Pecole Posted September 26, 2010 Share #1 Posted September 26, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) In 1977, Leitz issued a set of 5,000 Khaki-paint "Safari" R3 cameras, 4 basic assorted lenses, khaki-finished Trinovid binocutars and an adapted canvas bag for the set. The complete set in the Fontenelle Collection included everything : the R3 camera nº 1468063/I001; the Elmarit-R 28 nº 2875552; the Summicron-R 50 nº 2879713; two variants of the Summilux-R 50 : nº 2806565 with removable hood and nº 2900261 with built-in extensible hood; the Elmar-R 180 nº 2882468; Trinovid 10x22C binoculars nª 941412; and the canvas bag. The photos of the canvas bag deliver an evidence : its condition demonstrates that I am not only a collector, but a user as well! The Trinovid binoculars deliver another evidence : that the Leitz-Leica warranty is (or was...) serious. Here is the story. In 1996, i.e. 29 years after my purchase, I discovered that the rubber protection around the viewers had partly "melted", what is usual for aging rubber. I called the Portuguese factory, and they just asked for my address to send a new pair. When I received the parts, I wondered that there was no invoice annexed, so I called again the factory. The answer was . "Nothing to pay, since the warranty for binoculars is 30 years" !!! To finish with, I add some remarks about the serials. All R3 I have registered are in the 1468xxx-1469xxx and 1482xxx ranges, and I discovered two curiosities : - the serial was normally engraved on the bottom plate, next to "PORTUGAL", but on nº 1483485 it appeared on the back side of this bottom plate (another occurence had been reported by Thomas Volk in Vidom nº 21). - The serial of my camera nº 1468063 has been allocated to an M4-2 as well (Westlicht auction November 2002, item nº 79). Since the numbering of the very first set of Safari R3 seems to start at 1468001, ant that there are batches of M4-2 known around 1468200, and of R3 Safari again around 1468400, the error may be attributable to the distance between Portugal and Canada... - As for the Summilux-R, all first type (removable hood) serials I have found are in the 2806xxx range, and for the 2d type (extensible hood) in the 2900xxx range. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/132427-fontenelle-archives-22-complete-r3-safari-set/?do=findComment&comment=1452989'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted September 26, 2010 Posted September 26, 2010 Hi Pecole, Take a look here Fontenelle archives 22 : complete R3 Safari set. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
urs0polar Posted February 11, 2012 Share #2 Posted February 11, 2012 That is a great story! I just got an R3 MOT, but that Safari set looks awesome! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pecole Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share #3 Posted February 11, 2012 That is a great story! I just got an R3 MOT, but that Safari set looks awesome! It was, indeed, and I used it for 4 years all around the world, taking - among others - pictures of many animals, but not polar bears:D Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckrider Posted November 27, 2012 Share #4 Posted November 27, 2012 That is a great story! I just got an R3 MOT, but that Safari set looks awesome! There was a R3 MOT SAFARI set also availiable, really an occasion: WestLicht Photographica Auction kind regards Thomas Volk p.s. has anybody information, which colour Leitz did use to paint the safari Leicas & lenses? I'm thinking about restauration and painting a 19mm Elmarit for Safari use. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted November 27, 2012 Share #5 Posted November 27, 2012 Nice set ! A dealer in my town has a similar one (less complete) on his display window just in these days (he changes time to time... has many "specials" he bought as a dealer and kept, dunno if for passion or simply for having not sold them... ) And the question of the SAME s/n on another camera is intriguing... I don't remember to have read of a similar case... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pecole Posted November 27, 2012 Author Share #6 Posted November 27, 2012 Nice set ! A dealer in my town has a similar one (less complete) on his display window just in these days (he changes time to time... has many "specials" he bought as a dealer and kept, dunno if for passion or simply for having not sold them... ) And the question of the SAME s/n on another camera is intriguing... I don't remember to have read of a similar case... Hi, Luigi. I have heard - and taken note, but couldn't find the file right now - of several cases of "duplicated" serials, all between R3s and M4-2/M4-P. I concluded it had something to do with the coordination between the Canadian and Portuguese branches of Leitz. About dealer keeping "old" things for having not sold them, it remembered me of a nice surprise I had many years ago when in Montreal for business : looking for a taxi station, I walked in front of a photo shop where I noticed a superb CANADIAN black chrome M4 on a stand marked "Leitz official dealer for 20 years". I rushed in, and asked if the M4 was for sale, and was answered : "Oh yes! and I have three more unsold". Needless to say : I bought all four - brand new in boxes - , got a significant rebate...and made an excellent business selling three of them back in Europe. A photo and details about serials will follow as soon as I have time to look around. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted November 27, 2012 Share #7 Posted November 27, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) I wonder how the numbers on the back of the Pentaprism were allocated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyoung Posted November 27, 2012 Share #8 Posted November 27, 2012 Pecole, do you remember which dealer in Montreal? There are a couple of us round here who worked for a leica dealer in Montreal in the 60s Gerry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubice Posted November 28, 2012 Share #9 Posted November 28, 2012 Pecole, do you remember which dealer in Montreal? There are a couple of us round here who worked for a leica dealer in Montreal in the 60s Gerry Gerry, It wasn't our old hunting ground Photo-Kina, I would remember selling four M4's in one shot..... The Canadian M4 would have been sold during early-mid 1970's; all the ones we had went to our usual groupies and none were left to display. A display window with an M4 sounds more like European Photo on Blvd. de Maisonneuve, NDG or Mitchell's.... Cheers, Jan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyoung Posted November 28, 2012 Share #10 Posted November 28, 2012 Yes Jan, I couldn't imagine P-K having four M4s left for a while, and we didn't have a 'display window', too tempting for the thieves! Gerry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pecole Posted November 28, 2012 Author Share #11 Posted November 28, 2012 Gerry, It wasn't our old hunting ground Photo-Kina, I would remember selling four M4's in one shot..... The Canadian M4 would have been sold during early-mid 1970's; all the ones we had went to our usual groupies and none were left to display. A display window with an M4 sounds more like European Photo on Blvd. de Maisonneuve, NDG or Mitchell's.... Cheers, Jan OK, I'll investigate. Indeed, to the despair of my wife - since 50 years - I keep all kind of papers, and I must have somewhere the invoice delivered by the dealer and stamped at the customs to justify the tax deduction. All what I remember just now is that the seller was an old man, and that the shop was on a big avenue or boulevard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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