Leicavit question

[benmacphoto]

I've been trying to find info on this and have had no luck. Does anyone know what was modified on a IIIc from sn 400000 on to allow them to take a Leicavit?

Thanks for any info.

 

[Al Kaplan]

The Leicavit drives the shaft inside the take-up spool, transfering some of that energy to tensioning the shutter as it winds the film. The shaft needs to have a notch in it for the Leicavit to drive it.

 

[benmacphoto]

Thanks Al, from the looks of it my IIIc has a notch in it but the sn is 396xxx. Everything I read states Leicavits are for sn 400000 on unless modified. Maybe mine was modified in the past.

 

[Al Kaplan]

Don't believe everything you read about 60+ year old Leicas. Many of them have been modified or "upgraded", often for little better reason than it was in the shop for a major CLA, and once the camera was in pieces anyway...LOL

Keep in mind that 40 or 50 years ago there were dozens of camera repairmen who could take apart and reassemble a Barnack Leica while wearing a blindfold. There weren't as many cameras to learn. They could do a Compur shutter too.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Reminds me of my black MOOLY-C motor, which was supposed to have been manufactured in 1949, but there's no way in heck that it works with 1949 cameras. The winding shaft is meant for under 400,000 cameras (that is, ones that have two notches in the winding shaft, rather than that crescent-shaped notch that's found in the 400,000+ cameras).

Don't know what the deal is, unless the black MOOLY's were really made during the war and not after the war. Could they still have been delivering wartime production cameras and accessories in 1949???