Just under 160 quid for a fairly presentable IIIf body. I did not previously own a screw mount Leica, and having tested and sold a IIIf, IIIg and Reid & Sigrist a couple of years ago, I found them very usable, and quite enjoyable. Not as sophisticated as a Contax, of course. But for all that I clicked with their layout better than I expected.
Here it is, just as it arrived, (after being fitted with some other items I already owned).
Circa 1952 Leica IIIf 35mm rangefinder; Leitz SOOIA 5cm Summarit f/1.5; Leitz XOON hood; Leitz XOOYL UVa tapered filter; & Leitz SBOOI 50mm bright line finder.
Part of the reason for the price was that the shutter was not exposing at 1/500 and 1/1000. And probably out of spec at other times. The slow speeds ran off tolerably well. The rangefinder patch was barely there, and the optics looked like they had possibly never been cleaned, well, not for a few decades, perhaps.
I decided to improve its condition. I should take more images as I do things, but, I am always focused on the task at hand. Still, here are a few.
Top cover removed to clean optics & adjust second curtain release if needed (it was).
The viewfinder prism & rangefinder focusing telescope have been removed in this image.
The components visible in this image, are:
1: (top, left of camera cover) mounting frame for the prism, it slots into the opening between the back of the rangefinder unit and mounting housing for the prism to help locate the prism. It lifts out with the prism itself after removal of the prism cover;
2: Rangefinder focusing telescope which fits to left of prism. The lever that actuates the focus of it is visible around the tube for the rewind shaft;
3: The prism itself which directs the light from the entrance window leftwards towards the rear eyepiece, and facilitates minimising the distance between rangefinder and viewfinder eyepieces of later model Leica screw mount cameras;
4: The gold coloured oblong piece is the mounting spring for the prism, which locates it securely inside its mounting channel.
5: Prism cover (left of the camera body) maintains tension on the mounting spring and is fixed to the viewfinder housing by three screws.
Leica screw mount bodies without their bottom cover attached seem to like to fall over, when they are set upright. The pliers visible in the image were not used during repairs; they're present, merely to stop the camera falling backwards, during the picture.
The viewfinder prism
The viewfinder prism, removed for cleaning and also to access the inside of the front viewfinder lens. Partially visible at top left are the prism cover that seals the top of the finder assembly, and two of its three securing screws. By shifting the light rays from the main finder window to the left, at the back of the camera, it is this prism that helps bring the two eyepieces closer together than earlier Leicas.
The Front Shutter Plate Removed
Awful blown highlights here, as a result of an old phone sensor, bad lighting, and the clean, white tissue the camera is resting on: sorry. But it reveals the inner workings of a Leica IIIf fairly well.
As can be seen, after removing the top cover and body casing (not necessarily in that order) the front shutter cover or plate has been removed, exposing the curtain shafts and the escapement (below the film gate). The slow speed control dial comes off with the plate.
The light shielding on the take up side (vertical, left side of film gate in this image) and also the bottom one (above the escapement) lift straight out after removing the plate.
Access for cleaning and lubricating the mechanism is then, not too bad. although the top bearing for the bottom take up roller isn't particularly easy to get to, without first removing the remaining shielding on the lower right. But taking that one out, necessitates first removing the escapement and the pallet control gear. I was able to clean and lubricate the escapement pallet and star wheel and all the curtain spindle bearings (including, with some difficulty, that top right one) with the right lower shielding in situ.
There is a small opening visible at the lower left of the lens opening of the plate. This is to permit inspection to ensure the pallet cam follower from the slow speed dial is correctly coupled with the pallet lever (retard lever).
The top cover had to come off to clean the rangefinder & viewfinder optics, and to clean, lubricate and adjust the second curtain latch and its shaft bearings.
After cleaning and lubricating the mechanism I had to check the shutter times. They were out of spec at the faster speeds. I was most unhappy with the sound of the shutter releasing: so much louder than an M3. I have read that the screw mounts can be a little louder but I felt the noise, from the second curtain in particular, was unacceptable. I decided to back the tensions off until both curtains were only just running across the gate, and re-set them from scratch.
I'm extremely fortunate to own a professional quality Copal-Kyoritsu camera tester. It's a terrific unit, but unlike most newer ones it does not inform curtain travel times (how long it takes each curtain to actually cross the gate, as distinct from the effective exposure times). So, first I had to get the curtain tensions in the ballpark. How to do?
