My new IIIc and my old FX-01 - guiding grandpa...

[bill]

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Well,

 

Some of you may remember a little while ago I started a thread about my yen for a Leica III as a Christmas present to myself. One thing led to another and I am now the proud custodian of a rather splendid IIIc. The serial number puts it at a round 60 years old; the 35mm 3.5 Elmar it came with is a little younger, but still old enough to be a member of SAGA.

 

I bought the camera from a branch of London Camera Exchange; I have a lot of time for this chain; they still hold significant secondhand stock, and are realistic in grading and pricing. The particular branch I bought this one from is local to me, and I have known and bought from them for years. They had it for sale at £350 and I managed to secure it for £320. Cosmetically, it's pretty near perfect, with a clear view/rangefinder and no brassing, or damage to the vulcanite. It came with an original leather ERC, to which I attribute it's good looks.

 

There is no service history, but it comes with a 6 month warranty, which should be long enough to bring out any particular defects - and may have already, see below. The 35mm would not have been my ideal choice of lens; those of you who know me will know that I am a 50mm merchant - but I just framed loosely and blasted away. The lens appears clean, but the lubrication has obviously dried up - it took 5 minutes of working back and forth to loosen up. A service lies in the future.

 

Thanks to the guidance from other forum members and my trusty Swiss Army Knife I trimmed the leader appropriately, completely freehand, and loaded my first film; a roll of Kodak 400CN. This is my "ammunition of choice" for this camera - I have no intention of using it for colour work. To my surprise, I managed to load the film correctly first time - maybe beginners' luck... time will tell.

 

Incidentally, it doesn't bother me that it is a c and not an f - I have no need or desire for flash synch. This is quite deliberately an available light, "unplugged" camera.

 

So.

 

Given that I have no light meter these days, after a moments' pondering I decided to press my FX-01 into this role. It's as small, if not smaller, than most hand-held meters anyway, and a half-press on the shutter button gives a meter readout on the LCD display, showing both f-stop and shutter speed. Initially, I zoomed it slightly, to approximate the 35mm fov, but later I also experimented with zooming it out to it's full exent in an attempt to turn it into an impromptu spot-meter. I got a couple of odd looks doing this, but once done for a given scene I resisted the temptation to faff about further unless conditions changed markedly. It felt, as the title of this thread suggests, a bit like a youngster helping an elderly relative.

 

The results?

 

One roll, quickly developed, printed and burned to CD by my local Sainsburys (cheaper, quicker and better than Jessops - they even text me as soon as my film is ready) and I am impressed. None of the shots are art, of course - this was a test, after all - but EVERY SINGLE IMAGE is acceptably exposed - no unusable images in either direction.

 

Here are a few, and in looking at them you will see my one (at this stage) concern. There is a blob that appears consistently on every image. Damnfino what it is. I can't see any cack in the lens, nor is there anything apparent in the film gate, or on the pressure plate. It looks like a bit of out of focus fluff, but I was also wondering if it might indicate a hole in the first or second curtains that doesn't show up with the naked eye. Comments and suggestions gratefully received. I have also spotted the vignetting; most of these images were shot at the wider apertures, although I now understand that this little 35 performs best at around f5.6 - something I shall bear in mind in future.

 

First impressions?

 

Handling is surprisingly "comfortable". It didn't take me long to get in the groove. It is very ergonomic, and intuitive to use. I didn't struggle too much with the separate view/rangefinder either, even as a spectacles wearer it seemed relatively straightforward to switch from one to the other. I've never particularly liked lenses with infinity locks, but the little Elmar is so small that the focusing lever is necessary, and I found it didn't slow me down. I was surprised by the sound of the shutter - it was much harsher than I expected, and sounded almost impolitely loud compared to my M7's discreet cough. Maybe another indicator of dry lubricants and a necessary service? I still yearn for a contemporary 5cm 3.5 Elmar, but I shall wait until I find a good one. I DON'T intend to build up a collection of screwmount lenses, although I do have VC 15 and 75 that will fit. I can't honestly see me bothering to use the 75 on it, but the 15 is eminently viable.

 

I have consigned the ERC to a drawer. I have fitted a decent leather wrist strap to the right hand lug, and the IIIc now lives in a LowePro S&F Pouch 10; again, it feels a bit like an elderly relative wearing a hoodie at first, but it is practical, and fits well on a belt.

