Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/12/18

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Subject: [Leica] M3 dilema -- also ? about rangefinder adjustment
From: Ruralmopics@aol.com
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 09:16:21 EST

Here's the deal: I ordered a used single stroke M3 from a dealer in 
Shutterbug (we don't have any dealers near me that carry this sort of thing). 
It seemed like a decent price: $795 for a camera described as Excellent. 

I received the camera yesterday and everything is fine EXCEPT:

* It is very difficult to mount lenses. The spring inside the mount looks new 
and it takes an unusual amount of effort to turn a lens (I have four I tried 
them all) in place.
* The rangefinder images are not aligned vertical. A little off I can accept 
as I understand this will very some with focusing distance but this seems 
excessive. They don't even line up -- again vertically -- at infinity.
* The camera does not have a viewfinder preview. Its 872xxx serial number led 
me to assume it would.

The camera comes with a 14-day return privledge and a 90 day warranty. As I 
see it, here are my options:

1.) Accept it the way is. (this does not seem like a reasonable option to me.)
2.) Return it for a refund and either
    a. buy another camera from the same dealer, or
    b. shop somewhere else
3.) Return it for repair under warranty -- the store (Le Camera) claims to 
have their own repair facility.

I'm not too concerned about the viewfinder preview since the 50mm is always 
visable and the only telephoto I own is a 90 and I can pretty well judge when 
I'm going to need a 90. But the other issues (the mount and the viewfinder 
have me going a bit). So here's my questions for you:

Will the mount loosen up on it's own? Is this something that can be adjusted 
easily so if I send back for repair I can expect it to be right? Can I assume 
that they will get the rangefinder adjustment corrected or is vertical 
misalignment some kind of fatal flaw in a M3?

Also, is the vertical alignment on an M3 something a person can do themselves 
without disassembling the camera.?

What do y'all think?

Bob