This IIIf is a red dial model and it has a maximum electronic flash synchronisation speed of 1/50. At this time, the mechanism is meant to run the first curtain all the way to the end of the gate, before releasing the second curtain to cap it. I decided to gradually increase tensions from nearly zero slowly, until the 1/50 time was getting close. My logic being that, because each curtain runs separately at this time (as opposed to together at faster times), the curtain travel time would have more primary influence over the amount of exposure than the state of the second curtain release. Also, it is slow enough to verify by eye that the second curtain waits until the first has fully opened the gate, and the escapement is not yet engaged.
This worked quite well. It would seem at some point somebody (the previous owner?) had tried to remedy some exposure problems by dialling up the spring tensions. I was able to get a decent 1/50 time with substantially less tension on both curtains than their initial settings.
This is good. Nearly any traditional focal plane shutter is designed to work well with the minimum practicable amount of tension on each curtain spindle. Yes, there are certain minimums, below which curtains may not run consistently and return accurate times. But dialling up the tension substantially is never the answer: after servicing no additional tension may be needed, or perhaps a very minimal amount to offset spring fatigue. By way of example, my M3 shutter needed a single ratchet click on one curtain and (after a little correction of the master release timing) returned a 1/1000 time that was bang on the money, right across the gate.
After gradually increasing the tensions I had a shutter that was running well at 1/50 with at least 30% less tension than I started with, and it was already beginning to sound a lot more like a Leica shutter should.
Next, shorter exposure times were checked. At these times the entire film gate is not exposed simultaneously. The second curtain will be released and begin running before the first curtain has opened the entire gate. The exposure is based on the curtain travel speed and the width of the "slit" (gap, opening) separating the curtain laths. The curtains run at the same travel times for all speed settings. It's the relationship between the two curtains which alters the actual amount of exposure. In plain English, they do not speed up for shorter times, and slow down for longer times. Their terminal velocity is always the same, regardless of the shutter speed in use.
Having got the 1/50 time decent, I turned to 1/500, which runs a narrow slit. The Kyoritsu measures the amount of exposure near the wind (start) of the film gate, at its centre, and near the rewind (end). For calibrating focal plane shutters accurately this is important. I found (not unexpectedly) that though the curtains were in the ball park as checked at 1/50, the tensions weren't quite there, yet, due to some tapering (variation in the amount of exposure across the different parts of the film gate). The first curtain was running ahead of the second a bit too much. Within limits, this is, (believe it or not) necessary. The curtains accelerate as they traverse the gate. Their velocity is not constant. Inertia, mass, friction, make it impossible to be otherwise.
One of the things that made the Leica shutter so successful (and the template for so many other makers) is that an elegantly simple solution to cancelling out the effects of increasing curtain speed was included. The take up drum for the first curtain is very slightly larger than the second curtain. The slit widens, slightly, as the curtains run. Nominally, this would mean an increase in exposure towards the end of the gate. But the curtains are speeding up, as they run. The combination of increasing speed of the slit, and a slight widening of the slit, means that, overall, it is balanced and the amount of exposure across the whole gate remains even.
Leitz used a rotating drum machine with various profiles to visually adjust the relationship between the two curtains and the second curtain release timing. SK Grimes had a good page about that (no longer live, but retrievable from Wayback Machine).
Below is a copy of sheet 13.1 of the IIIf service manual describing setting the shutter timing with their drum tester. Take a close look at the shape of the slits in their diagrams. You'll see that they widen, slightly from top to bottom. This reflects the optimum relationship between the curtains as they run, Ie. that the first curtain should pull away, just a little, from the second at exposure times shorter than 1/50.
By checking and re-checking the exposure at 1/500 across the whole gate, with incrementally smaller adjustments, I was able to slightly decrease first curtain tension and increase the second, until I had a consistent 1/500. Times longer than 1/500 were within 20% of their nominal exposure. Good enough for a seventy year old shutter, I thought.
The IIIf shutter has a second curtain release eccentric adjustment for 1/500-1/50 times, and also a second, slightly higher situated one on the release lever for 1/1000. (Have you ever wondered why the speed dial of your Leica sits a little higher on the 1/1000 setting, than it does at all others? This is why).
