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Leica 0-Series no. 116


M9reno

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Please see:

 

WestLicht Photographica Auction

 

It will be very interesting to see how the precedent set last year with no. 107 will impact this sale.

 

And no doubt, whatever happens, some sharp operator will attempt to put it up on eBay someday, as happened with its sibling yesterday. Anyone up for buying the Brooklyn Bridge? :D

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The camera is properly beautiful. The wondrance I have is this. I know that there was a thread on how to shoot a 0-series in 16* easy steps. What was the working of the shutter that required the cap to be replaced as the film was being advanced? That's always confused me (perhaps because I've never seen it in action, I can't picture how it works).

 

Jason

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I know that there was a thread on how to shoot a 0-series in 16* easy steps.

 

Jason, I think you mean this:

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/film-forum/211860-going-retro-leica-0-serie-leica.html

 

Others here will be able to explain the technical aspects behind your question in a way digestible to non-experts (including me)!

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Jason, I think you mean this:

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/film-forum/211860-going-retro-leica-0-serie-leica.html

 

Others here will be able to explain the technical aspects behind your question in a way digestible to non-experts (including me)!

 

The 0 series were prototypes, and the shutter mechanism was very straightly coupled to the exposure times knob... which made the time setting operation a bit complicated (with 4 times only... even if the mechanism in itself would have allowed much more).

Then, there was the problem that shutter's curtains weren't closed during film advance/sutter cocking... one had to cap the lens.

 

Then, Barnack made very effective modifications during the years before the Leica I intro...:) which enjioyed the simple operations that any LTM user still knows (in practice, the only real difference vs. a modern film camera is "set time ONLY AFTER shutter cocking").

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The 0 series were prototypes, and the shutter mechanism was very straightly coupled to the exposure times knob... which made the time setting operation a bit complicated (with 4 times only... even if the mechanism in itself would have allowed much more).

Then, there was the problem that shutter's curtains weren't closed during film advance/sutter cocking... one had to cap the lens.

 

Then, Barnack made very effective modifications during the years before the Leica I intro...:) which enjioyed the simple operations that any LTM user still knows (in practice, the only real difference vs. a modern film camera is "set time ONLY AFTER shutter cocking").

 

Yes, but why didn't it close during advance? What was missing? (And what's a pipper?)

 

(Gah, I have so many questions... my luck I'll end up buying a replica :-P )

Edited by ganzosrevenge
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Yes, but why didn't it close during advance? What was missing? (And what's a pipper?)

 

(Gah, I have so many questions... my luck I'll end up buying a replica :-P )

 

Because it was made like that... :o : the width between curtains (pre-set by time knob) was kept in the receiving drum after shooting, and also during the comeback to starting drum (when advancing the film). Coupling film advance and shutter cocking was a great improvement, but its "implementation" in the 0 series was rather "rough" to make it reliable (in fact, it must be noted that some prototypes of the 0 series did have self capping curtains... but probably they preferred the non-capping mechanism for the 0 series just for reliability questions) . Nowadays we are accustomed to perfect/simple/ultrareliable shutters... but at those times it was a very technologically complex device... Zeiss was not a 2nd class manufacturer... but the Contax' shutter always had the fame to be a someway delicate and not totally reliable mechanism.

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All early focal plane shutters used a fixed-width slit. The old press cameras had one control for slit width and one for spring tension, i.e. running speed. An etched metal table on the back told you which combination was supposed to give which 'speed', i.e. exposure.

 

That slit remained open while the curtains were re-wound, but that did not matter. These cameras used individual plate holders which were removed and exchanged between the exposures. People shot cup finals with one of these 13x18cm monsters and six double holders.

 

Using roll film meant that the damn film was still here while you re-wound the shutter. This was the reason why you had to cap the lens. During the null-series run, Barnack did obviously accept that this largely negated the advantages of roll film, so he gave the last specimens the classical Leica self-capping shutter.

 

In this the two curtains do not run mechanically locked to each other. Instead, the first curtain is released first. After a pre-determined interval of time (regulated by a cam on the axle of the curtain drum, set by the shutter speed dial) the second curtain is released and starts to chase the first. After the first curtain has stopped, the second has still some way to run – the two are taken up by separate spring-loaded rollers. So during rewinding, the film gate is covered.

 

One fine point of the Barnack shutter is that while during the run, the curtains accelerate, this does not cause diminishing exposure toward the far end of the gate. For the lag of the second shutter means that the distance between the curtains, i.e. the virtual slit, widens approximately as the speed increases, compensating the exposure. Both curtains accelerate, but the first has accelerated longer so it travels faster. The gentlemen of Zeiss Ikon in Dresden, who were certain that they knew best, woiuld not accept that sloppiness. They implemented in the Contax an old-style mechanically locked shutter (though made out of metal). So in order to acheive even exposure, they had to either put in a mechanical regulator for the speed, or make the slit widen during the running! They chose the last, but the mechanical complexity was one important reason why the Contax shutter never became really reliable, and why it had to be adjusted by an expert at regular intervals. Never mind! Papa Zeiss knew best, and – warum einfach wenn es kann so schön kompliziert sein?

 

Sorry for the length of this ... LB

Edited by lars_bergquist
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(Gah, I have so many questions... my luck I'll end up buying a replica :-P )

 

That's what I did recently, actually :). I've only sent one roll through it, but it's a neat camera. My biggest issue with it is that I can't stand the case it comes with and since it doesn't have any strap lugs, you have to use the case. I ordered a Luigi case for it which solves the problem by screwing into the tripod socket, but it's a custom order and will take a few more weeks to get made.

 

-jbl

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