$15 flea market find

[ABrosig]

Found this guy at a local flea market. The lady at the checkout couldn't believe the price it was marked at, either. Already talked to Youxin Ye and thinking seriously about having him refurb.

Not sure if it's a real Leica or a post-war FED copy. Looks legit to me, but I really have no clue. I know the photos suck. Smart-phone "camera."

 

[Erik van Straten]

It is a real one, a Leica IIIc with an Elmar 50mm f/3.5.

The camera looks good. Usually these early post war IIIc have flaking chrome. $15 is awful cheap. Congratulations!

Erik.

 

[bmattock]

Cool! Looks like it will be fun either way.

 

[bacil]

Even if it's not, $15 is worth it for such a beautiful camera. Great find.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Wow!! Nice find...

 

[lynnb]

Wow x2! The IIIc is a great camera, and the Elmar an excellent lens! I love my IIIc and use it all the time. Congratulations!

Do you have any other LTM bodies or lenses?

 

[xayraa33]

Nice bargoon of a find!

A used post-war Leica IIIc body cost me 187 US dollars in NYC in 1978.

 

[ABrosig]

Wow x2! The IIIc is a great camera, and the Elmar an excellent lens! I love my IIIc and use it all the time. Congratulations!

Do you have any other LTM bodies or lenses?

Not Leica, but I do have a FED 3 and a MIR. The MIR has been factory reconditioned. Also have a late 80s Jupiter 12 35 f2.8 I'm itching to try on the Leica!

 

[David Murphy]

Probably a real Leica due to the slow speed dial. What bothers me though is that the finder window does not have a rounded upper-right-side corner - maybe some early Leica's were like this (as is the Fed).

 

[Erik van Straten]

What bothers me though is that the finder window does not have a rounded upper-right-side corner.

Compare with the IIf in your avatar.

Erik.

 

[ABrosig]

Took the camera out this morning and shot a roll just to see what happened. Here's a couple images from that roll. I wasn't too particular about subject matter but I think the rangefinder is spot on and the lens appears clear. Trash can is close-focus at F3.5. Mural is probably 20 feet at f5.6. The camera definitely needs a cleaning. The images aren't perfect but scannable. Couldn't put my hands on my Minolta meter so metered using a 50mm lens on Nikon F100.






I did double-check the serial number against the Leica look-up site. It said the camera was built 1946-47.

 

[xayraa33]

Probably a real Leica due to the slow speed dial. What bothers me though is that the finder window does not have a rounded upper-right-side corner - maybe some early Leica's were like this (as is the Fed).

It is the real McCoy, David.

 

[peterm1]

Probably a real Leica due to the slow speed dial. What bothers me though is that the finder window does not have a rounded upper-right-side corner - maybe some early Leica's were like this (as is the Fed).

Yes this is a normal window for this era/ model LTM camera.

 

[pagpow]

Got me beat. I've been happy about a Leica IIIa with summer and case found at a Wisconsin yard sale for $39 in n 1972. But that comes to about $222 in 2016. Enjoy iy and never talk to me again.

Giorgio

 

[maigo]

For dollar value, this beats my near-mint $5 CDN Olympus 35RC at the local Salvation Army thrift store however I suspect we are all equally happy with such finds.
Enjoy your new camera.

 

[David Murphy]

Compare with the IIf in your avatar.

Erik.

It is the real McCoy, David.

Yes this is a normal window for this era/ model LTM camera.

OK - got it - one more nuance to perfect when distinguishing Leica's vs. the Soviet copies!