M3 Loading System

[borismach]

Dear all,

I'm now using a M6 Classic and want to add an M3.

One thing bothers me is the film loading system of M3. I've toyed with 2 M3 at local shops. Both didn't have the qick load system. I worry that the film loading process would be very painful and kill my desire in shooting with M3. Any users' comment on their experience in film loading an M3?

I really want to hear your advice before go for such an investment.

Thanks a million.

BM

[vrgard]

Hello BM,

My experiences are very similar to yours. I started with an M6 and later added an M3. I have not found the M3 to be difficult to load film. Best done when you have a flat surface to work on since you have to pull the takeup spool out, then insert the film end under the spring steel flap on the spool, then slide both the film cassette and spool into the M3. But I have not found the process particularly difficult. To put it simply, this would not be a reason for me to avoid the M3. Oh, and you can also buy extra spools and then set them up with film cassettes for quick insertion into the M3 if you ever want more quick re-loading while out shooting.

-Randy

[Keith]

Hi BM,

It depends how important the loading speed is to you I guess. When I first loaded an m2 it didn't strike me that it was that hard ... just fiddly and not quick like my M7! There are certain curcumstances where it could be tricky I guess ... ie ..... being jostled around in a moving vehicle or similar. It's not an issue for me though!

[Flyfisher Tom]

With practice, it can be fairly fast. You can also get a second spool and preattach the film lead for your next roll. In short time, you really won't find it slow.

[dspeltz]

Same here. I was somewaht perplexed the first time I used my M3 but once I understood it no big deal.

Where can I get extra spools. That is a handy idea.

[FPjohn]

Hello:

I have found that the best light and most interesting action occurs while i'm loading a M3.

M3s are not hard to load, a lens wrap etc. as a clean surface for the base is a good idea.

yours
Frank
'Best for the Holidays

[colyn]

I've been using the M3 since around 1967 or 68 and don't find it difficult to load. As others have said buy a couple of take-up spools and set them up with film so you can simply drop them in.

Around 15 years ago I purchased a quick load system for this camera and used it maybe 2 or 3 times before selling it. It did not impress me in the least.

[AusDLK]

The M3 quick load kit isn't much of an improvement over the standard loading mechanism IMHO. If you have big hands or less than a deft touch with fumbly things, both can be annoying.

It helps if you can find one of the Leitz film leader trimming templates. (Sorry that I don't have the Leitz part number.)

I have one of these thingies that allows me and an Xacto knife to create the long, thin film leaders that all film once had and that makes film loading in Leicas the way that it was meant to be.

Another solution if you are in love with your M3 and want to throw some $$$ at the problem is to send it to DAG and have Don put the M4 (and later) film take-up system in the camera. This does way with the removable spool and loading becomes like the later model Leicas. My super-hybrid M3 Mk. 2/4 has had this mod (along with countless others).

[furcafe]

There is absolutely no need to trim the film leader for loading the M3 or M2, only for the thread mount ("Barnack") Leicas (& even then, you can load without trimming if you're careful).

Originally Posted by AusDLK

The M3 quick load kit isn't much of an improvement over the standard loading mechanism IMHO. If you have big hands or less than a deft touch with fumbly things, both can be annoying.

It helps if you can find one of the Leitz film leader trimming templates. (Sorry that I don't have the Leitz part number.)

I have one of these thingies that allows me and an Xacto knife to create the long, thin film leaders that all film once had and that makes film loading in Leicas the way that it was meant to be.

[Dougg]

About a year after I bought my M2, I had the quick load kit installed. That was 1968, I remember liking it then, and I've never been tempted to remove it. OTOH, that's so long ago I don't recall how terrible the loading was without the kit!

[back alley]

how do you guys find loading in a darkened room?

i liked my m3 till i had to load film quickly and in the dark.

joe

[colyn]

Originally Posted by Dougg

About a year after I bought my M2, I had the quick load kit installed. That was 1968, I remember liking it then, and I've never been tempted to remove it. OTOH, that's so long ago I don't recall how terrible the loading was without the kit!

One thing I do remember about 1968 was how cheap the M3's and M2's had gotten because everybody was trading them up to the M4.

I bought my first M3 with f/2.8 Elmar for $65 with money I had saved from my after school job.
Still have the body but traded the lens long ago..

[AusDLK]

>There is absolutely no need to trim the film leader for loading the M3 or M2,

I agree that it is not necessary -- but it does make loading easier in my opinion. After all, the film loading of the early M cameras was designed for the film that was available at the time -- not the shortened leader film we have nowadays.

[slewis]

You should be able to find a conversion kit to eliminte the old-fashioned spool and make the camera function more like the fast loading system used on more recent bodies. I found one for my M2, and it made using the M2 as easy as using an M4-2 and M-6.

