Leica M3

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Leica M3

Single-stroke M3 with collapsible Summicron 50mm f/2.0 lens
Overview
Type	35 mm rangefinder camera
Lens
Lens mount	Leica M-mount
Focusing
Focus	manual
Exposure/metering
Exposure	manual
Flash
Flash	standard accessory shoe with separate bulb and electronic flash connectors
General
Dimensions	138 × 77 × 33.5 mm
Weight	580 g

The Leica M3 is a 35 mm rangefinder camera by Ernst Leitz GmbH (now Leica Camera AG), introduced in 1954. It was a new starting point for Leitz, which until then had only produced screw-mount Leica cameras that were incremental improvements to its original Leica (Ur-Leica). The M3 introduced several features to the Leica, among them the combination of viewfinder and rangefinder in one bright window, like on the Contax II, a bayonet lens mount, and rapid film advance lever. It was the most successful model of the M series, with over 220,000 units sold by the time production of the M3 model ended in 1966.

It was succeeded by a number of later film M series cameras, including the Leica M-A film camera in 2014.

The earliest Leica M3 pre-model that was built, sold at auction in 2009 for €72,000.^[1] In June 2019 a pre series model from 1952/1953 was sold for €360.000^[2] at the 34th Leitz auction in Wetzlar.