Leica IIIa + 5cm f3.5 Elmar

[c.poulton]

I have seen an ad for a quite reasonably priced Leica IIIa together with a 5cm f3.5 Elmar.

What are people's experiences with actually using the screwmounts? Are pre-war lenses still usable? I was thinking of using it for B+W and possibly colour.

What are you experiences with the IIIa? Good or Bad?

 

[Skinny McGee]

I love my little 111A. i have a summar on mine but I have a Zorki 1 with an I22 that I have a great time with... only thing I can tell you is make sure the range finder is bright.. If it isn't you can buy a Ikoora that will help with contrast..other wise they are like little magic cameras.. they are tiny..

 

[ZorkiKat]

If they work well and the lens is clean, prewar Leicas should be excellent user cameras. The III and IIIa are smaller than the postwar Leicas. That's one thing I like about them. I used to shoot with my III a lot, until the Zorki and FED came.😀

The uncoated Elmars also work fine with colour. One of the first things I did when my I got my III+Elmar 3,5/50 came was to load it and shoot with Fujichrome Velvia. The colour photos came out quite well. No problems with BW.

The lack of coating isn't really a problem with simple, moderate apertured lenses like the Elmar. It's a triplet with few surfaces to cast reflections on. You could even shoot straight into the light with it and get away with it. A lens hood is a must if the shooting situation presents a risk of having stray light shining on the lens.

 

[Kin Lau]

It's a classic.. I love the lines and knobs on this thing.

I use a 50/3.5, 35/3.5 90/4 Elmars & a 50/2 Summar on mine. There's a tendency to flare on all of them, but on b&w and careful shading, they're all fine.

edit: oh yes, no floating framelines, only VF for 50mm, separate vf & rf, not parallax corrected. But it's still fun to shot.

 

[ZorkiKat]

Leica III + 3,5/50 Elmar photo

Leica III + 3,5/50 Elmar photo

Found this old (ca.1997) photo shot with the Leica III + Elmar 5 cm combination.
Exposed through a yellow filter:

 

[c.poulton]

Thanks for your advice guys - I think I am sold on the 111A.

Now I just have to convince the wife that I need another camera.......

 

[OldNick]

I've used my Leica IIIa plus Elmar 5cm f/3.5 since 1952, and neither has needed service in that time. Ask your wife to recall anything else with that reliability. See my avatar.

Jim N.

 

[c.poulton]

Thanks Jim, I'll try that one on her!

It speaks volumes on the build quality of the Leica - my old GT has been going since '72 and is finally in need of some tender loving CLA.