If needed, these can be adjusted so that the precise point at which the second curtain is unlatched is varied to achieve the required delay. Slower than 1/50, the escapement begins to hold the second curtain back, either by inertia alone, or (with the pallet engaged) inertia and retard.
This is another important point. For even exposure across your negatives, it's essential for the two curtains to be running together at (almost, see above) the same velocities. This will keep the exposure even. But what establishes the width of the slit in the first place, is the second curtain release timing, which controls how much of a "head start" the first curtain gets, when you press the release button. If your shutter is not giving even exposures, it should be serviced, because cleaning and lubrication will probably fix it. If the exposure is still uneven, some fine tuning of spring tensions may be dictated. But it is impossible to rectify maladjustment of the second curtain release, by altering the curtain tensions. You might well get a good Eg. 1/500 time across the centre and end of the gate. But if the second curtain starts a millisecond too late, nothing will correct exposure at the beginning of the gate, except for adjusting the release latch.
In my case the 1/500 time was good. The slow times were pretty good, too. Good enough; no escapement timing needed. The 1/1000 time was still a little uneven across the gate. A minor adjustment to the dedicated 1/1000 release eccentric then brought it within limits.
Below, a close up image of the release arm and the two eccentric adjusters before cleaning. The speed dial has been replaced for a couple of very good reasons. One: it makes setting the various speeds during testing that much easier. Two: it adds a little rotating mass to the shaft, and when adjusting the curtains, this mass should be included in the equation, to ensure that when the camera is fully assembled, the times do not alter.
1/500 & 1/1000 Second Curtain Eccentrics
Finally, the brake was checked and adjusted to ensure curtain bounce is not present. It also had the effect of quietening down the first curtain a bit more. The brake works primarily on the first curtain when it reaches the end of the gate. Note, though, that when the second curtain ends its run and "bumps" into the first curtain lath, the first curtain brake should also provide some braking effect for that. This is in addition to the pallet control gear that's geared to the second curtain shaft. When the curtain ends its run the stud on the pallet gear will hit the pallet lever, and this helps to brake the second curtain, too. The first curtain brake should not be over-adjusted. If the lath is visible at the end of the gate (set Bulb or Time for this check, to hold the second curtain back manually) then, the brake eccentric should be backed off a bit until the lath clears the aperture.
A full clean of the rangefinder and viewfinder optics was carried out after sorting the shutter. The rear (coated) surface of the beam splitter was not touched. You can try to wipe it, but it's fraught: not a good idea. I irrigated it using a single drop of lens cleaner, and a small vinyl pipette I spotted at a local chain of discount stores, to "flush" the cleaner across its surface before mopping the excess off the RF housing with tissue and blowing dry. It worked well. The patch made an appearance and the rangefinder is now quite usable indoors. I have some sheets of 50:50 beam splitter glass here, and was ready to install a replacement, if needed, but it was not. Nobby Sparrow will sell you a replacement cut to size, ready to fit for a very reasonable price, if yours needs changing.
I had previously checked the lens focus using a ground glass and 30 x loupe with the shutter on "Time" and it was known to be good. After refitting a replacement light sealing strip adjacent the slow speed dial, beating out a small nick in the top cover near the counter, and returning the mechanism to the casing, the assembled unit had its rangefinder calibrated against my usual infinity targets on a ridge line a kilometre away, with the aid of my indispensable Seibert Emoskop, until the outlines of some dead tree branches a few inches wide could no longer be separated.
I loaded my first roll of film into the camera yesterday (bulk FP4 Plus) and took my first photos with it yesterday and today. It's not going to replace my Contaxes any time soon. But I'm really enjoying it.
Here it is, just as it arrived, (after being fitted with some other items I already owned).
Circa 1952 Leica IIIf 35mm rangefinder; Leitz SOOIA 5cm Summarit f/1.5; Leitz XOON hood; Leitz XOOYL UVa tapered filter; & Leitz SBOOI 50mm bright line finder.
Part of the reason for the price was that the shutter was not exposing at 1/500 and 1/1000. And probably out of spec at other times. The slow speeds ran off tolerably well. The rangefinder patch was barely there, and the optics looked like they had possibly never been cleaned, well, not for a few decades, perhaps.
