Sumolux
Established
Hi all,
After seeing the threads here about the 'differences' in ball bearings between the IIIf BD + RD versions, I made the comment that my Leica repairman mentioned there is no difference between them.
This point about the ball bearings being different between these 2 IIIf types has been on the net for years, quoted and copied by experts and followers, so why question it? Yet no-one could really sit down and explain it to us all.
Well, in the spirit of research I dug up the Leica IIIf repair/parts manual myself and read it through. There is, according to this Leica service manual, no difference between the two. The IIIf repair and parts ordering section covers serials from 525001-837720 - so both the IIIf RD and BD versions. Both versions have identical ball bearing configurations, to whit:
12 (full) ball bearings of 1mm in the rewind mechanism on a single plate
+
18 (full) ball bearings of 1.2mm (on 2 plates of 9 each) and 14 (full) ball bearings of 1.5mm (on one plate) in the shutter mechanism rollers
This coincides with what my repairman mentioned that only the shutter materials were made lighter in the IIIf RD.
Furthermore, if you examine the parts tables of different models, the size and number of ball bearings IS IDENTICAL in the If, IIf, IIf, IIIg, IIIc, IIc and Ic.
Everyone can download and check this themselves if they want to finally be convinced !
Ciao tutti,
Sumolux
After seeing the threads here about the 'differences' in ball bearings between the IIIf BD + RD versions, I made the comment that my Leica repairman mentioned there is no difference between them.
This point about the ball bearings being different between these 2 IIIf types has been on the net for years, quoted and copied by experts and followers, so why question it? Yet no-one could really sit down and explain it to us all.
Well, in the spirit of research I dug up the Leica IIIf repair/parts manual myself and read it through. There is, according to this Leica service manual, no difference between the two. The IIIf repair and parts ordering section covers serials from 525001-837720 - so both the IIIf RD and BD versions. Both versions have identical ball bearing configurations, to whit:
12 (full) ball bearings of 1mm in the rewind mechanism on a single plate
+
18 (full) ball bearings of 1.2mm (on 2 plates of 9 each) and 14 (full) ball bearings of 1.5mm (on one plate) in the shutter mechanism rollers
This coincides with what my repairman mentioned that only the shutter materials were made lighter in the IIIf RD.
Furthermore, if you examine the parts tables of different models, the size and number of ball bearings IS IDENTICAL in the If, IIf, IIf, IIIg, IIIc, IIc and Ic.
Everyone can download and check this themselves if they want to finally be convinced !
Ciao tutti,
Sumolux
