Leica M3 User manual

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as much pleasure

and

success from this

camera

as

the

multi-

tude

of

LEICA

enthusiasts

in

every corner

of

the

globe

.

In

combined their

great

experience

and

long tradition

of

to

cal manufacturing to produce an instrument-quality ca ra

that

is

both

scientifically correct

and

remarkably

easy

to use

su

essfully. The short

time you invest

in

studying this little manual

~

w: your M 3

in

hand-

will

be

repaid many times over by rapidly: nhancing your skill as a

results,

and

we

want

possible!

ERNST

LEITZ

GMBH

WETZLAR, GERMANY

Your

LEICA

is

not only a precision camera, but a ruggedly reliable

in

-

strument that

will

yield optimum picture quality over many years of

trouble-free service. More than this,

it

is

part

of

the world's most suc-

cessful system

of

photography, the

LEICA

SYSTEM,

with an unmatched

family

of

interchangeable

LEITZ

lenses and the widest assortment

of

logically conceived accessories ever supplied for a single camera.

This

means that as your skill and talent develops, with ever-widening pho-

tographic horizons, you'r

LEICA

will

remain equal to the

greater

chal-

lenges you place upon

it

. With an assortment

of

precision

LEICA

lenses

your M3

is

not just a camera, but as many different cameras as you

want

it

to be. Your franchised

LEICA

dealer

has many illustrated

pamphlets explaini

ng

the

full

range

of

LEITZ

lenses

and

acces~ories

for your

LEICA.

Please ask for these

brochures, and discuss them with

him

-you'll find he's a mighty

\.

~

good

mao to

g,t

to

k,"w!

R a

pid

Ch

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01

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10

L.ICA

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.........

.-JM,

The serial numbers

of

your

LEICA

camera

and

lenses provide positive identification

and proof of ownership -

be

sure to

record them

in

a

safe

place.

ERNST

LEITZ

GMBH

WETZLAR

GERMANY

Su

bsidiary: Ernst Leitz (Can

ada

)

Lt

d.,

Mid

la

nd

,

Ont

ario.

List

!

11

-

3f

/Engl. ! Printed in

Germany

V

II

/63/

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This

Instruction

Book

contains

everything

you

should

know

about

your

~

LEICA

M 3. Please

devote

some time

to

reading

it

carefully,

and

practice the simple

operations

-

without

a

film,

to

start with.

You

will

get

the hang

of

it

much

quicker

than

you

thought. The LEICA

is

an

advanced

high-grade

camera,

but

nevertheless -

or

rather

because

of

that

-

amazingly

simple

to

operate

.

The

Transport

Lever

Hold

the camera

in

both hands, and with

the

right

thumb push the

transport

lever

to

the

right

as

far

as

it

will

go. The

lever

move-

ment tensions the

focal

plane shutter

of

the

LEICA and advances the

film

by

one frame.

You

may

also

work

the

film

advance

lever

by

several short strokes -

if

you

find

this

more

convenient.

The

Release

Bullon

With

the

right

index

finger

gently

press

down

the release

button

-never

jab

it!

You

will

hear the click

as

the shutter runs

down.

A

film

in the camera

would

now

have

been exposed, .

in

other

words

you

would

have

taken

a picture.

Let

go

of

the release

button

(

lift

the

finger

off

),

and

you

can once

more

operate

the

transport

lever

to

tension the shutter and

advance the

film

.

II!>

= r

egistered

2

7849

-

11

For

exposu

r

es

with

slow

shutter

speeds

you

must,

of

course

,

have

a firm

support

. A

tripod

is i

deal

in

conjunction

with a locking

cable

-

release

. Screw

in

the

cable

-

release

without

pressing

the

button

.

The

handy

LEITZ

table

tripod

is

very

useful

when

travelling

. (Ask

fo

r

brochure

No

. 12-35

.)

The

Film

Counter

is

coupled

with the

transport

lever.

If

the

fi

lm

was

correctly

loaded

(

see

notes

on

pages

22-24

),

the

film

counter

indicates

the

number

of

exposure

s

made

. The

counter

stops

at

No. 40,

and

automatic

-

ally

returns

to

its initial position

when

you

with-

draw

the

take

-

up

spool.

