leica treasure trove

[morgan]

My fiance's father passed away about 5 years ago, and she's always talked about how much he loved photography and his cameras. She said he had a leica, but didn't know where it was or what model. A month ago, as her mom was boxing up to move house, she found a box. Here mom gave us the box, knowing we were interested in photography and she thought her daughter would like to have it. Inside the box where two beautiful old leather camera bags. Inside the one bag was a IIIf, a summaron 35/f3.5 (man it's tiny), a summarit 50/1.5. and a steinhell munchen culminar 85/2.8. The other bag cotanined a trigger winder, a torpedo viewfinder, tons of tools, everyready case, original manuals. Everything is incredibly mint, and there's an actually an exposed roll of film inside the IIIf (kind of creepy). Even the original 1953 invoice was folded up inside there (along with a 100 franc note from the same period). I never met her dad, but somehow I feel a little closer to him just holding his camera and lenses.

I'm anxious to try these lenses out with my bessa-r, especially that 85mm since I don't have anything that long. And that summarit is a whopper in size too. How does that compare to my usual 50mm - industar 61 and a j-3? Also, the IIIf has the double viewfinder/rangefinder setup (which is strange and will take some getting used to), but with the rangefinder window there is no rangefinder spot and the focusing image is very very weak and a bit cloudy. Can I get that CLA'd to help? The universal viewfinder is also kind of cloudy.

 

[Bill58]

Marry her--quick! What a "dowry".

 

[rover]

A CLA could only be a good idea, to what degree it helps depends on what is causing the problem.

Now, Bill may be right, think of the mileage you will get from having your fiance's equipment serviced and cleaned up for use. I am sure she will appreciate this gift, and I bet your future mother in law will mark this down as a big plus in her little score book.

 

[aad]

OOhh! Found Film! What type-can you develop it? Treat that as carefully as the camera.

 

[BillBingham2]

My father used to develop found/old film a lot for folks at Kodak. Best I can remember is look up what you can on how long to do it (he used d-76 for just about everything) and then add a bit more (10%) for age.

Your find is wonderful. I would recomend DAG as a great place to go for a good CLA.

B2

 

[Alec]

A fiancee of French descent with a Leica in her dowry? By all means marry her. Your children will be geniuses at photography. Aren' t all French Leica photographers? :angel:

Nice story Morgan, thanks. Keep as posted on what was on the neg.

 

[captainslack]

Contact GeneM about developing the film. He soups old film all the time. He might even do it for you, if you ask.

 

[jlw]

The key word is "benzatriazole." Used to be sold as "Kodak Anti-Fog #1." It suppresses formation of the fog that otherwise is likely when developing very old film.

 

[wlewisiii]

Great story. I'll second the vote for DAG. He's far and away the best I've used.

William

 

[photogdave]

Not to rain on your parade, but you may want to have the camera checked out. Those old leather cases are the worst way to store equipment as they don't breathe and generally promote the formation of fungus and mildew. Open up the lenses and shine a flashlight in to check for "cobwebs" and such.
Aside from that, congratulations! This is the type of magical story that usually seems to be the stuff of urban legends.

 

[BillBingham2]

For me DAG is just up the road. I split my time between Northbrook IL and Delavan WI, he's just up the road near Madison!

The Trigger Winder has me wondering if it is a Mooly (spelling) or something else. I have a Mooly from my father for a IIIa, I remember using it in high school (mid 70s) and the senior photographers had their jaws on the floor. Here was this freshman with a leica and motor drive.

Tom A has build a trigger winder for the IIIc/f/g called the BarnackWinder. I just got a Rapidwinder for my M6 from Tom and love it. Adding a winder to a III is a great idea, I think it would speed up use a lot.

B2 (;->

 

[morgan]

Hey guys, thanks for the comments. We're working on the marriage thing! She's a good egg and very creative. She takes great pics with her digital now. The film is kodak gold 200 /12 exposures.

The lenses look extremely clean, I don't see anything cobwebbing or fogging. They all have cases and were kept in there. I took the summaron to NYC yesterday. 3.5 was kind of slow for the rather dark day but I love how small it is. The trigger winder is a syoom.

I guess I'm more concerned about the body and getting the rangefinder window cleaned up. Anybody have an email/contact info for DAG?

 

[wlewisiii]

dagcam@chorus.net

I'd suggest sending him the lenses for cleaning as well. There can be issues with the older lubes that may not be immediately visible.

William

 

[morgan]

dagcam@chorus.net

I'd suggest sending him the lenses for cleaning as well. There can be issues with the older lubes that may not be immediately visible.

William

Thanks - I'll drop him an email.

 

[wlewisiii]

Just noticed - Kodak Gold is fairly recent. Just take it to your favorite 1 hour spot for developing.

William