I decided to improve its condition. I should take more images as I do things, but, I am always focused on the task at hand. Still, here are a few.
Top cover removed to clean optics & adjust second curtain release if needed (it was).
The viewfinder prism & rangefinder focusing telescope have been removed in this image.
The components visible in this image, are:
1: (top, left of camera cover) mounting frame for the prism, it slots into the opening between the back of the rangefinder unit and mounting housing for the prism to help locate the prism. It lifts out with the prism itself after removal of the prism cover;
2: Rangefinder focusing telescope which fits to left of prism. The lever that actuates the focus of it is visible around the tube for the rewind shaft;
3: The prism itself which directs the light from the entrance window leftwards towards the rear eyepiece, and facilitates minimising the distance between rangefinder and viewfinder eyepieces of later model Leica screw mount cameras;
4: The gold coloured oblong piece is the mounting spring for the prism, which locates it securely inside its mounting channel.
5: Prism cover (left of the camera body) maintains tension on the mounting spring and is fixed to the viewfinder housing by three screws.
Leica screw mount bodies without their bottom cover attached seem to like to fall over, when they are set upright. The pliers visible in the image were not used during repairs; they're present, merely to stop the camera falling backwards, during the picture.
The viewfinder prism
The viewfinder prism, removed for cleaning and also to access the inside of the front viewfinder lens. Partially visible at top left are the prism cover that seals the top of the finder assembly, and two of its three securing screws. By shifting the light rays from the main finder window to the left, at the back of the camera, it is this prism that helps bring the two eyepieces closer together than earlier Leicas.
The Front Shutter Plate Removed
Awful blown highlights here, as a result of an old phone sensor, bad lighting, and the clean, white tissue the camera is resting on: sorry. But it reveals the inner workings of a Leica IIIf fairly well.
As can be seen, after removing the top cover and body casing (not necessarily in that order) the front shutter cover or plate has been removed, exposing the curtain shafts and the escapement (below the film gate). The slow speed control dial comes off with the plate.
The light shielding on the take up side (vertical, left side of film gate in this image) and also the bottom one (above the escapement) lift straight out after removing the plate.
Access for cleaning and lubricating the mechanism is then, not too bad. although the top bearing for the bottom take up roller isn't particularly easy to get to, without first removing the remaining shielding on the lower right. But taking that one out, necessitates first removing the escapement and the pallet control gear. I was able to clean and lubricate the escapement pallet and star wheel and all the curtain spindle bearings (including, with some difficulty, that top right one) with the right lower shielding in situ.
There is a small opening visible at the lower left of the lens opening of the plate. This is to permit inspection to ensure the pallet cam follower from the slow speed dial is correctly coupled with the pallet lever (retard lever).
The top cover had to come off to clean the rangefinder & viewfinder optics, and to clean, lubricate and adjust the second curtain latch and its shaft bearings.
After cleaning and lubricating the mechanism I had to check the shutter times. They were out of spec at the faster speeds. I was most unhappy with the sound of the shutter releasing: so much louder than an M3. I have read that the screw mounts can be a little louder but I felt the noise, from the second curtain in particular, was unacceptable. I decided to back the tensions off until both curtains were only just running across the gate, and re-set them from scratch.
I'm extremely fortunate to own a professional quality Copal-Kyoritsu camera tester. It's a terrific unit, but unlike most newer ones it does not inform curtain travel times (how long it takes each curtain to actually cross the gate, as distinct from the effective exposure times). So, first I had to get the curtain tensions in the ballpark. How to do?
This IIIf is a red dial model and it has a maximum electronic flash synchronisation speed of 1/50. At this time, the mechanism is meant to run the first curtain all the way to the end of the gate, before releasing the second curtain to cap it. I decided to gradually increase tensions from nearly zero slowly, until the 1/50 time was getting close. My logic being that, because each curtain runs separately at this time (as opposed to together at faster times), the curtain travel time would have more primary influence over the amount of exposure than the state of the second curtain release. Also, it is slow enough to verify by eye that the second curtain waits until the first has fully opened the gate, and the escapement is not yet engaged.
This worked quite well. It would seem at some point somebody (the previous owner?) had tried to remedy some exposure problems by dialling up the spring tensions. I was able to get a decent 1/50 time with substantially less tension on both curtains than their initial settings.
