Erik van Straten
Veteran
Thank you, McFingon for this interesting information!
Erik.
Erik.
raid
Dad Photographer
Standard Leica with 21mm Rokkor via adapter.
mcfingon
Western Australia
My family is used to the Barnack by now. Wife and son as he is about to leave on a trip across Australia. Leica III/Elmar 50/Delta 100 in ID-11.
Ambro51
Collector/Photographer
I think users of prewar Leitz equipment are blessed with items of precision, enduring mechanical engineering, attention to detail, conformity to a system and general availability at low cost. To be able to buy a fully operational III and lens for under $250 is a true photographic bargain. You can do a full GAS run on eBay and build an awesome system for a tiny fraction of these equivalent items purchased both at '30s dollars/our 2016 much less valuable dollars. ....or put together the same gear, over the counter, at a franchises dealer retail (scary). ........ In reality, anything Anything,Other than a smartphone, used to take a picture in 2016 is an anachronism. Might as well use the best anachronistic camera ever.
Kent
Finally at home...
Bingley
Veteran
The man who shot these photos certainly did some travelling, starting with a Leica II. He added a 90 (Elmar?) to his goat-skin bag and stayed in the desert with the Bedu for months. Definitely a Barnack champion.
Thanks for the heads up about this book. I ordered a copy and it arrived yesterday. There are some fabulous photos in it. Thesiger had a great eye, especially for portraiture. Most of the photos appear to have been taken with a Leica II and a "standard lens" (I assume an Elmar 50/3.5 but don't know that). He later supplemented his kit with 90 and 35, and by the time of his travels to Africa in the 1960s he was using a Leicaflex. He shot only b&w, which he had developed and printed for him. Impressive collection of photos of a world that has indeed vanished.
Mr_Flibble
In Tabulas Argenteas Refero
Looking at that book now...added it to the wishlist 
mcfingon
Western Australia
I'm glad you enjoyed the book, Steve and hope you will enjoy it Mr_Flibble. The cover photo is of a Kurd, which is topical now with the Middle East situation. His photo appears in a smaller form in another of Thesiger's books which is mostly text: "Among the Mountains Travels through Asia" where he did a series of walks at the intersection of Iraq and Iran and also Afghanistan and Pakistan in the early 1950's. His 1934 Leica II was a great choice for a compact and reliable recorder of these tough and dangerous travels. I guess he used the 50/f3.5 Elmar lens as that is the most compact, and his shots look like they could have been made with it. I guess his 90 lens was also an Elmar 90/f4 as that was the most likely as he says he bought a 90 lens in 1954 in "Among the Mountains".
Kurds wikipedia entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurds
Kurds wikipedia entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurds
mcfingon
Western Australia
Another advantage for a Barnack: it fits beautifully in the back of my left hand when going on a photo walk, ready for rapid deployment but not conspicuous.
