Leica LTM First time with a Barnack

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
Rhodes said:
I recall reading some were that the normal process was pressing the release button, it worked in my camera after she come from fixing. But since it works and the shutter do not suffer with changing the shutter dial, it's fine!
Thanks aad!
About the 1/1000 I think I only use once or twice...
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The Leica shutter was designed to close at T by turning the slow dial. There is nothing in the mechanism which will allow it to close by pressing the shutter button again.

Using the shutter release button or lever to open and close at T works only with leaf shutters.

In focal plane Leica shutters, Time exposure is achieved by turning the slow dial to "T", so that a protrusion on the other side of the dial pushes the slow timing rod far in. This in turn pushes a bar under the shutter dial to block the movement of the second curtain blind.

No amount of pushing the shutter button will release the detained second curtain under normal circumstances. The slow dial has to be turned so that the timing bar is pulled out to allow the second curtain blind to move.
 
Melvin said:
I have a Leica II that "caps"(underexposes one side of the frame) at 1/500.
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You will see, when you look critical, that at 1/20 the other side of the frame will be darker. This is inevitable with the early Leica shutter. This is caused by the different speeds at wich the first and second curtains run to compensate uneven exposure due to the increasing speed of the curtains during their travel.
In fact only the speeds from 1/40 to 1/200 are usable for critical work.

Erik.
 
helenhill said:
well my IIIf RD comes Tomorrow/Wedesday
though after hearing of Juan's difficulties
I'm a Tad nervous about Loading Film

as My M2 rolls her Eyes, a Snicker and says YOU 'll see I'm the ONLY ONE !!
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Don't worry Helen! It's really easy. I posted this earlier but there it is again.

10%2010%3A41%3A20%20PM.jpg


Make rolls like this when you have time and have one or two of them around. I finished a roll this morning before I head to work so I loaded one in 30 seconds or less.

Pre-cutting is easy too. Just measure 10 cm with regular ruler. cut a perforation near 10 cm mark as reminder, cut the film with regular scissors from the leader edge (follow and keep the thickness of narrower leader area) towards the 10 cm mark. Try to make the cutting stroke large so you won't have rough edges. You can trim rough/pointy edges as needed (especially near the perforation). It's really easy!
 
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THANKS so much SUGuru....tomoroow we will see but judging from Your TIPS I will succeed.
and
ROBERT , got the Summar (loan)Today...she's a Beauty ...1937...the focusing Ring is quite Tight so I gues she needs to be used... will put her to the Test...Thank YOU !!!
 
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Very good luck, Helen... And caress your sensitive M2 all the time too... I sent back my IIIC and will get a IIIF black dial in a few days... After that one Leica started to produce the new Barnacks (different shutter) beginning with your IIIF red dial... Hope you really enjoy it! They're fun... And they're light!

Cheers,

Juan
 
IMG_6933.jpg


Just a tease for Helen and Juan.

Juan, sorry to hear about the IIIc. Good luck with IIIf BD. I had a BD before. While some people say RD is smoother, BD is really great camera and quite practical for everyday use. And because people pay more for RD, you have better chance of good condition BD at bargen price tag. Don't be discouraged by some problems you might encounter initially. They are old cameras so they need a bit of love. If you get a good condition body, have it CLAed. If the shutter is good condition to start with, Youxin's CLA is less than $100. Even with some major work, the whole service can be done a lot cheaper than M Leica. After that, you'll have a smooth working Barnack that's just a pure joy to use. :)
 
There is a film leader tab tool that is hinged metal template that folds around the film leader and your just take a sharp edge and scrape it along the film and it cuts the perfect leader every time in about a second. I bought one on ebay a couple of years ago. I just don't remember what it was called. It trims the film just like Sug's drawing of the leader. It makes trimming the leader a piece of cake. The film loads very easily if you do this. No need for removing the lens or putting the shutter on time. It loads very quickly. If I come up with the name I'll add it later. Maybe I will take a shot of mine and post it. - jim

EDIT; I just found a link for a demonstration of how this tool works.


http://www.zorkikat.com/entering-fr...-also-for-fed-zorki-and-canon-rf-cameras/115/

You also might see if Stephen Gandy has one or maybe Tony at Popflash Photo.
 
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coelacanth said:
IMG_6933.jpg


Just a tease for Helen and Juan.

Juan, sorry to hear about the IIIc. Good luck with IIIf BD. I had a BD before. While some people say RD is smoother, BD is really great camera and quite practical for everyday use. And because people pay more for RD, you have better chance of good condition BD at bargen price tag. Don't be discouraged by some problems you might encounter initially. They are old cameras so they need a bit of love. If you get a good condition body, have it CLAed. If the shutter is good condition to start with, Youxin's CLA is less than $100. Even with some major work, the whole service can be done a lot cheaper than M Leica. After that, you'll have a smooth working Barnack that's just a pure joy to use. :)
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Hi,

Thanks for your words... I'm happy because now I know I like Barnacks... And also because I have with me a great and already tested I-50 waiting for the IIIF... As soon as I receive it and see I want to keep the camera, I'll paint it and the lens slowly: that will be a big part of the fun, especially because I have never painted anything! :D

Cheers,

Juan
 
coelacanth said:
IMG_6933.jpg


Just a tease for Helen and Juan.

