Leotax Cameras

[xayraa33]

Does any one here on RFF use one of these Leotax cameras?
they look interesting enough.
here is a web site about Leotax gear.

http://www.cameraguild.jp/nekosan/leotax.htm

 

[Jocko]

Thank You Xayraa33 - I had never seen the gorgeous Leotax G before - like the Yashica YF it's one of those cameras one wishes had been developed and continued. If only...

Cheers, Ian

 

[xayraa33]

Thank You Xayraa33 - I had never seen the gorgeous Leotax G before - like the Yashica YF it's one of those cameras one wishes had been developed and continued. If only...

Cheers, Ian

I am glad you enjoyed the site Ian.
I only ever seen the Leotax G only once in the flesh
An older eccentric gentleman in a small photo shop in Toronto in the summer of 1988 had a G and a Nicca camera for sale, both were not working, the G needed some serious work.
He wanted good money for each, even by 1988 standards,
Anyway, I bought the Nicca off him , mainly for the 50/2 Nikkor lens.
and had the body cla'ed a few years later.
The Leotax G is very rare, and was their last camera before bankruptcy
in 1961.
the liquidator had whatever parts that were already made, assembled by jobbing shops in Japan to recover any monies owed when the working camera was marketed.
these cameras are known to be not too good in the QC department,as their build is indifferent,
unlike the almost Leica like attention to detail of previous Leotax cameras.

 

[xayraa33]

another cool Leotax site.

http://translate.google.com/transla...m=8&ct=result&prev=/search?q=leotax&hl=en&lr=

 

[physiognomy]

Not sure how I missed this thread... Thanks for posting both links. They look really interesting!

Peter

 

[xayraa33]

Not sure how I missed this thread... Thanks for posting both links. They look really interesting!

Peter

you are welcome, enjoy the sites.
I always found Leotax cameras very interesting, but never owned one.
They were never too common in Canada.
the few that I ever saw , always made me picked them up and check them out , but never buy them.
Gretsch guitars give me that same feeling also.

 

[physiognomy]

I will, thanks again!

I became interested in the Leotax cameras after buying my first Nicca & learning a bit about it on this Leica copy site (click)... I haven't seen/held a leotax, but I imagine they are really nice cameras.

I haven't heard of Gretsch guitar... more of a Bach Stradivarius kind of guy myself.

Peter

 

[xayraa33]

I will, thanks again!

I became interested in the Leotax cameras after buying my first Nicca & learning a bit about it on this Leica copy site (click)... I haven't seen/held a leotax, but I imagine they are really nice cameras.

I haven't heard of Gretsch guitar... more of a Bach Stradivarius kind of guy myself.

Peter

Leotax cameras, save the last model were probably, the best made direct Leica copy from Japan, better than Nicca I would say , only Canon maybe equaled them (bottomloader models).

Gretsch guitars were and are still favored by rockabilly players then and now, guys like Cliff Gallup and Eddie Cochran.
and Chet Atkins favored them also. they were always topshelf, very expensive, a real pro would play one, like the Nikon SP of the electric guitar world.

 

[David Murphy]

you are welcome, enjoy the sites.
I always found Leotax cameras very interesting, but never owned one.
They were never too common in Canada.
the few that I ever saw , always made me picked them up and check them out , but never buy them.
Gretsch guitars give me that same feeling also.

I own a Leotax S which I bought from a junk seller on ebay for about $100 or so. It was not working, but Don at DAG camera whipped it back into excellent condition, even supplying missing parts or substitutes thereof. Here are some photos of it. The lens in the photos is a Leica Summitar.

It is a superbly built camera as one might expect.

The S is interesting for two reasons: It is rare even by Leotax standards, and it has flash sync, unsual on a bottom loader of any ilk.

I plan to shoot some film with it in the next few days and post the results here. I mayl even try the flash sync.

FYI Leotax is sort of a contraction of "Leica" and "Contax". It seems to live up to its namesake.

 

[xayraa33]

I own a Leotax S which I bought from a junk seller on ebay for about $100 or so. It was not working but DAG camera whipped it back into excellent condition. Here are some photos of it. The lens in the photos is a Leica Summitar.

I plan to shoot some film with it in the next few days and post the results here.

Ah!.. that is a real beauty David, a f1.5 50mm Simlar lens will do that camera real justice, a complete package.
enjoy!