This is good. Nearly any traditional focal plane shutter is designed to work well with the minimum practicable amount of tension on each curtain spindle. Yes, there are certain minimums, below which curtains may not run consistently and return accurate times. But dialling up the tension substantially is never the answer: after servicing no additional tension may be needed, or perhaps a very minimal amount to offset spring fatigue. By way of example, my M3 shutter needed a single ratchet click on one curtain and (after a little correction of the master release timing) returned a 1/1000 time that was bang on the money, right across the gate.
After gradually increasing the tensions I had a shutter that was running well at 1/50 with at least 30% less tension than I started with, and it was already beginning to sound a lot more like a Leica shutter should.
Next, shorter exposure times were checked. At these times the entire film gate is not exposed simultaneously. The second curtain will be released and begin running before the first curtain has opened the entire gate. The exposure is based on the curtain travel speed and the width of the "slit" (gap, opening) separating the curtain laths. The curtains run at the same travel times for all speed settings. It's the relationship between the two curtains which alters the actual amount of exposure. In plain English, they do not speed up for shorter times, and slow down for longer times. Their terminal velocity is always the same, regardless of the shutter speed in use.
Having got the 1/50 time decent, I turned to 1/500, which runs a narrow slit. The Kyoritsu measures the amount of exposure near the wind (start) of the film gate, at its centre, and near the rewind (end). For calibrating focal plane shutters accurately this is important. I found (not unexpectedly) that though the curtains were in the ball park as checked at 1/50, the tensions weren't quite there, yet, due to some tapering (variation in the amount of exposure across the different parts of the film gate). The first curtain was running ahead of the second a bit too much. Within limits, this is, (believe it or not) necessary. The curtains accelerate as they traverse the gate. Their velocity is not constant. Inertia, mass, friction, make it impossible to be otherwise.
One of the things that made the Leica shutter so successful (and the template for so many other makers) is that an elegantly simple solution to cancelling out the effects of increasing curtain speed was included. The take up drum for the first curtain is very slightly larger than the second curtain. The slit widens, slightly, as the curtains run. Nominally, this would mean an increase in exposure towards the end of the gate. But the curtains are speeding up, as they run. The combination of increasing speed of the slit, and a slight widening of the slit, means that, overall, it is balanced and the amount of exposure across the whole gate remains even.
Leitz used a rotating drum machine with various profiles to visually adjust the relationship between the two curtains and the second curtain release timing. SK Grimes had a good page about that (no longer live, but retrievable from Wayback Machine).
Below is a copy of sheet 13.1 of the IIIf service manual describing setting the shutter timing with their drum tester. Take a close look at the shape of the slits in their diagrams. You'll see that they widen, slightly from top to bottom. This reflects the optimum relationship between the curtains as they run, Ie. that the first curtain should pull away, just a little, from the second at exposure times shorter than 1/50.
By checking and re-checking the exposure at 1/500 across the whole gate, with incrementally smaller adjustments, I was able to slightly decrease first curtain tension and increase the second, until I had a consistent 1/500. Times longer than 1/500 were within 20% of their nominal exposure. Good enough for a seventy year old shutter, I thought.
The IIIf shutter has a second curtain release eccentric adjustment for 1/500-1/50 times, and also a second, slightly higher situated one on the release lever for 1/1000. (Have you ever wondered why the speed dial of your Leica sits a little higher on the 1/1000 setting, than it does at all others? This is why).
If needed, these can be adjusted so that the precise point at which the second curtain is unlatched is varied to achieve the required delay. Slower than 1/50, the escapement begins to hold the second curtain back, either by inertia alone, or (with the pallet engaged) inertia and retard.
This is another important point. For even exposure across your negatives, it's essential for the two curtains to be running together at (almost, see above) the same velocities. This will keep the exposure even. But what establishes the width of the slit in the first place, is the second curtain release timing, which controls how much of a "head start" the first curtain gets, when you press the release button. If your shutter is not giving even exposures, it should be serviced, because cleaning and lubrication will probably fix it. If the exposure is still uneven, some fine tuning of spring tensions may be dictated. But it is impossible to rectify maladjustment of the second curtain release, by altering the curtain tensions. You might well get a good Eg. 1/500 time across the centre and end of the gate. But if the second curtain starts a millisecond too late, nothing will correct exposure at the beginning of the gate, except for adjusting the release latch.
