Leica LTM A 50th birthday present for my IIIg!

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
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Steve B.

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Well now, I see from the serial number listing on Steve Gandy's Camera Quest web site, that my IIIg's serial number was allocated for production on this very day, December 4th. So, I would submit, that makes today its 50th birthday!

Some time long before I had bought it, its original vulcanite jacket had been replaced with a rubbery, crepe textured jacket. So as a present , I sent it on a trip to England, and asked Peter Grisaffi at Camera Repair and Restoration, Luton, to make a new coat for it. And here it is, wearing its brand new, 21st century, real vulcanite jacket!

Seems to me, the camera again looks just like nature intended 😉 !!

I'm very pleased with the results. Happy Birthday!

- Steve Busch
Upstate South Carolina, U.S.

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I'm thinkin' (always dangerous!) that perhaps the latest fashion for 2010 should be a clear vinyl skin on our Leicas so we can count the screw heads. The more daring amongst us could skip that step completely and carry our Leicas skinless and naked.
 
Al, you're reminding of the clear plastic slip covers that my parents had on a sofa about 40-45 years ago. The vinyl out lasted the sofa. It was so creepy to sit on, that it protected the sofa more by deterring its use by humans than by actually forming a barrier against any of life's little insults. Steve B., we'd all like to see your camera's new coat or even the Emperor's new suit.
 
Rob, here in Miami those plastic covers just made you sweat more. Back then people didn't run their air conditioners all that often.

Now a clear plastic cover for the entire camera, THAT would protect the finish from most dings and scratches. Might just be a big seller!
 
Al, nothing like having your legs stuck to those slip covers during all those hot Florida days when you're running around in shorts.

The best way for some of the fondlers out there to avoid scratching their prized cameras would be to donate those fragile gems to poor schmoes like us who will actually use them. That way, we'll do both the using and the scratching, protecting the jaded owners from unbalancing their delicate psyches.

Honestly, for at least a brief moment: I do try to avoid scratching and dropping my gear. The problem is not that I try, but rather that I don't often succeed. Just clumsy.

The 55-year old Rolleicord I just bought came with a really nice original case in good condition. The case will look very nice on a shelf somewhere here while the camera is out being used (at least after I get the stuck shutter repaired).

I was going to put a new cameraleather skin on my M2 to replacing the chipped and peeling original Vulcanite, but now that it's shutter doesn't seem to be working (do detect a thread running through my contribution to this thread?), I think the money will go to a CLA. I'm getting used to the big chunk that is missing from the front, so I may just leave until it becomes uncomfortble to grip.
 
Ah! About my IIIg's birthday coat. The Emperor's New Clothes, eh? Yes, thank you! That's it exactly! This IIIg had new replacement vulcanite fitted to its shell; now it simply looks the very same way it did when it was first built. The factory applied vulcanite had long ago fractured and fallen off, and I always wanted this IIIg to look plain, unassuming "normal" again. 🙄

Hey! It could be worse - below is a photo of my tarted-up IIIf - I like to think it's not so much eye catching, as eye poking.

And, yes, I do enjoy using the cameras, too; and not just having them around as museum pieces.

Best wishes!

- Steve Busch

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Very nice. I had my sixth birthday when it was born. Now I am trying to find a Leica iiif made on my birthday, December 4, 1953.....where on the Cameraquest site can we find actual days of production? I found the serial number listings of screwmount Leicas with years made, but no sign of actual dates.
 
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Well, I've seen those plastic slipcovers "in situ" at old family friends of my grandmother in the Bronx. They were in turn covered by old bed sheets, to protect them, which in turn had old newspapers spread over them, to protect them.

None of this was removed to let us sit on them, of course. We sat in the kitchen. Oh vey, who were they saving them for?
 
The VW Bettle I sat my driving test had these clear plastic covers, when I did the emergency stop, the examiner vanished in a heap below the dash. I passed but he was not a happy man!! This was pre seat-belt days.
 
The first car I had with seat belts (lap only) was a '64 Beetle. The '61 Microbus didn't have any.

They used to sell clear plastic covers so your wedding album wouldn't get dirty!
 
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