Juan, sorry to hear about the IIIc. Good luck with IIIf BD. I had a BD before. While some people say RD is smoother, BD is really great camera and quite practical for everyday use. And because people pay more for RD, you have better chance of good condition BD at bargen price tag. Don't be discouraged by some problems you might encounter initially. They are old cameras so they need a bit of love. If you get a good condition body, have it CLAed. If the shutter is good condition to start with, Youxin's CLA is less than $100. Even with some major work, the whole service can be done a lot cheaper than M Leica. After that, you'll have a smooth working Barnack that's just a pure joy to use. :)
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I'm want a finder like you have; is that what you are selling?

Carter
 
charjohncarter said:
I'm want a finder like you have; is that what you are selling?

Carter
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Mine is not for sale now, and never will be. :) I sold once only to buy again soon after. But yes, this is SBOOI. HU was for the one I came across on Tamarkin's sale page. Haven't seen this particular one in person, but $95 is a great place for SBOOI and Tamarkin looks to be a great dealer judging from recent thread here.

Mind you: this 1:1 finder is just superb. Bright frame line just appears in your view, like it's floating in the air right in front of you. And because it's staying on top of camera, you can use with both eyes open even if you are left eyed like me.
 
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It is a good feeling that I get when I use my Standard Leica. Its shutter is amazingly smooth, and its shape is very elegant. I often use on it a 19mm Canon or a 21mm Rokkor with a 20mm finder.
 
Erik van Straten said:
You will see, when you look critical, that at 1/20 the other side of the frame will be darker. This is inevitable with the early Leica shutter. This is caused by the different speeds at wich the first and second curtains run to compensate uneven exposure due to the increasing speed of the curtains during their travel.
In fact only the speeds from 1/40 to 1/200 are usable for critical work.

Erik.
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Thanks, Eric, that is very interesting to know. I already avoid using 1/500. I sometimes think about selling it, but the black paint is so pretty, and it takes such great pictures.
 
Please people, don't keep perpetuating myths.

Cut the film leader, because otherwise the film is liable to get caught in the pressure plate / film gate and tear some sprockets, as Juan just found out. I found that out the hard way myself also. Then the film chips can affect the travel of the shutter and really mess it up, or just outright jam it.

The ABLON template is the Leitz cutting guide. As with everything carrying the name Leitz, it is costly. You can do this with scissors in a few seconds without a cutting guide. Just find a ruler that is at least 4 inches (10cm) long. I actually have a Korean made Ablon copy. I didn't even know I had it, until I was clearing away a bunch of old darkroom equipment. With the guide and a scalpel, the film is cut in less than 5 seconds. I can usually load a Barnack under 1 minute with properly cut film.

Using a card to load film is quite a bad idea. You risk introducing grit onto your pressure plate each time, you screw around with the film gate with the shutter on "T" (for which you've got to remove the lens first), and you don't do the pressure plate springs any favors. Just cut the film for heaven's sake.

The Leica II style shutters do accelerate as they traverse the film gate. The trick is to get the second shutter to move a little less fast than the first curtain, so the overall exposure time is the same from one side to the other. It can be done, and Leitz's old standard was to be within about 1/3 of an f/stop from one side to the other at most. The Russian cameras FED/Zorki have the same design of shutter, and they can be adjusted also in the same manner (see the FSU header for a great sticky article on FSU shutter adjustment). If your shutter can't travel evenly across the frame at 1/20, then you need an overhaul.

Later shutters on the IIIF RD/IIIG have a separate cam for 1/1000 speed, but can also be adjusted to shoot at maximum speed without tapering. 1/1000 though, is the most sensitive shutter speed to show uneven shutter travel, by photographing the sky as someone else has mentioned. I like shooting at 1/1000 and 1/500 all the time, as I like to shoot with the lens wide open. It also minimizes any problems with hand shake when taking the image. What good is a camera that can't be fired at certain shutter speeds? To me, that means repair is needed.

I've used DAG or Youxin Ye as my destinations to send any newly acquired Barnack. They almost all need working on first, being at least 50 years old. My slides shot at 1/1000 don't show any change in exposure from one side to the other - after either of the two masters have overhauled the cameras.
 
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The Leica II was overhauled by one the aforementioned masters, so they must be pretty hard to get right. It makes sense to me that after 20 years of trouble shooting the design Leica's later models would have less problems.
 
Melvin said:
The Leica II was overhauled by one the aforementioned masters, so they must be pretty hard to get right. It makes sense to me that after 20 years of trouble shooting the design Leica's later models would have less problems.
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Yes, thats true. Because the early shutters were slow, they showed problems at the higher and lower speeds. The speeds cannot adjusted individually, only the tension of the springs of the curtains can.

Erik.
 
Juan Valdenebro said:
I had several fears every time I considered buying a Barnack, but today after the first test roll I am happily surprised... Loading it is easy and fast: I thought it was necessary to cut the film but I was wrong... I just checked Tom A's youtube video on how to load a Leica screwmout camera, and it worked at first try...
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If you look closely you can see that the film has been cut, the narrow part of the leader is longer than normal.

This thread has me drooling for a Barnack now. Do they really have a 1.5X magnification in the rangefinder window? Sounds like a replacement for my beloved (though flimsy after owning an M2) Bessa T.

Juan, great idea for testing focus, I'm going to do this also.
 
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