holgaguy
Established
I'm looking at a IIIf that will need new curtains and most likley a shutter adjustment. What price range am i looking at?
holgaguy
holgaguy
Joe
Established
$300-$400 for the repair. IIIfs are cool cameras, but they really aren't any cheaper than M2s or M3s after you put the work into them. They are really old and they need to be completely overhauled. The shutter isn't the only issue. It might have a squeaky film advance and a fogged rangefinder, or worse a faded rangefinder which can not be repaired. It could have mysterious light leaks. I would realistically budget $700 for a fully functioning IIIf, not including lens.
E.g. my IIIf works great at speeds up to 100, but over that the negs are striped because it needs a new curtain. Also, in really bright light (like pictues of the sky on a sunny day) there is some kind of under/over exposure by the film's sprocket holes. So, it works, but not nearly as well as my plastic Pentax zx-m.
People have the work done and then get GDS(gear divestiture syndrome) and sell them on ebay. Last week I saw a IIIf on ebay with new curtains and a cla from Sherry Krauter go for around $350: less than she quotes for the repair. I've seen this a couple times.
E.g. my IIIf works great at speeds up to 100, but over that the negs are striped because it needs a new curtain. Also, in really bright light (like pictues of the sky on a sunny day) there is some kind of under/over exposure by the film's sprocket holes. So, it works, but not nearly as well as my plastic Pentax zx-m.
People have the work done and then get GDS(gear divestiture syndrome) and sell them on ebay. Last week I saw a IIIf on ebay with new curtains and a cla from Sherry Krauter go for around $350: less than she quotes for the repair. I've seen this a couple times.
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payasam
a.k.a. Mukul Dube
New curtains will naturally mean adjustment. You might like to write to Youxin Ye -- wye7 at yahoo dot com -- who is, I understand, faster and less expensive than many other repair people.
Graybeard
Longtime IIIf User
Youxin recently replaced the shutter on a IIIf for me. The cost was $120 with a turnaround time of one week.
John Shriver
Well-known
The rangefinder mirror in Leica II and III models is trivially replaceable. It is part of a cemented prism assembly in the M series Leicas, and is therefore a much more serious repair in those cameras.
The screw-mount Leicas are also dramatically more mechanically simple than the M-mounts, and take much less effort to do an overhaul on.
The screw-mount Leicas are also dramatically more mechanically simple than the M-mounts, and take much less effort to do an overhaul on.
newspaperguy
Well-known
Last I heard, my old friend Oleg Khalyavin in the Ukraine, well-known repairer of FSU (Former Soviet Union) cameras, will CLA a screw mount Lieca for $88.
You can contact him through his site http://www.okvintagecamera.com/repair.html to see how much new curtains would add to the price.
You can contact him through his site http://www.okvintagecamera.com/repair.html to see how much new curtains would add to the price.
ray*j*gun
Veteran
Also check out Collectible Cameras.com..... Sandy only sells properly
adjusted and functional III's unless specified otherwise. His prices are not bad BUT you get a good camera without tons of hidden problems.
Ray
adjusted and functional III's unless specified otherwise. His prices are not bad BUT you get a good camera without tons of hidden problems.
Ray
spyder2000
Dim Bulb
By all means contact Youxin. He is tremendously talented and very reasonable. He also rarely is backlogged and has the parts needed.