DRP Location....

[Vince Lupo]

Okay - maybe someone out there can help solve another one of the great Leica mysteries...

I just picked up a really clean black Leica III that works great. As I was fondling it (I swear it was consensual!) I noticed that the 'D.R.P.' was located underneath 'Wetzlar'. I was under the impression that the 'D.R.P.' usually appeared beneath 'Leica' and above 'Ernst Leitz', so I pulled out my 17 other Leica screw mount bodies to compare (or, at least those that were pre-GMbH and D.B.P.). I did have another Leica III with the 'D.R.P.' underneath 'Wetzlar', but all the rest of them had it below 'Leica'.

Did its location have anything to do with the camera being for the domestic or export market?

 

[Luddite Frank]

Hi Vince,


Interesting question... just pulled-out my four pre-War Barnacks, and here's what I found, in chronological order:

Leica D ( II ) - s/n - 77xxx - (black, 1932)
​

Leica F ( III ) - s/n- 1173xx - (black, 1933)
​

" " - s/n - 1177xx - (black, 1933)
​

" " - s/n - 136xxx - (chrome, 1934)
​

All of the above are marked thus on the top plate:

Leica No xxxxx(x)
​

Ernst Leitz
Wetzlar
D. R. P.
​

The latest of these, # 136xxx, dates from 1934, so this isn't a very broad range.

All of these I purchased in the USA, two from Ritz Collectible, the other three from eBay. ( I know this is one more than I listed above - I also have a III-f )

May be this helps a little ?


Regards,

Luddite Frank

( Native of Howard Co, MD 😎 )

 

[Mael]

Edit : i've read the question too quickly...

 

[Luddite Frank]

Vince,

Just did some browsing at Ritz Collectibles, Pacific Rim Camera, and Classic Camera Profiles at CameraQuest...

Based on the various model II and III ( Models A, E, I, Standard don't apply to this thread, as the top-plate is different) cameras I viewed on those sites, it appears that E. Leitz moved the location of the " D. R. P." from below "Wetzlar" to beneath the large "Leica" script sometime between body s/n 179xxx & 225xxx....

I'm, guesstimating this change would be somewhere between 1935 & 1937.

After the relocation of " D. R. P. ", it seems to have stayed right below "Leica" all the way through to the run of the III-g. *

LF

* Note: there might be variations where pre-#200,000 bodies were sent back for upgrade (say a 1932 Leica Standard upgraded to III-f), the camera would get a new top-plate, with the current engraving scheme, but would be stamped with the original serial number... so you could find a camera with an early s/n but the later D. R. P. placement.

 

[Vince Lupo]

The two bodies that I have with the D.R.P. below Wetzlar are #1493xx and 1667xx. They haven't had anything done to them (conversion-wise), and I have #1519xx and #3629xx with D.R.P. below Leica. The only other thing that #1493xx and 1667xx have in common is the 'Open/Close' baseplate with 1/4-20 tripod thread (the others are 'Auf/Zu' and 3/8 thread). So that was why I was wondering as to whether it was a domestic/export thing.

 

[Luddite Frank]

The two bodies that I have with the D.R.P. below Wetzlar are #1493xx and 1667xx. They haven't had anything done to them (conversion-wise), and I have #1519xx and #3629xx with D.R.P. below Leica. The only other thing that #1493xx and 1667xx have in common is the 'Open/Close' baseplate with 1/4-20 tripod thread (the others are 'Auf/Zu' and 3/8 thread). So that was why I was wondering as to whether it was a domestic/export thing.

Vince,

The one camera you have that seems to take exception to the s/n 200,000 DRP-changeover premise is #1519xx... going by the numbers, I would expect that camera to have "DRP" placed below "Wetzlar", like the others.

I wonder if this camera had it's top replaced at some point ?

As for the base-plates, those are easily interchangeable, and except for certain flash-sync base-plates (SELSY?) did not have the body serial number on them.

My black II and all my III's have 3/8" tripod sockets, and the lock is marked "auf / zu".

I do have a flash-sync baseplate (BUNOO?) for the pre -c bodies, that has the 1/4" socket and the lock marked "open / close", and the folding key has a little tang on one end.

My III-f ( s/n 600xxx, '51-'52) has the 1/4" tripod socket, and the lock has the tang-key, and is marked in both English and German.

All I can offer is circumstantial evidence and conjecture...😉

Frank