Leica LTM Some questions about my new IIIF

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
sparrow6224

sparrow6224

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I've tried various web searches but come up empty so am bothering you all (some of this would be answered by the IIIF manual but the PDF is coming up with no photos on my computer).... I love love love shooting with the IIIF. If it IS a IIIF. Serial numbers begin 542(***) and Cameraquest shows this as a 1951 IIIf. Among my web searches I came upon the Ken Rockwell IIIf review and his is a red dial dated two years later. His (and the manual references) has a slow speed conversion number of 1/25th (so his speeds go 1/25, 1/50th 1/75th 1/100th) whereas mine is 1/30th with a 1/40th and 1/60th before the 1/100th. Since the manual refers to 1/25th I wondered why mine is 1/30th.

Second question: beneath the film rewind knob is a lever, and next to is an arrow with what appears to be an infinity sign. What is this lever?

Third: The numbers beneath the shutter speed dial, progressing from ) to 20, which are black on a bd and red on an rd -- what are these numbers? Mine is currently "set" on the dot between six and eight, which, genius that I am, means "7" to me.

To any who weigh in with patience: my thanks.

I love this camera. And (having read the January argument re: Rockwell's review) my IIIf is just ever so slightly quieter than my M2. My quietest RF camera is the Canon P. Nikon S2 the loudest. Leica CL the second loudest but it and the M2 and the IIIf are all pretty close.

The IIIf and the Nikon are the prettiest. The M2 is a mighty warrior. The Canon P is a sergeant. And the CL is the town's most popular hairdresser.

If you know what I mean. Thanks again for insights.

Vince P
 
Later IIIfs have a different shutter with 1/1000 top speed. Ken's might be one of those. Leitz also made the speed divisions different, the same as the original M3, I think.

The little lever is the dioptre adjustment for the rangefinder eyepiece. You may be able to leave it at infinity all the time or it may help focusing to move it the other way for close subjects.

Red numbers are flash delay. For electronic flash, since there isn't any other kind these days, set "20" at 1/50 sec or "0" for slower speeds. You may wish to check the flash sync before wasting any film, as it doesn't always work without tweaking by a technician - see my thread below on IIf flash sync for how to do it.
 
Vince,

I can only answer limited parts of your questions, being only an owner of a Leica IIIc and IIIg.

-the speeds you are pointing seem to be close to what I have on my late forties IIIc. Could it be that your IIIf is actually an "upgraded" model of an older III model? I don't know, here.
-the lever you noticed attached to the rewind knob is a dioptric correction lever. It helps adjusting the image in the rangefinder, depending on your vision, and the distance of the object you are focussing on (close to you, or near infinity). I like this, specially on the IIIg, as it gives me just the right amount of correction to incidently compensate my eye's weakness.
-the number beneath the shutter speed dial are there to help you set flash sync, I think. But not sure how it works, as on the IIIg, everything is "automated".

Sorry, my knowledges are pretty limited on the matter.

Edit : I was too late !
 
Yep!
1. 1951 IIIf
2. Viewfinder diopter adjuster
3. Used to set the delay when using the old-style flash bulbs. Different bulbs had different burn rates and needed to be "synced" in this way with the focal plane shutter. Not necessary with electronic flash. I attach the email below that gives the settings. If you use flash you might need to experiment. If you don't use flash with the IIIf then it doesn't matter.

Hi Leigh, the little dial is graduated in milliseconds of delay from pressing the shutter release to the flash circuit closing and firing whatever flash system was employed. The different delay times related to particular flash bulbs with various burning times, and a comprehensive list of bulbs and millisecond settings was provided in the IIIf manuals. For flashbulbs a wide range of shutter speeds could be used from 1 to 1/1000 depending on the burning rate of the bulb, and the scale was set for the particular type of bulb. However with the ultra short duration of electronic a different method of synchronisation was used, and the flash circuit was completed only
when the curtains were fully opened. This only happened with black dial cameras when the shutter was set at 1/30 and the delay ring was set at 3(or between 4 & 6). For red dial cameras there are two settings : shutter set on 1/25, delay set on 0, and shutter set on 1/50, delay set on 20. The two shutter speeds for red dial cameras is because 1/50 is the slowest usual shutter speed, and 1/25 is created by using the slow speed escapement. 1/50 is also the slowest unassisted speed at which the curtains are completely open. On black dial cameras 1/30 is the slowest speed both curtains are open. I hope you can comprehend this rambling explanation, Best wishes, Charles.
 
Hello sparrow,
FWIW, I inherited a 1951 black-dial IIIf with the 1/30 setting. It came complete with the original flashbulb unit. The accompanying instructions say that for Elektronenblitz (electronic flash) the synch delay should be set at 2. This works fine for me.
I like the IIIf for flash photography because ambient light is nicely captured by the slow synch speed; also, the magnified focusing RF image makes it easy to focus in dim situations.
 
1/25 was in the old "European" speed progression, while 1/30 is the more modern "international" equivalent - not a great difference, but a sign of creeping standardisation 😉
 
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