In my case the 1/500 time was good. The slow times were pretty good, too. Good enough; no escapement timing needed. The 1/1000 time was still a little uneven across the gate. A minor adjustment to the dedicated 1/1000 release eccentric then brought it within limits.
Below, a close up image of the release arm and the two eccentric adjusters before cleaning. The speed dial has been replaced for a couple of very good reasons. One: it makes setting the various speeds during testing that much easier. Two: it adds a little rotating mass to the shaft, and when adjusting the curtains, this mass should be included in the equation, to ensure that when the camera is fully assembled, the times do not alter.
1/500 & 1/1000 Second Curtain Eccentrics
Finally, the brake was checked and adjusted to ensure curtain bounce is not present. It also had the effect of quietening down the first curtain a bit more. The brake works primarily on the first curtain when it reaches the end of the gate. Note, though, that when the second curtain ends its run and "bumps" into the first curtain lath, the first curtain brake should also provide some braking effect for that. This is in addition to the pallet control gear that's geared to the second curtain shaft. When the curtain ends its run the stud on the pallet gear will hit the pallet lever, and this helps to brake the second curtain, too. The first curtain brake should not be over-adjusted. If the lath is visible at the end of the gate (set Bulb or Time for this check, to hold the second curtain back manually) then, the brake eccentric should be backed off a bit until the lath clears the aperture.
A full clean of the rangefinder and viewfinder optics was carried out after sorting the shutter. The rear (coated) surface of the beam splitter was not touched. You can try to wipe it, but it's fraught: not a good idea. I irrigated it using a single drop of lens cleaner, and a small vinyl pipette I spotted at a local chain of discount stores, to "flush" the cleaner across its surface before mopping the excess off the RF housing with tissue and blowing dry. It worked well. The patch made an appearance and the rangefinder is now quite usable indoors. I have some sheets of 50:50 beam splitter glass here, and was ready to install a replacement, if needed, but it was not. Nobby Sparrow will sell you a replacement cut to size, ready to fit for a very reasonable price, if yours needs changing.
I had previously checked the lens focus using a ground glass and 30 x loupe with the shutter on "Time" and it was known to be good. After refitting a replacement light sealing strip adjacent the slow speed dial, beating out a small nick in the top cover near the counter, and returning the mechanism to the casing, the assembled unit had its rangefinder calibrated against my usual infinity targets on a ridge line a kilometre away, with the aid of my indispensable Seibert Emoskop, until the outlines of some dead tree branches a few inches wide could no longer be separated.
I loaded my first roll of film into the camera yesterday (bulk FP4 Plus) and took my first photos with it yesterday and today. It's not going to replace my Contaxes any time soon. But I'm really enjoying it.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
I tried the mirror of Nobbysparrow in my Leica III, but it just did not fit. So I cleaned the old mirror (1935) which worked then like a miracle. They can be cleaned (with a dry cotton swab, very carefully, breathe on both sides of the mirror).
I agree with Brett that the springs of the shutters of old Leicas usually are much too tight. This causes uneven exposure. Just loosen them, but the shutter must still "snap" when it is released. Usually the first curtain produces a growling sound caused by the central spindle. Carefully oil the spindle without getting any oil on the curtains. Use a minimum amount of oil. Tension and release the shutter many times. The growling sound must disappear.
Erik.
I agree with Brett that the springs of the shutters of old Leicas usually are much too tight. This causes uneven exposure. Just loosen them, but the shutter must still "snap" when it is released. Usually the first curtain produces a growling sound caused by the central spindle. Carefully oil the spindle without getting any oil on the curtains. Use a minimum amount of oil. Tension and release the shutter many times. The growling sound must disappear.
Erik.
Ko.Fe.
Lenses 35/21 Gears 46/20
I used this IIIF CLA video yesterday to revive old Leotax.
Missed this great OP just by one day. I didn't know how to clean optics under top plate.
Missed this great OP just by one day.
I didn't know how to clean optics under top plate.Erik,
Thanks very much for your input. It is good to know the Leitz beam splitter material isn't as fragile as some others can be. It sounds as if they must have done excellent surface preparation and coating processes. I wasn't aware their beam splitters can be wiped carefully, hence, I elected not to learn the hard way, and didn't touch the back of it.
