Found a Leica M3 at a garage sale in Durham that had some weird shutter issues

I was digging through a box of old cameras at a sale last Saturday and spotted this beat up M3. The guy wanted $40 for it so I figured why not. Got it home and the shutter curtain has a tiny pinhole near the edge, plus the speeds sound off below 1/30th. Anyone here ever patched a curtain hole on one of these or is it better to just send it off to a pro?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylor_wells3d ago

lol that pinhole is a classic M3 "starter kit" problem, I swear. Tried fixing mine with some liquid electrical tape once and it looked like my cat had walked through ink and sat on the shutter. If you're feeling reckless go for it, but shane_morgan's right that sending it to a pro is the move unless you want that garage sale find to become a wall decoration.

shane_morgan3d ago

Send it to a pro. Patching a curtain hole on an M3 is a pain and you'll probably just make it worse.

caseywalker3d ago

Try pulling the liner tight from the back before you even think about glue. I used a heat gun on low to soften the headliner material just a bit and it helped the patch lay flat. Just take your time or you'll end up with wrinkles that scream "I tried to fix it myself.