Can anything be done about that kind of damage? I guess not - so quite a few lenses must have been fatally damaged over the years because of careless handling/cleaning?
Regards - David
Hi,
Well, yes, it can be done but beware.
There was quite a cottage industry in the 40's that would coat your lens for a fee and regrind the front (and other) elements. But not all of them knew what they were doing and there's some horrors about (I had one).
There's also a few about with everything just as it left the factory and others in the same condition that Leitz have coated properly and reset etc in the 40's and 50's.
Plus, it's possible to get them cleaned, reground and multi coated today at today's prices (beware!) and to a very high standard.
Like all Leica items there's a very wide range of stuff on offer at prices from the downright silly to the ridiculous.
I'll offer some advice: beware of Summars.
In your shoes, if you must have a 30's Leica then look for a model II (simple version without slow speeds to go wrong) and an Elmar. And study the websites about forgeries as though your life depended on them. (Your sanity will.)
Better still, look for a 1950's model IIc which are slightly better made, should have factory coated lenses and are fairly common at reasonable prices. With luck it will even have the right spool fitted and the right lens cap but don't rely on that. My model II in the picture above has the wrong lens cap with it.
Or you could buy a bog standard FED with their version of the Elmar on it and get it checked, repaired etc by Oleg. That way you'll have a decent coupled range-finder camera too but without the expense, prestige
and problems of a Leica.
Whatever you decide you will probably ruin a film or two before you stop screaming at it; loading it can be a PITA and still not quite right but you won't realise until it's too late. Plus you'll have no problem finding instructions for it (focal press is where I'd start). And lastly, check the thing has a take up spool in very good condition and buy a pack of those self adhesive felt pads sold in furniture shops for the cassettes: you'll need a decent hole punch too, to modify them.
Whatever else you do, don't believe it's easy to repair them on the kitchen table. This is not a popular opinion, btw...
The learning curve with 30's Leicas is best described as an uphill and expensive struggle.
Have fun, we all do; there's nothing quite like standing next to someone at a festival or air show who has an all-singing-and-all-dancing digital C*n*n or N*k*n and taking out your old Leica, pulling out and twisting the lens and then waving the meter about. And then there's that lovely shutter sound.
Regards, David
