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Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
Hey Uwe,

Don't I know it. I'm currently swimming in Elmar en Hektor lenses and all kinds of Leica accessoiries. I need to have a case built for it all 😉

I didn't dare to take my IIIa with me to Bastogne this december because of the cold. That PH-324 I showed you ate up a roll of film, unfortunately. Luckily my Pseudo-Contax still worked well enough.

Looks like you have two wonderful cameras there.


Regards,
Rick, 165th SC, Detach-02 😉
 
Hi Rick

Small world...

The IIIa I have is fine for taking pictures and will be used for that in nice weather only. The black III is currently still in rough condition even though the curtains look new! Anyway, as long as it is like this it will serve as all weather decoration. The lens is a bit scratched so just fine for what we do out there, I have a very nice Summitar in the mail for serious picture taking...

cheers
Uwe
 
That Leica II with the dinged has true character.

May I present a IIIf with fewer rough edges.

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uwe zankl said:
The thing about those beauties is that once you have one the fingers start iching to klick and buy more...let's see where that takes me.
Click to expand...

It's not good. If I hadn't already used one, I wouldn't have answered a recent local ad. My wife asked me how many camera bodies I have last night, so one of them will likely go. No way I'd ever sell Steampunk (on the right) though, it's in my bag everyday.🙂

1930 Standard converted to III with coated Summar, 1930 Standard with Hektor, and III with coated Summar and SCNOO.
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Here's what I was able to dig up on the name engraved on the camera:

Edward J Tarutis
U.S. Army
Born 8/29/07 in Connecticut
Enlisted 6/24/42 in Hartford, CT
Single
White
Civilian Job = Postal Clerk
Died 8/86 in Connecticut.

Nice find Uwe!

--Chris
(...who has alternate incarnations as a U.S. 3rd Infantry Division Signal Corps photographer and a half-frozen Heer Grenadier)
 
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Hi Chris

Wow...that something! Do you know if his service record could be pulled? I would like to know where Mr. Tarutis served in WWII. He must have been rather proud to serve since he engraved his camera!

thanks a lot
Uwe
 
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uwe zankl said:
Hi Chris

Wow...that something! Do you know if his service record could be pulled? I would like to know where Mr. Tarutis served in WWII. He must have been rather proud to serve since he engraved his camera!

thanks a lot
Uwe
Click to expand...

It's possible. A lot of records were lost in a huge fire in 1973, and so it's uncertain what remains. I submitted a records request, and I'll let you know what I hear back from them.

I suspect he carried the camera when he was in the military, and had it marked to identify it. That same number would have been on his dog tags, and would have been used in an abbreviated fashion (T-1507) to mark his uniforms and equipment.
 
Chris, I agree with you that it was probably a camera for military purposes, either he was an Embedded photographer or a Signal Corps man.

Jorge Lewinski mentions that as many as half of the GIs in Europe carried a camera towards the end of World War II. I bet many of those cameras were the 'spoils of war'. I'm sure our GI had his engraved to add some protection against grubby fingers.

In the Ardennes Capa was nearly killed by suspicious GIs over his Contax and Rolleiflex cameras because they thought he was a spy. The GIs were rather disappointed when they found his official documents signed by Ike. 😀
 
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Move the posts...?

Move the posts...?

Hi again

I would suggest to ask the Admin to move the posts about war correspondants into a separate thread where we can carry on discussing it...since I think this one is only to show cameras. What do you think?

thanks
Uwe
 
My newly CLA'd IID.

I took it out for a walk yesterday in the winter sunshine.

I used it with one lens - a 50mm f2.5 Color Skopar. This lens has come in for some bad press when it was first released for lack of contrast and resolution of fine detail so I was interested to see how it would perform. It makes a good match to the IID. I have "permanently" fitted it with a yellow filter - 400CN is the only "food" I intend to give my IID.

So.

Film loading: As easy (or as hard) as any Barnack. No real problems. Following the CLA, everything is nice and precise.

Handling: Very slick. The Skopar fits well, in every sense of the word. It makes for a balanced and neat package. It shows slightly in the viewfinder, but that is not a problem. It has a focussing tab, that is at the 6 o'clock position at 5 ft. Focussing is smooth, and with the rangefinder, nice and positive.

Range/Viewfinder: Now here is the funny thing. I think I find it slightly EASIER to use than my IIIc. The two windows are further apart, it is true, but that makes them more "definite" in use. The rangefinder is quite bright, and surprisingly easy to focus, even in dim light. The viewfinder is 50mm. of course, and pretty well WYSIWYG in use.

Results: I was pleased with both the accuracy of the shutter and the results from the lens. I found that I was overexposing slightly; overcompensating for the filter. I won't bother to compensate in future - I prefer my negs a little denser.

Verdict: A neat and compact little street-shooter. I won't be "upgrading" to an M8 just yet - I am having far too much fun...!

Regards,

Bill
 
Just got this baby today spent 45 minutes winding and everything good as she has not been used for 20 years one of those right time and place things . looking forward to some good times
 

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Gerbil 62wrote:
"Just got this baby today spent 45 minutes winding and everything good as she has not been used for 20 years one of those right time and place things . looking forward to some good times"

Dang! It looks just like mine. You will LOVE your IIIc.
Congratulations!

Paul
 
IIIc w 50/3.5 Elmar

IIIc w 50/3.5 Elmar

Kind of classic - generic - bulletproof... Not too expensive either ;-)

I use a Domke strap and a Nikon soft release with it. I did recover it with the cheapest cameraleather.com covering, which is good stuff.
 

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My new IIf and Summitar, both finally back from their overhaul. The lens is sporting a SNHOO filter adapter, E39 yellow filter, and generic 39mm screw-in hood. Attached to the body is a SBOOI external viewfinder.



Ok, enuff photographing of my equipment - I gotta go out and shoot with them now! 😀

rt 🙂
 
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