 

Anyway, here for your delectation and comment are my first collaborations with Grandpa. All images here are presented full-frame, and all I have done in p/s is auto-contrast, and convert to greyscale.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

 

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[earleygallery]

Bill,

 

Nice shots!

 

I don't know about the blob although I don't see it in every frame here. I'd run another film through, but maybe give the camera a dust with the lens and baseplate off and shutter open (gentle blower brush).

 

You could check for pinholes by firing a flash at the shutter (with film loaded) then shoot the frame with the lens & cap on (so you can wind on). Try this with both cocked and uncocked shutter of course.

 

The mechanical shutters do have a distinctive sound, especially at the slower speeds when you really hear the gear train, but its a nice 'precision' sound that I like and is part of the enjoyment of using the camera.

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[thomasw_]

Congratultions Bill! My Christmas present this year is a IIIc, too! Your images are well composed, and I only see the blob you mention in one of them. Seeing your work makes me want Christmas Eve to come more quickly:) however, I will be using a 50mm summitar with my IIIc. Nevertheless I will only shoot BW film in available light, much as you.

 

My IIIc is not as mint as yours, but I think I will recover the body eventually.

 

 

i hope you will post some more images, bill.

 

Good cheer,

 

Thomas

[Guest stnami]

Interesting approach to the light meter problem Bill

[john_r_smith]

Bill

 

I think you need to get yourself a nice old Weston Master II Thanks very much for the post, what a nice read - I too am a total devotee of old cameras, they are just so gorgeous compared with anything recent. And no-one will ever make their like again (with the noble exception of Franke and Heidecke of course, who still do make the classic Rolleiflex TLR). Good pictures, too - nothing too much wrong with that old Leica glass, is there?

 

John

[bill]

Thanks for the comments, chaps. I have to say I think that this is the tonic my photography has needed for some time.

 

@ James, I shall try your flash suggestion, and see if that shows anything up. I've given it a good blasting out with a can of compressed air so will see if that makes a difference too. I can of course clone the blobs out, but that's not the point!

 

@ John - you are right, a Weston meter would be the "classical" way to go, but that isn't what this is about! It would just be one more thing to carry. Ideally I'd like to train my eye so that I just don't need "junior's " help, but until I do, and because it both works and amuses me, I'll continue to use the FX-01 as a "crutch".

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[john_r_smith]

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Bill

 

well, if you are carrying the FX-01 anyway, then a Weston instead is no extra to carry. And you can pick them up for between £35 and £50. My Master II is now sixty years old, but I use it every day. Or you could always use the "sunny 16" rule, which works surprisingly well

 

John

[bill]

Ah yes, John, but the key word is "...instead...". The FX-01 makes a passable light meter, but the Weston takes lousy photos!

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[Sandokan]

Hi Bill, you could try the Voigtlander meter which fits in the hot shoe and is very small, or the Sekonic L208 which is bigger but also has a shoe adaptor. Or keep going with the eye

[Peter41951]

Bill, excellent shots. Is the boy with dolphin the same statue which used to be over the road at the North end of the Albert Bridge? Or is it another? Where is the one you took?

[bill]

@ Ravi - I don't want a meter! I want to run as "stripped down" as possible with the IIIc. The FX-01 is a "constant companion" so using it as a guide is ideal for me. As I said to John, a dedicated meter doesn't take photos! The 35 and a 50 are all I want, and I'll wait until I find a good example of the latter.

 

@ Peter - the river and statue photos were taken on the banks of the Thames, just by Tower Bridge; I'd stayed in the Tower Thistle the night before and was lucky enough to have good light when I "surfaced". I don't know the history of the statue, but I was most amused to see it and the bridge feature in a photo in the foyer of the Euston Hilton a few days later!

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[blovitch]

I too was the proud recipient of a Leica III camera for Christmas...

 

Is there a database of serial numbers that will allow me to date the camera ?

 

Has anyone got any useful hints for loading ?

 

 

Many thanks.

 

-Tim

[m_opel]

Is there a database of serial numbers that will allow me to date the camera ?

Try this one: Leica Screw Mount Serial #'s Sorted by Number

 

Has anyone got any useful hints for loading ?

Again CameraQuest: Leica Screw Mount Cameras

But this one with pictures might be more useful: Photography with a Screw Mount Leica*– Loading a Film

[blovitch]

Excellent...

 

Its a 1934 Leica III in Chrome....

 

All seems to be working although the rangefinder image is very dark, but it is useable in a reasonable light.

 

The loading instructions are excellent.

 

Many thanks.

 

-Tim