I'm sorry to hear the mirror Nobu-san sold you did not fit. I've bought various things from him and have found him great to deal with—I expect he'd have been interested to know. I stocked up on 10cm sheets of beam splitter, and sheets of front surface mirror years ago, when they were cheap, so I don't need to source cut ones. For future reference (assuming a glass is too large, and not too small, obviously), you can grind them down with a carbide sharpening stone used for sharpening tools such as chisels and knives etc.
Cheers
Brett
I should get into the habit of checking YouTube more often for camera repair content. I know there's good material on the site because I've seen some of Chris Sherlock's, but I always seem to forget to look—thank you for the link.I used this IIIF CLA video yesterday to revive old Leotax.
Missed this great OP just by one day.
Cheers
Brett
raydm6
Yay! Cameras! 🙈🙉🙊┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘ [◉"]
Brett, very nice rig! Congratulations.
And thanks so much for sharing and showing us the inner workings of the IIIf. Fascinating complexity!
It's very interesting that the top-plate Serial No. is stamped onto the inner body as well (behind the shutter release button). I never knew that.
And thanks so much for sharing and showing us the inner workings of the IIIf. Fascinating complexity!
It's very interesting that the top-plate Serial No. is stamped onto the inner body as well (behind the shutter release button). I never knew that.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
Yes, Nobu said that the III was the same as the IIIc or later models, but the mirror just didn't fit. The original mirror found its way back inside almost by itself. It is very hard to find the exact position of the mirror when there is no 100% fit, I think it is impossible.
I just keep Nobu's mirror until I have to replace the mirror in a IIIc or IIIf. I've bought a lot of things from him. These always had been great, above all his books! Just collect them all, they are the best Leica repair books available. His hand made flexiclamps are another thing to collect.
Erik.
farlymac
PF McFarland
I've been keeping up with your IIIf adventure on Flickr, Brett, and am thankful for the input. It at least let me know that I need to do more than remove the accessory shoe (as suggested by someone else here) to find out what is wrong with the flash sync. It's not like I plan on using it often, but would like to have it in working condition just in case.
Books from Nobu are on the agenda, and I already had that site bookmarked that Kostya suggested. Some of the tools too will need to be ordered. I think I'll practice on my Nicca III S before opening up the Leica.
PF
Books from Nobu are on the agenda, and I already had that site bookmarked that Kostya suggested. Some of the tools too will need to be ordered. I think I'll practice on my Nicca III S before opening up the Leica.
PF
Hi Phil,
permit me, please, to pass on a few links to useful documents in the event you've not already obtained them?
The Learn Camera Repair website continues to accumulate a trove of invaluable repair documents. I'm not sure if all our members know our own Chris Crawford has done (and continues to do) a great deal of work managing this site and adding new documents to it. Some of the manuals added a couple of years ago actually came from my own Dropbox stash. (I've been accumulating service documents for many types of cameras many years, now. I saw the light early, over ten years ago, after I found something useful online, and then the site went dead. From that day on, any time I came across a repair document on the web, I downloaded and saved it, whether I needed it or not.)
There are several files relating to Leica repair at this page.
In particular the Leitz service manual, and National Camera Repair IIIf guide, are well worth retrieving and reviewing. But there are other files from the first linked page above such as the IIIg factory service manual which may be worth a look (given I expect the IIIg shutter is fairly similar to the IIIf).
Over at RFF member Kim Coxon's Pentax Manuals site you will find a few more Leica service files. I found the document Servicing Screw Mount Leicas, in particular, to be quite helpful.
Cheers,
Brett
Erik,
thanks very much for this information. It is very useful to know that earlier models need a smaller beam splitter. I don't have one at the moment, but you never know.
I do not have any of his manuals, yet, but I have certainly purchased a number of flexiclamps as well as ribbons and cloth from him. I will get myself his books too, then. Nobu-san can supply certain items that aren't particularly easy to find elsewhere so I like supporting him. The speed setting dial of my IIIf is missing one of its three retaining screws, and he stocks these. I ordered a couple of sets immediately (on the basis that such small sized metric screws are quite likely to be very useful for repairing other German cameras of similar vintage anyway).
Cheers,
Brett
My pleasure. I believe from memory my M3 had its serial number inside it, also.
