Going from Leica LTM to Nicca

[phranklee]

Hi, I've owned and used at least a dozen Leica screw mount bodies but now I'm tempted to try a Nicca 3 or 5. Can people who have had both Leica and Nicca bodies assure that the Nicca's are "just as good" and other than cosmetics and the Nicca 5 back, what differences do you notice in practice? Thank you

 

[aw614]

My only Leica is a IIIC, and I also have a Nicca Type 33 and a III-S and I feel they are just as good as the IIIC. The only differences Nicca has over the IIIC is the addition of flash sync ports and the Leica having 1/1000 shutter speeds instead of 1/500.

 

[WoodallP]

Hi, I've owned and used at least a dozen Leica screw mount bodies but now I'm tempted to try a Nicca 3 or 5. Can people who have had both Leica and Nicca bodies assure that the Nicca's are "just as good" and other than cosmetics and the Nicca 5 back, what differences do you notice in practice? Thank you

I think one of the big changes is that you will have to talk to slightly interested people more. If you have a Leica, when people come up to you and say “Is that a Leica” you can just say “yes” and most people will feel satisfied. But with a Nicca you will have to say “no” and then explain very gently that they were nearly right 😊

Seriously other than that pointless remark I should say that I bought a Tower to repair but haven’t got round to it yet. It feels very nice and more familiar to an early-Barnack user than a late Leotax I tried. I can confirm that the hole spacing for mounting the slow escapement is slightly different so they did make changes.

I’m sure there are serious users out there who can say more.

 

[Glenn2]

As an owner of 3f, 3g and Nicca 3S my observations are that the Nicca is close, but not quite up to Leica. The shutter feeling and sound were quite different. Tested at 1/100 sec the Leica was a snick while the Nicca was more of a clunk. I bought the camera mainly to get the lens an f/2 5cm Nikkor HC . Certainly an inexpensive way to try a rangefinder LTM camera.

 

[stephen_lumsden]

I have a penchant for yashica gear myself so will remind myself of their similarities when I finally do try out ltm eventually..when I tried out all contax/kien lens options 😆

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I had all of the popular clones. None of them feel like Leica.

 

[David Murphy]

Nicca's were one of the best Leica copies IMO. The early models at least were very close to Leica quality, perhaps equal.

 

[CameraQuest]

for me the convenience of the Nicca 5L makes it the best shooting Nicca,
a better shooter than any Leica LTM body,
but not quite so well made.

link

Nicca 5L

 

[splitimageview]

I concur, the 5L is tops. Niccas in general are so close to Barnacks, the difference is inconsequential. After 70+ years it really depends on the individual camera, how well or poorly it was cared for. I will flatly state that Nicca leather covering is far more likely to be in excellent condition even if the camera was neglected as compared to Leica coverings.

 

[shawn]

I have a Tower 45/Nicca 5L that was CLA by YYE. It is my smoothest winding rangefinder camera and that includes a YYE CLAd M3 and Sherry CLAd M5. The shutter is very smooth and quiet too. Only annoyance on it is the film counter uses a dial with little teeth under it. One of them chipped somewhere along the way so sometimes it stops counting around 10 exposures.

 

[NIKON KIU]

I have always been interested in grabbing a Nicca or Tower, just to mount one my NIKKOR Q for good looks, never got one!
Today(after reading this thread)I was checking the bay and OMG!
The Nicca 5L is the same price as Nikon SP!

😱

Y’all are bad influence!

Kiu

 

[dexdog]

I have always been interested in grabbing a Nicca or Tower, just to mount one my NIKKOR Q for good looks, never got one!
Today(after reading this thread)I was checking the bay and OMG!
The Nicca 5L is the same price as Nikon SP!

😱

Y’all are bad influence!

Kiu

They have gone up in price a lot from 15 years ago. I have the Tower 46 in excellent condition with a pristine 50/1.4 Nikkor

 

[Darinwc]

I have a number of Leica thread mount bodies. The Nicca and Tower branded cameras are excellent. Easily the equal of the Leica.

Notes…
Many of the Niccas only have 1/500 top speed. A few do have 1/1000.
Many do not have focus lever on the rangefinder.
There are slight differences between the Nicca versions and the Tower.
The knob wind is very smooth. The lever a little less.
The lever wind version also has the shutter release toward the front of the camera. This is a very nice change.

 

[xayraa33]

I use the Nicca type 5 and the Nicca/Tower 3S and the Tower 45 plus an assortment of Leica lll to lllc to lllf, all are great cameras and if anything the original RF patch on the Nicca products stays more contrasty than on the original post war Barnacks.