Re: [Leica] DS M3 Problem

["R. Carter" <carter@andromeda.rutgers.edu>]

  I have long been a user of Polaroid PolaPan
Instant 35mm film.  This produces continuous tone BW
transparencies.  Developed on Polaroid's proprietary
machine, it gives snappy, somewhat grainy (i.e.
a little more than Tri-X in D76) images that are very
satisfactory for my purposes.  This film is exposed through
its base, which is noticeably thinner than that of
conventional 35mm film (.003 inch compared to .006 inch for
Tri-X).  The leader is conventional in shape, but has two
cut-outs, which fit over dogs in the takeup spool of the
developing gadget.  

  Because of the thinness and fragility of the punched-out
leader, this film will not load successfully in M4 and later
Leicas, because it will not catch in the takeup flower. It
can be loaded in M2 and earlier Leicas by securing the
leader to the takeup spool with a small piece of black
plastic tape.  This works fine with screw-mount cameras, but
if it is done with an M2, the rapid advance, manipulated at
normal speed, rips through the sprocket holes.  The solution
that has worked for me is to use a pair of double-stroke
M3's. The two-stroke advance puts much less stress on the
sprocket holes. I run about 200 rolls a year through these
cameras. But now I am beginning to have a problem with one
of the M3's which I have been told is not soluble.  Perhaps
a LUGer can help with information.

  The characteristic failure mode for DS M3's is in the
clutch that allows the rapid advance lever to snap back to
the start position after the first half frame has been
advanced.  One of my bodies is beginning to show warning
signs (the shutter cannot get through 36 frames without
squeaking loudly  and the advance lever from time to time
gives a hop (as if a gear were slipping a cog) at the end of
the first of the two strokes required for advance.  I have
been told (by what was Leitz Rockleigh and by Essex Camera
Repair) that the standard cure for this failure is
installation of a one-stroke mechanism.  I do not even know
if the one-stroke kit is still available. And, I fear that
it would rip the sprocket holes of this film as does the M2.

  Exactly what happens to the two-stroke M3 clutch to make
it fail?  When experts say repair is not possible, surely
they must mean that it is not economically feasible. In the
position I am in, I would be willing to pay almost as much
for the repair as for a very clean DS M3, i.e. about $1000.
Is the fix possible at that price?  I am aware that, sooner
or later, this operation will have to be switched over to
digital, if only because Polaroid will wake up and stop
making this film. Until then, I would really like to keep on
using my M3's.  Help. 
- -- 
                                             _RAC

Robert A. Carter KB2NTV carter@newark.rutgers.edu
15 Washington St. Newark NJ 07102 +1.973.353.5216