[MadMan2k]

I like loading my Canon, it's a whole lot faster than the M3. Also, once I got too confident in my loading skill, just wound the leader onto the spool and clicked once then closed the door and proceeded to play 'pretend photographer' for 40 shots, on a 36 exp roll of film, until I realized something was up. Now I always check to make completely sure it's on the spool.

I dropped the bottom plate once, and the side that hooks onto the body on the right got bent so I have to push harder to get it on and off now.

[Flyfisher Tom]

Originally Posted by dspeltz

Where can I get extra spools. That is a handy idea.

They pop up on Ebay every now and then. You can customize a search to notify you by email.

Might want to check KEH or Midwest Photo Exchange as well. good luck

[colyn]

Originally Posted by dspeltz

Where can I get extra spools. That is a handy idea.

I just ordered some from DAG They are $30each + $4 shipping

[ddutchison]

Originally Posted by back alley

how do you guys find loading in a darkened room?

i liked my m3 till i had to load film quickly and in the dark.

joe

Bingo! That is a pain. I ended up scraping some of the black paint off the front of the spring so I could see it better in the dark.

Yes the M3 is usually a bit slower to load, but I've found it's more reliable. I've never had a mis-load with my M2 (same loading as the M3), I've had a few with my M6. I know you are supposed to just stick the film into the prongs, attach the bottom and forget about it, but hard experience has taught me to always tension the rewind knob before starting to shoot. On the M6, if the film hasn't caught, it just winds all the way back into the cassette without any warning whereas on my M2 there's a definite increase in tension when the film disengages from the spool, and I can stop before the film rewinds all the way. I don't totally trust the M6's loading system.

A few people have said that it's best to load an M3/2 on a flat surface, but I've found there's no advantage if you have a neck-strap. Just hang the camera upside-down (lens against your chest), and it'll stay that way while you reload, no problem. stick the base-plate in your pocket, and flip open the back door, and it's as good as a table. I do tend to worry about dropping the spool into some impossible to retrieve place though.

Although there is no need to trim the leader at all with an M Leica, I do find that trimming the leader back a few inches (as you would for a thread-mount Leica) makes the loading a little easier as there are only one set of sprocket holes that can get caught up in the sprocket teeth.

Bottom-loading, I guess it makes the camera more ridged and all of that, but it's a pain with or without the M6 style loading.

[sejanus]

I think David describes it very well. I'd add: practice getting the film square on the take up reel, always check that the film's engaged one of the sprocket teeth and always check the rewind spool is turning as you wind.

[LeicaM3]

Originally Posted by back alley

how do you guys find loading in a darkened room?

i liked my m3 till i had to load film quickly and in the dark.

joe

I find it easier to load in the dark than my M6, because there is more tactile feedback and a firmer endpoint.

Practice in a darkroom tent, no eyes. Feed the film into the spool - you will feel when it is in! Better than with the M6 anyway. Drop it in, feel how the teeth engage - done.

Sometimes I wish the M6 had the same mechanism.

Invest 1 hour changing film in the darkroom tent, a worthwhile time investment. It will be easy from than on.

I can load film in the M3 walking without even thinking about it.



Andreas

Post deleted by posters request

[borismach]

Thank you for sharing your experiences....

[payasam]

The chief advantage the M3 offered over the screw mounts was that no long leader was needed and you could actually see if the film's perforations were in the right place. Getting the leader under the spring on the spool can be fiddly, which is where spare spools come in. Although I spent 17 happy years with an M3, I'll agree with ManGo about the M2's being better. With practice, you should be able to rewind and reload in under five minutes: but if you have Frank's sort of luck, that's too slow.

[LeicaM3]

[quote=payasamI'll agree with ManGo about the M2's being better. .[/QUOTE]

Interested in your experiences M2 vs. M3.

Better build quality => M3
Better, brighter finder => M3
Better for <= 35 lens => M2


Thanks for sharing.
Every time I am shooting 50, 90 I grab the M3 over M6, MP (.72).

Andreas

[payasam]

Andreas, although the M2 was introduced as a marginally less expensive sibling to the M3, I don't think you can say that they differed in build quality. It is true that the finder of the M3 is unique in the entire M series: but it is more complex and is prone to blacking out (though only after many years). I do not see the M2's manually set frame counter as any kind of handicap. Where that model wins is in having built-in 35mm frame lines. This, I believe, was a demand of press photographers which Leitz met. The "bespectacled" Summarons made for the M3 worked, but they added complexity and risk of damage. There are those who speak of the advantage of being able to keep both eyes open when using an M3, since its finder magnification is close to life size; but for me this was neither here nor there. With its uncluttered finder, the M2 is more of a pure picture taking tool. The missing 135mm frame lines are no major disadvantage, since relatively few RF users like that focal length anyway. Besides, some lenses of that focal length were also made with magnifying "goggles". So, while the M3 was the acme of the camera maker's craft, which many hold to be still unsurpassed, the M2 was more the lean and mean kind of beast.