Leica iii cameras

Hope I’m not offending anyone with this combination - 1938/40 Leica iiib with 1957 KMZ Industar 22 5cm collapsible (hopefully not a fake). Now to get some film loaded and try it out.
IMG_5632.jpg


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Hi,


Almost everyone puts old USSR lenses on Leicas but I think it would be more sensible to put a Leica lens on a USSR body. The lens being more important, imo.

This is the wartime story from the UK's perspective:-

AP%20July%201943.jpg



Regards, David
 
Timmyjoe said:
That's really cool David. Hadn't seen that before.

Best,
-Tim
Click to expand...


Hi,


Thanks, here's what you get for flattery; there was a huge demand for German cameras during the second world war, both from the public and the British Govt. and a lot of profits were being made. So a law was passed to stop it and this list was issued by the PDA for dealers. It shows all prices as at the 3rd September 1939.


3.9.1939%20Price%20List.jpg




In a nutshell they stamped down on the wicked dealers and the PDA fought back. The list and covering letter make fascinating reading.


Regards, David
 
So they were restricted to only selling them for the pre-war price? To keep the prices reasonable? Was there a demand for German cameras so the Allies could use them during the war, or was it they wanted the cameras to dissect them to determine German manufacturing processes?

Best,
-Tim
 
Timmyjoe said:
So they were restricted to only selling them for the pre-war price? To keep the prices reasonable? Was there a demand for German cameras so the Allies could use them during the war, or was it they wanted the cameras to dissect them to determine German manufacturing processes?

Best,
-Tim
Click to expand...


Hi,

More or less, the maimum price they could charge was the price new in May 1942 but it was a little more complicated and the letter in the photo is three pages long. The first eight pages of the book are about th regulations too. And that is the 2nd edition of the book! It's mostly interesting as it mentions everything photographic in the early 40's with UK prices.

Part of the problem is that prices at the 2nd September 1939 are also used and there's a list of alternatives and so on. I've read it all a few times and still can't quite understand it. A lot of peope couldn't at the time.

I guess people then wanted Leicas, just as we do today but in those days they didn't have so much choice of first class cameras and lenses. For example the Summitar was announced in September 1939 just as the war broke out and I doubt if many found their way here. I have also seen dreadful prices in wartime magzines for secondhand cameras.

I don't think anyone could have copied Leitz or Zeiss then, the "Compass" camera (British) was made in Switzerland by watch engineers as no one here could make them. And after the war ended the USA makers suspected they'd been conned as they couldn't copy theLeica using the Leitz blueprints etc.

Hope that's some use to you.

Regards, David
 
David Hughes said:
Hi,


Almost everyone puts old USSR lenses on Leicas but I think it would be more sensible to put a Leica lens on a USSR body. The lens being more important, imo.

This is the wartime story from the UK's perspective:-

AP%20July%201943.jpg



Regards, David
Click to expand...



That is really interesting Dave - some familiar irony in a nations best technology being used against it.
I will be looking for a suitable Leica lens for the iii and iiib. Would you recommend the Elmarit or another lens like the summitar

Thanks
Rich
Sorry about bad grammar but I have found the use of punctuation marks from my phone produces strange results ( see above posts )


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