Leica LTM Adventures with my 'new' IIf

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses

richard_l

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The camera itself, from KEH, is almost perfect except for a few bright marks on the bottom plate. The takeup spool and shutter curtains look almost new. I already had a couple of LTM lenses, but I won a 50/3.5 Elmar on eBay, which I decided to use for the test voyage. The lens turned out to be as nice as the camera. The lubrication on the helical had dried out a bit, but that's easy to fix on an old Elmar.

I decided to shoot first at a local park (which has a formal gardens). When I got there, I realized that I had forgotten my lightmeter, so I guessed, using sunny 16. All the shots turned out adequately exposed. Five were out of focus because I hadn't fully extended the Elmar, and one was black, due to a lens cap error :eek: , but the rest were okay. I may post a few tomorrow if I have time. (None are masterpieces. I just wanted to see if everything worked OK, and it did.)

Maybe it's just the novelty of it, but the IIf seems to be more fun to use than my Ms. It also got more stares.
 
Congratulations on the new purchase! What "grade" did KEH have assigned to your camera? It sounds in really god shape! I have gotten a few items from KEH over the years and was always pleased with what was sent to me! We'd like to see some pictures from your new friend!

Regards,
Tom
 
Look behind you, see that monkey? He's about to climb on your back.

I love my screw mounts BTW. I think one is a IIF red dial, I keep forgetting. My favorite is a IIIa that I had completely CLAed. It worked fine I just wanted it re-lubed and stuff. The guy who did it said it was the nicest he had ever seen.

I know have a IIF? IIIc and a IIIa along with a Canon IVsb. They are great fun to use and I know you'll enjoy yours.
 
It is a red dial IIf with 1/1000 shutter speed and was graded Excellent.

Serendipity. I thought the Elmar was a black scale, but it turned out to be a red scale. It's probably no better than a black scale, but it's worth more.

I am getting a FISON hood for the Elmar. It will also fit a 3.5cm/3.5 LTM Summaron. Does anyone know whether the Summaron vignettes with the FISON?

Richard
 
Not certain, but the Summaron probably will vignette. You'll have the FISON anyway, so firing off a couple of test shots will be no big deal. Ideally, one will be of an even coloured wall at full aperture. The Summaron needs a hood, I can say from my experience with two of the fellows.
 
payasam said:
Not certain, but the Summaron probably will vignette. You'll have the FISON anyway, so firing off a couple of test shots will be no big deal. Ideally, one will be of an even coloured wall at full aperture. The Summaron needs a hood, I can say from my experience with two of the fellows.
Thanks, I'll do that. Last year I made a do-it-yourself hood for the Summaron out of an A36 filter ring and a 39mm screw-in rubber hood. It works, but I was curious about the FISON. I need patience. As you suggested, this is the beginning of a long affair (I hope). There's plenty of time for discovery.

Richard
 
The FISON will definitely vignette on a Summaron, it does on a Elmar 35/3.5, and that has a much smaller front element.

I don't know if you can cheat a FIKUS into working with a Summaron all the way collapsed. I don't think so, I think the Elmar 35/3.5 is the limit of such games. (Early FIKUS hoods had markings for Elmar 35 and Summar 50.)
 
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