Leotax, Tower, Nicca or similar

[mike rosenlof]

I've been happy with my eBay purchases from Japan. Don't put too much into the single word descriptions (mint, excellent) but look at the photos and read the descriptions about scratch, haze, fungus. They tend to be detailed and accurate.

Some of these sellers are definitely using net-based translation tools. I speak enough Japanese that sometimes I know what the original word was. There is one seller (don't remember who) that mentions the condition of the "molts" I have no clue what he/she is talking about! "sold out everywhere" well yes, it's not available new in any shops. That's all it means.

 

[3RiC]

Here's my "Tower 45 or Nicca 5L" This is now my everyday camera. Love it.

https://www.cameraquest.com/nicca.htm

 

[Shafovaloff1]

I have now bought a Canon DIV, a beautiful camera, the smallest Leica rangefinder immitator that I have owned. However, the shutter has a tear and is in poor shape otherwise. My question is can I use the material from a Canon 7 shutter in the Canon DIV? I also have the shutter material from an OM-1 that is cloth, possibly a better replacement material. Any suggestions would be helpful.

 

[xayraa33]

Here's my "Tower 45 or Nicca 5L" This is now my everyday camera. Love it.

https://www.cameraquest.com/nicca.htm

They are a nice camera.
Since you are living in Australia a scarce find would be the Snider 35 camera, an Australian photo store re-badged Nicca type 5, which in its self is one of the rare Nicca cameras of the 1950s.

 

[someonenameddavid]

I am on the lookout for an early Leotax which would be correct for the C-Simlar 50 3.5 I own

 

[Peter Jennings]

I have now bought a Canon DIV, a beautiful camera, the smallest Leica rangefinder immitator that I have owned. However, the shutter has a tear and is in poor shape otherwise. My question is can I use the material from a Canon 7 shutter in the Canon DIV? I also have the shutter material from an OM-1 that is cloth, possibly a better replacement material. Any suggestions would be helpful.

You can get a sheet of new shutter cloth from Aki Asahi, here:
http://aki-asahi.com
I've used it successfully on early Nicca and Canon rangefinders.

 

[Dez]

Leaving out the Leotax G, which is outside my price range, I think it's kind of a tossup between the Leotax Merit and the Nicca 5L as "best Barnack clone" or maybe even "best Barnack (heresy!). They both have wind levers, both are the size of an M3, and both have excellent build quality, with maybe an edge for the Leotax.
The Leotax also has a self-timer, which the less-is-more folks shun, but I like it. It comes down to the Nicca's hinged back vs the Leotax's large bright finder with 50mm framelines. I have used both cameras, and my vote would go to the Leotax. The later Yashica descendant of the Nicca does provide both, but the build quality and aesthetics don't do anything for me, and it really isn't a "Barnack" anymore.
Has anyone tried grafting a hinged back Nicca body shell onto a Leotax? THAT would be an interesting camera!

Cheers,
Dez

 

[xayraa33]

Leaving out the Leotax G, which is outside my price range, I think it's kind of a tossup between the Leotax Merit and the Nicca 5L as "best Barnack clone" or maybe even "best Barnack (heresy!). They both have wind levers, both are the size of an M3, and both have excellent build quality, with maybe an edge for the Leotax.
The Leotax also has a self-timer, which the less-is-more folks shun, but I like it. It comes down to the Nicca's hinged back vs the Leotax's large bright finder with 50mm framelines. I have used both cameras, and my vote would go to the Leotax. The later Yashica descendant of the Nicca does provide both, but the build quality and aesthetics don't do anything for me, and it really isn't a "Barnack" anymore.
Has anyone tried grafting a hinged back Nicca body shell onto a Leotax? THAT would be an interesting camera!

Cheers,
Dez

The later fancy Nicca and Leotax cameras with the modern feature add-ons had their own larger body shell sizes that veered off from the smallish pure Barnack copy size and they might not be compatible with each other.

 

[shawn]

Leaving out the Leotax G, which is outside my price range, I think it's kind of a tossup between the Leotax Merit and the Nicca 5L as "best Barnack clone" or maybe even "best Barnack (heresy!). They both have wind levers, both are the size of an M3, and both have excellent build quality, with maybe an edge for the Leotax.
The Leotax also has a self-timer, which the less-is-more folks shun, but I like it. It comes down to the Nicca's hinged back vs the Leotax's large bright finder with 50mm framelines. I have used both cameras, and my vote would go to the Leotax.

I just picked up a 5l and have the Merit too.

The finder on the Merit is nicer but once I tried the Leica 1:1 SBOOI finder on the Merit it is hard to go back. With that the finders become a wash.

A couple of other differences I have noticed.

The self timer on the Merit is nice.

I like the count down film counter on the Leotax but it is fairly easily changed with the ring on the side and it is also very easy to partially rotate the rewind ring to the point that the counter is disengaged but the film still winds normally. This makes the counter less trustworthy. This has happened with every roll I have put through it. I think the more traditional counter with the rewind button on the 5l may actually work better.

Both have film speed indicators. My Leotax seems to change as part of using the lever wind, my impression of the 5l is that it may stay set better.

The 5l allows you to set the shutter speed correctly before or after winding. Can't do that on the Leotax.

The 5l has a faster max shutter of 1/1000 vs 1/500. The Leotax FV has 1/1000 of a second along with everything else on the Merit.

I don't like rangefinder focus adjustment on the 5l. To easy to hit it and make the viewfinder blurry.

