Leica LTM Show off your Leica I/II/III/LTM Camera

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
I’ve heard several people say they think of the worn paint as less of an aged beauty and more of an eye sore. I personally love the look of well worn black paint, although my iid has nearly all of its paint
 
I've said it before: black Leica II cameras (and their painted surface) are often in a very good condition compared to black Leica I and Leica III cameras. But why?


Erik.
 
Because they were treasured by their owners. IIIs would appeal more to the photographer who wanted everything and used them more. 250s were hammered for most of their lives and show it.

I don't know, it is all conjecture.

The other camera that is quite often in almost perfect condition is the IIf.
 
davidnewtonguitars said:
Since I only own the best guitars (guitars that I build myself) I will never be tempted with a truly valuable vintage guitar.
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;) Nice to know you appreciate your own work.

There are some other great builders to the west of you in Texas too...& I sure like the stuff made in the '30s in Nazareth
 
Dralowid said:
Erik, I know, I thought David was employing some Monty Pythonese cynicsm/humour!

I think FHKOO is the single frame holder for the earlier cameras and FCKOO is the one for the later ltms.

Back to hoods, all said and done little can improve on FISON!
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Hi,

Been away and missed the excitement; I was thinking of the FHKOO and FOOKH. Ordering and expecting one and getting the other would baffle a lot of people and who would understand why a FHKOO would be needed anyway?

But if early film conformity wasn't so poor would Barnack have made the first Leica and then go on and use it as a camera in its own right? I know the stories but everything to me points to it being designed for clip testing. At the time there were several cameras with (a) a small size and (b) good lenses. The VPK with a Tessar for example and then there was the smaller Houghton "Ensignette" that Barnack could have fitted with a better lens* if he had wanted too. And can you believe a new boy working for Leitz in those days would have been able to design and built the camera for his own use and using the factory's facilities?

Regards, David


* Several were fitted to later models of the Ensignette.
 
Dralowid said:
Makes me start to think...what other cameras were fitted with the 5cm Elmar 3.5?...apart from the Weltini?
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I wonder what lens was used for the prototype; I guess it would have been off the shelf as that would make life easier. And Barnack worked for Zeiss beforehand (from memory) and so you can wonder a lot...

Regards, David
 
Dralowid said:
Makes me start to think...what other cameras were fitted with the 5cm Elmar 3.5?...apart from the Weltini?
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Nagel Pupille comes to mind. Always liked its looks and I have on and off been thinking of getting one, but the availability (and price of) 127 film puts me off buying one at several hundred euros.
 
Before discovering the Leica Cartier-Bresson got 1930 in Ivory Coast (a French colony not unlike the one that is described in Journey to the Edge of the Night by Céline) a French camera with a German Tessar, the Krauss Eka. This was a 35mm camera, but used unperforated film that was backed with paper, like rollfilm. He used this camera quite a lot, but the results were disappointing because the camera leaked light. Finally he bought in Paris a new Leica from Tiranty, the French Leitz importer. The rest is history.


Erik.
 
David Hughes said:
I wonder what lens was used for the prototype
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It is well known that the four element Elmar is a copy of the Zeiss Tessar, the only difference being the diaphragm that is in the Elmar between the elements one and two and in the tessar between the elements three and four.

The origin of the five element Anastigmat (Elmax) is unknown, invented by Berek?

Erik.
 
Erik van Straten said:
It is well known that the four element Elmar is a copy of the Zeiss Tessar, the only difference being the diaphragm that is in the Elmar between the elements 1 and two and in the tessar between the elements three and four.

The origin of the five element Anastigmat (Elmax) is unknown, invented by Berek?

Erik.
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Thanks I know of the 75mm Tessar but didn't know of a 50mm one.

Regards, David
 
A few years ago I was in the habit of bidding for Leicas on Ebay that were either incorrectly described or poorly photographed. This could go either way(!). I bid on and won what I thought was a I with what looked like an Elmar. The camera turned out to be what I expected but the lens was not. It was a Leitz Anastigmat converted to standard coupled ltm mount.

I used it for a couple of films and to my eye the results seemed very similar to an early Elmar. Later, realising its value, I packed it off to Westlicht.

No regrets but I do sometimes wonder where it came from...
 
Hi,

They came with a fixed Anastigmat for a while in the mid 20's but I've never seen one. I guess the conversion to LTM was standard later on.

Regards, David
 
FWIW a FHKOO

FWIW a FHKOO

FHKOO-XL.jpg
 
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