leica iii bad rangefinder

[loungelover]

my Leica III has a a bad rangefinder and i want to get it repaired . i just wana know what i should pay and any ideas about what is actualy wrong. i think that the fixed semi relfective mirror thing has become desilvered or got somthing else wrong with it i took some shots with a light shining through both the front RF windows. other than the RF im realy liking the camera nice change from my FED 3. i live in the uk btw

thanks
tom

 

[Sonnar Brian]

If you are not getting a double image in the rangefinder, probably the beamsplitter. Look at a light through the RF and cover up the straight-through portion. The remaining image is coming through the beamsplitter.

I had Youxin Ye replace the beamsplitter in a IIIf and a IIIa. Very reasonable. You will need to Email him for a quote, I had these done several years ago. Check around in the UK, might be worthwhile sending the camera to the US for repair.

 

[cnphoto]

Youxin replaced a beamsplitter on a IIIc I had as well. it was a terrific job, came back good as new and for a good price 🙂

 

[John Shriver]

Circa $75 for the repair. Well worth it, a new beam splitter makes it a very nice camera.

 

[john neal]

Have you tried CRR in Luton? About £85 for a R/F repair, andPeter does excellent work. probably cheaper than shipping to the US and (potentially) having to pay VAT on your returned camera.

Check his website here: http://www.angelfire.com/biz/Leica/

Always best to phone him to check price and when he can do the work - emails are not often answered.

The other option would be Malcolm Taylor who is "the" expert. No website, but his details are: Upper Lye Farm, Aymestrey, Leominster, Herefordshire HR6 9SZ Tel: 01568 770542

Malcolm's work is legendary, and priced accordingly.

One other possibility is Newton & Ellis in Liverpool (check Yellow Pages) - they do Leica work and are pretty good. I would expect them to cost around £120 for a full CLA.

 

[Ade-oh]

Couldn't agree more. Peter at CRR does excellent work. He sorted out a Leica IIIc for me which Youxin Ye had previously failed to fix (and has also serviced my two Minox submins).

 

[Paul Luscher]

It's likely a bad beam splitter. It will likely have to be replaced, which can easily be done, using semi-slivered glass. People to contact about getting this fixed are either Don Goldberg at DAG Camera Parts or Sherry Krauter at Golden Touch Camera Repair.

Both are experts at service and repair of screwmount Leicas . A little hard to get hold of either of them--they're very busy. Suggest calling rather than e-mailing them, as they're more likely to respond to a phone call.

 

[Nikon Bob]

I agree with what everyone has said about it being a beam splitter gone bad and needing replacing. Since the camera has to be partially torn down to do this it might be a good time to consider a good CLA as it should not add too much to the cost. That route was suggested to me by Don at DAG and was what I did. The result was worth every penny.

Bob

 

[John Lawrence]

I agree with the recommendations for both Malcolm Taylor and Peter at CRR Luton. Both carry out superb work.

One thing that does interest me though is that a few months back I heard about an ex-Leica trained technician who (although now retired) still repairs them. Apparently he lives on some remote Scottish Island where he carries out all his work. Anyone know who he is or had work done by him?

I ask because one of the leading Leica specialists in the UK mentioned him to me, and said that Leica still send screwmounts to him for repair.

John

 

[_goodtimez]

I've just ordered 50/50 beam splitter glass to attempt such a job myself on my IIIC.
Once I complete it I will document it on RFF.
Cheers