The Leotax has lever rewind which is quicker. The clutch on mine sometimes slips during rewind though so it may need some work.

Aesthetically I think the 5l is slightly cleaner looking with the hidden screws on the top cover and some of the dials are more polished than on the Leotax. I also like the way the body builds up to the high speed shutter dial compared to the stair step front of the Leotax.

Haven't shot the 5l yet though. Slow speeds are shooting fast so the camera was dropped off to Youxin Ye for a CLA.

One other difference I found. Leica FILCA cassettes will not fit in the Leotax at all, they do fit in the Nicca. The Nicca's unlock tab doesn't unlock the cassette though, you need to unlock it and turn it slightly before putting it in the camera. If you do that the door latch will open and close the cassette. I haven't loaded one yet to shoot though.

Shawn

 

[shawn]

The later fancy Nicca and Leotax cameras with the modern feature add-ons had their own larger body shell sizes that veered off from the smallish pure Barnack copy size and they might not be compatible with each other.

Body size is *very* close between the two but the mounting of the top cover is different. The 5l hides its screws under the rangefinder focus lever and under the lever winder instead of having them on the front of the camera.

How much smaller are the Leica bodies? I haven't seen a side by side and don't have anything but copies.

Shawn

 

[xayraa33]

Body size is *very* close between the two but the mounting of the top cover is different. The 5l hides its screws under the rangefinder focus lever and under the lever winder instead of having them on the front of the camera.

How much smaller are the Leica bodies? I haven't seen a side by side and don't have anything but copies.

Shawn

I went and physically checked.

My Nicca type 5 and my Tower 45 camera bodies are about 1/8 of an inch longer length wise than my Leica IIIf.

The comparison with the true Barnack Leicas , the III IIIa and IIIb models would be even more exaggerated, as these were even smaller than the lllc and lllf models length wise.

 

[shawn]

Just picked the Tower 45/5l back up from Youxin Ye. It sounds and feels like a different camera now. Youxin said the shutter had way to much tension on it which made the winding too stiff. Now it is light and it is much quieter when it shoots. It was considerably louder than the Leotax, now it is quieter.

All shutter speeds are working properly too. Before I sent it in the viewfinder on the Tower was very hazy compared to my Leotax. Now the Leotax looks hazy in comparison to the Tower.

Shawn

 

[SurlaCraque]

Hey can one of you describe the viewfinders on these cameras, particularly the Nicca 5L / Tower 45 and 46 models? Frame lines, parallax correction, magnification (can you shoot with both eyes open), how's the view with glasses, etc.

Thanks!

 

[shawn]

No frames lines on the 5l or parallax correction. The RF window is 1.5x magnification, the viewfinder is maybe .5. Too small to effectively use with both eyes open. I use a Leica SBOOI 1:1 viewfinder with it to shoot both eyes open. With the finder on top like that you get a nearly uninterrupted view as you see to the right and left of the viewfinder.

For framelines the later Leotax models have them but they are not parallax corrected. Viewfinder magnification is about the same between the Nicca and later Leotax models.

Shawn

 

[xayraa33]

Hey can one of you describe the viewfinders on these cameras, particularly the Nicca 5L / Tower 45 and 46 models? Frame lines, parallax correction, magnification (can you shoot with both eyes open), how's the view with glasses, etc.

Thanks!

The VF on these about as good as a late model Leica IIIf RD ST, the view with glasses is not as good as on the Leica M models obviously, and not as good as say a Canon 7 but I find them better than all bottomloading Canons, even the last improved models. This all depends on the condition of your eyesight and how up to date your prescription is for your glasses and how much patience you have in film photography with classic gear.

The separate RF can be used with both eyes open to focus, but not the viewfinder. The original RF mirror on these Nicca cameras was of better quality than on the Leica IIIc/lllf models and many do not need it replaced like on the Leicas because the double RF image is faint or dim. My 2 cents from owning all the cameras mentioned in my reply.

 

[SurlaCraque]

Thanks Shawn. That is helpful information. Is there enough eye relief to use the viewfinder and rangefinder with eyeglasses? Usually low magnification viewfinders are good for glasses wearers. My prescription is mild so my lenses aren't thick but I like to be able to keep them on for shooting outdoors.

 

[shawn]

Maybe, I don't wear glasses but if I put my nose against the back of the camera and put my eye a fingers width away the rangefinder is very useable. With the viewfinder there are no frame lines it is the edges of the finder that are for framing. The edges are not as distinct so you might have to move around a little to determine the edges for framing. Same with the SBOOI.

Shawn

 

[ACullen]

Can anyone help with the filter thread size of the Nicca 50mm f2.8 LTM. It's a recent purchase, I fancied a tessar 50mm to add to the other lens types I have. It looks very similar to a Fujinon L 50/2.8. It has a threaded front ring only I can't work out what size it is. 34mm is too loose and 35.5mm is too big.

For the time being I've attached a push-on 36mm hood but I'd like to be able to attach normal filters.

Thanks in advance

 

[Peter Jennings]

Some 50s lenses used 34.5 diameter filters. If 34 is a little loose, I’d suspect this was it.

 

[Livesteamer]

If it is 34.5 that is a hard to find size. Take your time and watch e bay searching for 34.5 in the photo section. I found a series filter holder that way in 34.5mm to fit my 35mm f2.5 Nikkor in Leica thread mount. There are also Nikkor 34.5mm lens caps available from the El Nikkor enlarging lens's. Good Luck. Joe