Leica IIIb...made in Germany

[Wulfthari]

Ok, I'll start this thread admitting that I'm not a great expert in Leica screw mount lore, however I always wanted to get a proper body for my 1940 Summitar and yesterday being in London for a visit I went to an infamous Leica shop where I found what was advertised as a IIIc with the "correct" serial number for my lens.

The price was reasonable, it looked like legit, the seller is well known so I decided to go for it: the only non original, I was assured, was the flash syncro. Just now browsing a little on the net I have noticed that under Wetzlar the camera is also engraved "Germany" which looks ood to me. Is it possible that the engraving was added when the socket was installed?

However today I shot a 36 exposure test film with it and with a very clean Industar 61 I found (unfortunately the Summitar is at home now) and they are both excellent performers, coming from later cameras I was a little worried about the quirks of the III but I found out that besides the separate windows for the rangefinder and viewfinder the Leica is not much more difficult to use than to say a Zorki 6, also in the infamous film trim and button loading procedure hasn't been the pain I was expecting, it worked at first shot.

This is the combo:

Here there are some samples of the combo in action, the film was Kodak BW400CN, I used the Sunny 16 rule for the exposure, in a pair of cases I got some overexposed shots but I think it worked well.

The only thing I found agricultural is the film rewinding that had been a painful experience for my fingers.

 

[Erik van Straten]

The "Germany" engraving means that the camera was made for export.

The lens seems to be an excellent performer, very sharp. Impressive. Much better than a Summitar.

Erik.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Looks like a nice combo. Generally, I don't like using Russian lenses on my Leica bodies, personally, except maybe my Jupiter-3.

Coincidentally I've shot a roll of film through my IIIb today too (Fomapan 100 Classic with the Summar that came with it).

Difficulty rewinding? Did you lift up the rewind button so you could grip it properly?

 

[HuubL]

Great shots. You got a properly working camera and a good Russian LTM lens. The "Germany" engraving was added to exported bodies, so a perfectly legitimate IIIb as far as I can tell.

 

[HuubL]

Apparently all together..., why are us Dutch the first to respond?
😉

 

[Wulfthari]

The "Germany" engraving means that the camera was made for export.

The lens seems to be an excellent performer, very sharp. Impressive. Much better than a Summitar.

Erik.

Thanks for the info, the font is also different and I thought it was added when they added the flash synch (that is in the same position as the III Fritz)...I surprised to hear that in 1940 the Germans were in condition to export cameras though.

And for the lens, yes I assume that for 14 quid I can't complain, I bought it mostly for collection reasons being the first incarnation (1962sh) of the Industar 61 and relatively difficult to find, it's in like new conditions: you see the colour of the coating in that bad digital pic and there isn't a scratch on the glass...I also have another I-61, a later LD that supposedly should be sharper but it's a dog because it had a difficult life and I couldn't understand why the Soviets called the I-50 and the I-61 the eagle's eye...until now. The bokh pic has been taken at f2.8 and a 1/1000s, unfortunately it's a little overexposed but I wanted to test the performance of the lens wide open and notice if there was the infamous "focus error" a lot of people talk about regarding the Soviet lenses on Leica bodies...I've seen nothing, at any aperture (2.8 to 16).

However, I don't expect a 1940 Summitar to be comparable to a Industar 61, that's ingenerous because the Leitz isn't coated and can't perform as well especially in backlight.

The con is that the III Berta is so tiny that the focusing ring of the I-61 intrudes into the viewfinder, not to mention the hood...

Looks like a nice combo. Generally, I don't like using Russian lenses on my Leica bodies, personally, except maybe my Jupiter-3.

Coincidentally I've shot a roll of film through my IIIb today too (Fomapan 100 Classic with the Summar that came with it).

Difficulty rewinding? Did you lift up the rewind button so you could grip it properly?

Great shot! And yes I did! The film started to rewind but there was a lot of resistance so I peeled my thumb and index..is that normal? Or should I return to the dealer to ask an adjustment or to grease the gears? I already noticed that Kodak slide films are wound pretty tight, my Leningrad with them works as a camera without spring motor.

Apparently all together..., why are us Dutch the first to respond?
😉

Ahahahahah! True!😎😎😎

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Rewind can be a little tight on a Barnack camera, but it should not be so tight that it will strip the skin of your fingers.

Is the the rewind still tight after removing the film from the camera? Maybe it needs a small dab of fresh grease.

 

[Wulfthari]

Rewind can be a little tight on a Barnack camera, but it should not be so tight that it will strip the skin of your fingers.

Is the the rewind still tight after removing the film from the camera? Maybe it needs a small dab of fresh grease.

No, perfectly loose. And the resistance to rewinding wasn't constant on all 360 degrees, in some point it was stronger...I feared I was tearing the film apart and I was surprised to see that the negative hasn't suffered any damage.

 

[nikonosguy]

Did you flip the switch to rewind.
great camera

 

[Wulfthari]

Did you flip the switch to rewind.
great camera

Yeah, I did it! And yes it's amazing how well a 75 years old camera can perform while the digital stuff is trash after two or three years (in most cases). They were building these cameras (and lenses) to last a lifetime, and even more.

 

[David Hughes]

Apparently all together..., why are us Dutch the first to respond?
😉

Hi,

You get up an hour earlier than us in the UK and more than that for our friends the other side of the pond...

Regards, David

 

[Erik van Straten]

I surprised to hear that in 1940 the Germans were in condition to export cameras though.

As far as I know your camera is from 1939 or 1940. Could also be that the top plate was made earlier. Or it is a replacement from after the war. With Leica anything is possible.

However, the engraving of the serial number looks a bit weird ... The distance between the "No" and the first number is too big! Under the "o" of "No" there should be a small line, but I see only a dot. Also the numerals are a little too big. Strange.

Erik.

 

[FrankS]

As far as I know your camera is from 1939 or 1940. Could also be that the top plate was made earlier. Or it is a replacement from after the war. With Leica anything is possible.

Erik.

Sounds like a good marketing slogan! 🙂

 

[pete hogan]

Just one roll? Might be the cassette. With that little rewind knob you can really feel what's going on.

The lens did a nice job.

 

[nikonosguy]

I shoot a 38 iid
all kinds of good accessories. .

Get the orako/ok around contrast filter...

 

[Wulfthari]

As far as I know your camera is from 1939 or 1940. Could also be that the top plate was made earlier. Or it is a replacement from after the war. With Leica anything is possible.

However, the engraving of the serial number looks a bit weird ... The distance between the "No" and the first number is too big! Under the "o" of "No" there should be a small line, but I see only a dot. Also the numerals are a little too big. Strange.

Erik.

Yes, that bothers me a little, I'm still on time to come back and change this camera for another IIIb or a IIIc, no matter if it's a good performer, the difference in £ was not substantial.

I shoot a 38 iid
all kinds of good accessories. .

Get the orako/ok around contrast filter...

I assume that's a characteristics of the BW400CN, creamy, many shades of grey but not too contrasty, when I was contrasted pics I generally use Neopan, but I'm happy about how this Kodak film behaved, also because as written I "guessed" the exposure, and it's a great satisfaction to shoot 38 exposure without any electronic help, not even an hand held lightmeter, and see they ALL came out.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

The ORAKO and OKARO filters add contrast to the rangefinder image to make focussing a little easier (especially if the half-mirror inside has deteriorated a little). They have no effect on the film. 😉