3

The

Shutter

Speed

Dial

controls the

exposure

times.

The

engraved

figur

es

stand

for

fractions

of

a

second

. Thus 1000

indicates 1/

1000

second

,

125

is

1/

125

second,

4

is

14

second,

and

1

stands

for

1/ 1

second

,

i.

e. 1

se

-

cond.

The dial

engages

at

each

position with

the

set

shutter

speeds

opposite

the

small

in

-

dex

line,

and

remains

at

this

setting. You

can

therefore

set

or

read

off

the

speeds

equally

well

before

or

after

tensioning

the

shutter

.

When

set

to

"B",

the

shutter

remains

open

as

long

as

the

release

button

is

depressed

.

Intermediate

shutter

speeds

can

be

set

within

the

ran~e

of

1

to

1/8

second,

also

between

1115

and

1ho

second,

and

1/

60

to

1/

1000

se

-

cond

(

or

It

to

1/

10

00

second

).

The

speed

dial

features

click-

stops

at

all

engraved

settings.

The

Lens

Aperture

Hold

the

lens

of

your

LEICA up

to

your

eye,

and

rotate

the

aperture

ring

. You can then

see

how

the

aperture

opens

and

closes. It

works

rather

like

the iris

of

your

eye

which

also

opens

or

closes

to

adapt

itself

to

weaker

or

stronger

light

. The lens

aperture

has a

similar

purpose,

namely

to

cut

down

very

bright

light

by

"stopping

down"

- i.

e.

the

use

of

a

smaller

lens

opening.

Conversely

, in

poor

light

the

use

of

a

larger

aperture

admits

more

light

to

the

film.

At

the same

time

the

depth-of-field

changes.

The

apertures

or

f-numbers

1.4

-2 - 2.8 - 4 -

5.6

-8

-11

-16

-

22

-

32

*)

are

a

measure

of

the

amount

of

light

reaching

the

film

.

They

are

chosen in such a

way

that

closing

down

the

aperture

from

each

number

to

the

light

by

one-half.

Dap

~NST

LEITZ

."."

£TZLAR

Similarly

on

opening

up, each

aper-

ture

passes

twice

the

light

of

the

one

.

So

remember:

a

high

aperture

number

signifies a

small

opening,

and

vice-versa.

*)

The

length

of

this

numer

ical scale de -

pends

on

the

type

of

len

s

4

The

Depth-ol-Field

Scale

The lens

reproduces

sharpest

those

parts

of

the scene

which

are

at

the

exact

distance

-in a

plane

pa

rallel

to

the

film

-on

which

it

is

focused. This

maximum

sharpness

gradually

falls

o

ff

in

front

of,

and

behind,

the

focused

distance, resulting in a

certain

zo

ne within which

everything

is

still

acceptably

sharp

. The

extent

of

this

zone

of

s

harpn

e

ss

-. lhe "

dep

t

h-of-field

" -

depend

s on the subiect d

is

tance

, the

focal

length

of

the lens,

and

the

aperture

.

Stopping

down

increases

the

sharp

field,

which

is

desirable

for

mosT

subiects

extending

appreciably

in

depth

.

To

find

the

limits

of

this

zone,

look

at

the

depth

of

field

scale

of

your

lens. The

sharp

zone

is

that

enclosed

between

two

index

lines

of

the

same

aperture

number

.

If

,

for

instance,

you

have

set

your

50

mm

SUMMICRON

lens

to

15

feet

, the

avai

lable

dep

th-

of-f

ield

with

an

aperture

of

f/4 (see red

arrows

in

the

illustration

) extends

from

about

12

V2

to

20 feet.

If

,

however

,

you

stop

down

to

f

il

l ,

the

zone

of

sharpness cove

rs

a

field

from

a

bout

9

to

40

feei

·.

When

altering

the

aperture,

be sure

to

adiusl' the ex-

po

sure

time

according

.ly.

Soc

also

page

9,

O;>li

cal

D

ept

h·

ol·

fi

eld

In:licaror

in

th:J

measuring fie

ld

or

the

(on"'l·

bined range-viewfinder.

5

Leica M3 User manual

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