When I acquired the M3 I had an opportunity to purchase several other items at fairly reasonable prices. As it happened the lenses were all screw mount but several genuine Leitz screw to M adapters were included so I decided to buy. I am very glad I did, because with a 35mm, a 50mm, a couple of long lenses and a few finders, I now have a little IIIf kit that's fairly serviceable.
Cheers,
Brett
Erik van Straten
Veteran
Erik,
thanks very much for this information. It is very useful to know that earlier models need a smaller beam splitter. I don't have one at the moment, but you never know.
I do not have any of his manuals, yet, but I have certainly purchased a number of flexiclamps as well as ribbons and cloth from him. I will get myself his books too, then. Nobu-san can supply certain items that aren't particularly easy to find elsewhere so I like supporting him. The speed setting dial of my IIIf is missing one of its three retaining screws, and he stocks these. I ordered a couple of sets immediately (on the basis that such small sized metric screws are quite likely to be very useful for repairing other German cameras of similar vintage anyway).
Cheers,
Brett
P.S. It is also very helpful to see his items on repair on YouTube.
Dralowid
Michael
A highly respected technician who has now retired would go out of his way to clean mirrors on pre war cameras rather than replace them, only doing so if he really had to.
He was never happy with the quality of the replacements.
He was never happy with the quality of the replacements.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
Probably because the replacements do not fit. The mirrors must be cut with an extreme precision, or rather, the fittings must be adapted to the mirrors. Otherwise, it is impossible to get the two images of the rangefinder with a precision of 100% together. 100% is needed to work correctly, obviously.
Your technician worked for the Queen, didn't he?
Erik.
farlymac
PF McFarland
It seems to work OK.
FP4 Plus in ID-11 1 + 3 20C/21minutes.
9cm Elmar f/4
3.5cm Elmar f/3.5
The 3.5cm Elmar is not a lens which is universally highly regarded. But looking at the zone of focus (the cray pots on the left side of the negative), it doesn't look that bad. (Streets ahead of the AUD $24000 Dallmeyer Super-Six I once tested in this location a few years ago.)
9cm Elmar f/4
Brenda's Story
5cm Summarit f/1.5
Maisy & Luna by Hobart's River Derwent
The Summarit has reasonably good glass with just a few marks on its front surface, but there's some interior haze. I think contrast (which has been boosted quite a bit in PS, above) would improve after cleaning. An appropriately sized Flexi clamp from Nobby Sparrow arrived in the post today, so I will do that in the not too distant future.
FP4 Plus in ID-11 1 + 3 20C/21minutes.
9cm Elmar f/4
3.5cm Elmar f/3.5
The 3.5cm Elmar is not a lens which is universally highly regarded. But looking at the zone of focus (the cray pots on the left side of the negative), it doesn't look that bad. (Streets ahead of the AUD $24000 Dallmeyer Super-Six I once tested in this location a few years ago.)
9cm Elmar f/4
Brenda's Story
5cm Summarit f/1.5
Maisy & Luna by Hobart's River Derwent
The Summarit has reasonably good glass with just a few marks on its front surface, but there's some interior haze. I think contrast (which has been boosted quite a bit in PS, above) would improve after cleaning. An appropriately sized Flexi clamp from Nobby Sparrow arrived in the post today, so I will do that in the not too distant future.
Dralowid
Michael
Indeed, so it is said.
farlymac
PF McFarland
I do believe you fixed it, Brett. Fine example images.
PF
PF
Thank you, Phil!
A few weeks ago I stripped and cleaned the 5cm Summarit. It had a substantial amount of haze on some of the middle lens surfaces. I cleaned and lubricated the focus helicals at the same time. The lens now seems to perform much better than previously. The image below was made after servicing the Summarit and it was closed down a bit, f/4.5–5.6 from memory. Looks a lot better than my previous photo of the Collies but it's not really a fair comparison, the latter was made wide open, or almost.
Salamanca Place, Hobart.
1952 Leica IIIf RD; 1952 5cm Summarit f/1.5; Pan F Plus EI 50; ID-11 1 + 3 20C/18m.
Salamanca Place, Hobart.
1952 Leica IIIf RD; 1952 5cm Summarit f/1.5; Pan F Plus EI 50; ID-11 1 + 3 20C/18m.