Leica LTM Cocking the shutter on a IIIF

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses

AnthonyM

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I came across some chit chat in another Leica forum. The gentleman wrote a comment about cocking a IIIF which worries me. It confused me as well.

My IIIf is coming back from an overhaul tommorow after I spent $378 in repairs. I would hate to ruin it.

Here is the statment the gentleman wrote:


" You must keep in mind that you cannot change the shutterspeeds before cocking the shutter (or is it after?) or you may wreck the mechanism. "


Does this make sense or do you know what he meant ?
 
Last edited:
AnthonyM said:
" You must keep in mind that you cannot change the shutterspeeds before cocking the shutter (or is it after?) or you may wreck the mechanism. "

Normally you set the shutter speed after cocking the shutter but doing so before will not harm the shutter mechanism..
 
The only problem with setting the shutter speed while the shutter is uncocked is that the pointer and the speed markings are not aligned properly. There is no harm to be done, only confusion as to the speed that you set.

Jim N.
 
My friend Rodger, who used to repair Leicas, just told me on the phone that if the shutter is not cocked, the last speed set is shown opposite the number 4 on the sync dial. I do not have my camera to check that but I will tomorrow.
 
On my IIIc I'd made a little mark with a pencil so as to set speed with shutter not cocked. It is a good habit, though, to wind on immediately after taking a shot. Saves you from trying to fire an uncocked camera. On my Rolleicord, whose winding and cocking were not linked, it was how I avoided double exposures. [edit] I sometimes overdid it too and got blank frames.
 
On FSU cameras (Leica copies) you MUST wind on before you set the speed. Leica's however are not damaged either way.
 
AnthonyM said:
" You must keep in mind that you cannot change the shutterspeeds before cocking the shutter (or is it after?) or you may wreck the mechanism. "

Just for the record, if you turn the deal without lifting it you can also cock the shutter without avancing the film (you can still change speed after that) for double exposures.

GLF
 
Both the factory instruction booklet and various editions of Morgan & Lester's "Leica Manual" recommend the habit of " wind, then set" for the shutter speeds.

As mentioned above, no harm will be done to the mechanism by changing speeds on an un-cocked (Leica) shutter, but there is the risk of not getting the desired setting.

There are cameras that are more fussy about this sort of thing: on the Exakta SLR's, if one is using the slow-speeds, the film must be advanced first (to wind the main shutter), then the slow speed knob must be wound, THEN the slow speed selected.
From what I've read about them, the Kodak Ektra 35mm RF had a very specific proceedure for winding & setting, which if not followed, would result in stripping of a number of delicate gears.

I think the initial warning about "wrecking the mechanism" by setting the shutter at an inappropriate time may also have come from someone more familiar with Compur-type leaf shutters from folding & press cameras: the shutter speeds in these are adjusted turning the rim of the shutter case ( on "rim-set" models), which in turn manipulates a stepped-cam inside the works, which varies the legnth of time that the clockwork escapement keeps the shutter open. In my younger ( and less-informed ) days, I would cock the shutter, then change the speed setting, and I could feel the cam "bumping" through its steps; when I would go the highest speed, it felt like a big bump.

Since then, I have learned that it is preferable to set the shutter speed first, then cock the shutter (for leaf shutters). Some discourse I have read on Rollei TLRs insists that one should NOT try to move a cocked shutter up onto the highest speed: damage WILL occur, particularly with an old, gummy shutter.

Dial-set Compurs and pneumatic "compound" shutters don't seem to be as fussy about all this.

Sorry to digress...

Luddite Frank
 
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