How to establish sale prices for IIIf gear?

[Deardorff]

Have some pristine and beautiful Leica IIIf gear from an estate to sell for the family.
Where do I start checking to get values so I have a real world price to ask when selling?

IIIf with 4 lenses, filters and accessories all in the original leica leather carry case.

Other Leica lenses in another original case.

Motor/power winder for it in original packaging.

Lots of accessories and whatnot.

Am at a loss as to values as I am not a Leica shooter or collector.

The whole batch was owned by a North Dakota Judge who bought it new as or shortly after being in Germany after WWII as a War Crimes Judge. The stuff looks new. I know he used it as I have negatives he shot with it. All kept in the cases and is beautiful. I just want to get a good amount for his daughter - but am much more familiar with the Large Format gear.(sold a complete TechnikaIII outfit that looked showroom new - including cammed lenses)

Any help for where to look is appreciated.

 

[Robert Lai]

Condition, condition, condition, and rarity

Condition, condition, condition, and rarity

Unfortunately, possible sale prices all depend upon condition.

Take the camera first. That is, the condition of the exterior plays a role in the valuation. The condition of the internals such as the shutter and its curtains (cloth curtains can dry out and crack, or be pinholed if uncapped lens was pointing at the sun), geartrain (may had dried up grease making it sluggish), rangefinder beamsplitter may have lost its silvering and the RF image is faint, etc. Also, certain variations of the IIIF have differences - whether the flash synchronizer dial settings numerals are in black paint or red paint. I know you said that the camera was obtained in Germany, but check the serial number. Some cameras were actually made in Midland, Ontario Canada, and they are less common. If this camera has not been recently serviced, the potential buyer will add mentally an overhaul cost to your purchase price. It is, after all a 60+ years old camera.

As for the lenses, again the value will depend on the actual lens (some lenses are very common, others less so). Also the presence of fungus, decementing, haze, scratches on the front or rear elements, brassing of the body, and stiffness of the focusing or aperture rings will diminish the sale cost. Again, because a prospective purchaser will mentally add a repair cost to the item.

If you can put some pictures up, it will help us to identify what you have.

 

[Robert Lai]

SYOOM trigger winder

SYOOM trigger winder

As an example, I have a nearly mint SYOOM winder that used to belong to Clarence Gass who is now retired as a camera repairman. Works great, and I paid $850. It came with its original box, but no instructions.

I don't know if I was overpaying, but since it was from a friend, I bought it.

 

[Brian Legge]

Basically, the process I generally use is identifying what you have, the condition, and then looking up comparables on which sold successfully on ebay. In the case of the body, you'd also need to check the shutter speeds to see if they all work, look at the condition of the rangefinder (how easy is it to focus) as well as check to see if there is any obvious damage to the shutter curtains.