Fixed a Leica M3 at a wedding and almost ruined the photos

I was at my cousin's wedding in Austin last month, and someone handed me a Leica M3 that was jamming mid ceremony. I had my tools in the car, so I popped the baseplate and tweaked the takeup spool under a table with a napkin as a work surface. The bride's dad asked if I could fix it in 10 minutes - I did, but I was sweating bullets the whole time. Anyone else ever do field repairs at an event they were supposed to enjoy?

2 comments

2 Comments

lopez.brooke1d ago

Oh man, that reminds me of my friend who fixed a broken shutter on a guest's camera during the first dance.

robin_wright8h ago

Did the shutter jam up at the worst possible moment? Those mechanical shutters are pretty finicky, especially the old-school ones. I had a similar thing happen at my cousin's wedding, except it was a old film camera that wouldn't advance the frame. The photographer just handed it to me and I had to rewind it with a pencil inside the spool. It took like 15 minutes of fiddling while the guests were getting impatient. At least your friend got it working again without ruining any important shots.