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FOUND A LEICA 1A


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Hi everyone,

just few days ago, tidying up my granpa's stuff (he was a scientist) I found a cardboard box witha a leica inside with a strange piece attached which I think is an adapter for taking pictures from a microscope. The camera is missing the normal lens and the black plastic cover of the camera itself is shattered to pieces. as for the rest the mechanics seem to be ok and working perfectly and smoothly.

 

I would like to know the exact model and the value of this item. Browsing the web I've discovered it belongs to the Leica 1a models. I am not an expert and I would be grateful if somebody could help me.

Thank you very much

 

Sal

 

please email me for the pictures because I am new in the forum and I don't know how to attach the photos here.

 

thanks

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Hi everyone,

just few days ago, tidying up my granpa's stuff (he was a scientist) I found a cardboard box witha a leica inside with a strange piece attached which I think is an adapter for taking pictures from a microscope. The camera is missing the normal lens and the black plastic cover of the camera itself is shattered to pieces. as for the rest the mechanics seem to be ok and working perfectly and smoothly.

 

I would like to know the exact model and the value of this item. Browsing the web I've discovered it belongs to the Leica 1a models. I am not an expert and I would be grateful if somebody could help me.

Thank you very much

 

Sal

 

please email me for the pictures because I am new in the forum and I don't know how to attach the photos here.

 

thanks

Sorry we do not give any value on this web site please check the steady threads on top of this Forum.

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Until the early 1980's Leica cameras were covered with Vulcanite, a trade name for a hard rubber composition that contained sulphur and was vulcanised in situ under heat. After many a summer, this rubber can go brittle and crack and that is what has happened here. It cannot be replaced, but there are vinyl-based covering materials (current Leica cameras use vinyl).

 

The photo of the attachment is too dark for precise assessment, but it does suggest the main parts of the microscope attachment MIKAS, available from 1932 to the mid-1970's. This had a photographic eyepiece that replaced the ordinary visual microscope eyepiece, a beam-splitter to present an image to the sideways-mounted focusing eyepice, above that an Ibsor leaf shutter (the camera's shutter was locked open to avoid vibration) and a conical piece with a male 39mm thread like that of a Leica lens, for attachment to the camera. It seems that detacheable optical components have been removed, but I am not certain about that. And the proportions of the different parts do not look right. This may well be a specially built contraption, for I cannot find anything in the literature that fits the picture well.

 

The old man from the Age of the Standard Leica

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If the Vulcanite comes off like this it is because the shellack that bonded the Vulcanite to the camera has deteriorated with age and storage conditions. See the moisture marks around the bottom, which surely indicate that some restorative work will have to be done on the inside as well. I will of course not give an estimate, but as this camera has to be restored -it probably is just worth it if only for sentimental reasons- and will never be in an original condition, the value will not be exceedingly high. You have not found a Rembrandt in the attic.

 

I wonder what the bayonet connector in the flash shoe is for.

Edited by jaapv
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A FOKOS rangefinder?

 

Indeed it looks like a lot the pin+base of the FOKOS (which allowed the rotation/removal of the RF body) : who knows ? Maybe the camera was origianlly bought with it... at that times there used to be a specific code for Leica complete with FOKOS... and it seems to me that at acertain timeframe (not 100% sure) the Standard was anyway sold with the FOKOS' pin, provided as std. accessory.

As a "wartime" item, in good conditions apart the "clean" missing cover, it's anyway a rather interesting piece, though not, as said, of special value.

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Indeed it looks like a lot the pin+base of the FOKOS (which allowed the rotation/removal of the RF body) : who knows ? .

It is to allow changing the speed on the dial knob

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Edited by jc_braconi
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The photo of the attachment is too dark for precise assessment, but it does suggest the main parts of the microscope attachment MIKAS, available from 1932 to the mid-1970's. This had a photographic eyepiece that replaced the ordinary visual microscope eyepiece, a beam-splitter to present an image to the sideways-mounted focusing eyepice, above that an Ibsor leaf shutter (the camera's shutter was locked open to avoid vibration) and a conical piece with a male 39mm thread like that of a Leica lens, for attachment to the camera. It seems that detacheable optical components have been removed, but I am not certain about that. And the proportions of the different parts do not look right. This may well be a specially built contraption, for I cannot find anything in the literature that fits the picture well.

 

The old man from the Age of the Standard Leica

looks there is an iris dial knob 9-16-32 ?!!

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looks there is an iris dial knob 9-16-32 ?!!

 

I have an LTM MIKAS and the picture isn't clear enough for a direct comparison. I don't think that is an iris dial, I think it is a compur shutter dial. The microscope will have an iris built into its condenser so there is no need for one in the adapter.

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I have an LTM MIKAS and the picture isn't clear enough for a direct comparison. I don't think that is an iris dial, I think it is a compur shutter dial. The microscope will have an iris built into its condenser so there is no need for one in the adapter.

It is 99% a microscope adaptor but not a Leitz one

here is a MIKAS where we can see the kind of low speed dial

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Edited by jc_braconi
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Thank you to all those who replied!!

I am sorry I cannot write more here because I am not home at the moment and I don't have much time.

As soon as I get back I will post more and better images.

Thank you very much. Anyway the black misterioous piece has its own iris inside....and the knob seems to regulate it.

 

thanks again even though the piece is not a special one.

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Thank you to all those who replied!!

I am sorry I cannot write more here because I am not home at the moment and I don't have much time.

As soon as I get back I will post more and better images.

Thank you very much. Anyway the black misterioous piece has its own iris inside....and the knob seems to regulate it.

 

thanks again even though the piece is not a special one.

 

So we are waiting :)

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