Leica m3 with canon screwmount lens.

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Themckane

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I currently have a Canon P with an assortment of canon lenses

I want to buy a Leica M but would still use my canon lenses with an adapter(money constraints)

I am not sure i will gain anything besides a better viewfinder by getting an M

Has anyone done anything similar ?

Thanks

Tim
 
I've used Canon LTM lenses on Leica M's with great success. Though i've never owned a Canon P to compare to.
 
I am not sure i will gain anything besides a better viewfinder by getting an M
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I have used both cameras. The P is fantastic, but I prefer the less cluttered finder on the M3. For focusing, the images in the focusing patch on the M3 have crisp edges, and so focusing is a bit easier on my eyes than with the P.

As for shutter, build quality, and feel, the P is also fabulous.

Canon lenses are superb.
 
I use Canon lenses all the time on my Leica M2 and M4-2. I started out with a Canon P which I still have but seldom use these days. Once I got the M2, there was no looking back. The M2 has a smoother operation, is very slightly more compact, and the vf magnification makes it much easier to use with a 35 lens, than the P. The advantages of an M3 over a P are really only two in practical terms: a better defined rf patch, and the ability to use m- mount lenses should you want to go in that direction. The P is a great camera, and Canon lenses are outstanding and (mostly) great values today. But you will have no trouble using nearly every Canon ltm lens on an M body.
 
I use Canon and Nikkor LTM lenses on my M2, M3 and M4-2 and it is a handy thing since also like these same lenses on my Canon RF bodies from a IVSb2 to a Canon 7.
 
Big difference in the viewfinders between the P and a Leica M. The P uses reflected framelines and the Leica M uses projected view frames. Most folks prefer the projected framelines of the Leica M. The "sharp edge" focusing rectangle of the M makes focusing easier too. The P's focusing patch is soft-edged.

Jim B.
 
I use Canon lenses on P and Leica Ms interchangeably, no problem.

The differences are as described above, and I would like to add that the bayonet that is much faster in use - all in all, M3 and Canon P are not too different, the Canon P is a great camera.

However, even though in theory the EBL is similar, I can focus fast and longer lenses on the M3 much more reliably. Not sure why.

Roland.
 
Thanks for all of the responses. Since I wear glasses I want the leica to focus easier

The M3 and the Canon P are 1:1. I really do the the viewfinder better on the M but looks like the film loading could be a pain.

I will prob continue to save and get an m3 down the road
 
My M3 SS is on its way back from DAG, where it was having its RF overhauled. The image in the RF patch had been very vague and hard to focus with. He wrote me to say that after the overhaul, it was not much improved. The reason was that during some previous repair, the prism had been re-cemented and some of the silvering had been wiped off during that process. My understanding is that the M3's RF is basically unrepairable, so maybe choose an M2 or later. The bad part is I've been struggling with my M3 for eight years, thinking it was just me. I've never had a chance to look through any other M camera for comparison!
 
I am with Bingley on this one. The M3 viewfinder is so much better than the Canon P. Canon lenses on Leica bodies are fun and effefctive (keep the P for use with a 35 lens and put a 50 on the M3). It seems to have worked for Garry Winogrand, too: his favorite combination was a Leica M4 with Canon 28mm f2.8 lens.
 
I have Canon IVSB with canon LTM 50/1.8 and when I got Zeiss Ikon ZM I put that serenar lens on it with an adapter. It's great. So take a closer look to ZM body! )
 
Vics said:
My M3 SS is on its way back from DAG, where it was having its RF overhauled. The image in the RF patch had been very vague and hard to focus with. He wrote me to say that after the overhaul, it was not much improved. The reason was that during some previous repair, the prism had been re-cemented and some of the silvering had been wiped off during that process. My understanding is that the M3's RF is basically unrepairable, so maybe choose an M2 or later. The bad part is I've been struggling with my M3 for eight years, thinking it was just me. I've never had a chance to look through any other M camera for comparison!
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there is a shop in coventry - for the life of me, don't ask me wether that is in the us or england - that repairs and re-silvers m3 and M2 rangefinders, there is a link here.
 
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