures. IE

5 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 2

the "matte" finish / oldschool look / ambience of using something antique.

5 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 2

A single layer lens has some resiual flare that gives a softer halo-like appearance

5 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Lenses are coated with a thin layer of anti-reflection material to cut down lens flare. Modern lenses have multiple layers, older only one.

5 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

I'm not sure, but I would assume that it means that there's a lense treated with a single coat of something. Polarising filter maybe?

5 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 1