Leica Nr.717310

[Jerb]

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Cleaning out my grandmothers house after her passing actually turned out to be awesome. I found a Leica IIIf, I presume, with two Nippon Kogaku Tokyo(Nikon, right?) lenses and many other accessories owned by my late grandfather. I am very interested in the serial number and finding out what model it was because it seems the serials 700001-710000 skip to something like 740000-etc. I found it in a very nice leather carrying case, which I had to lockpick. this is the first antique item I've ever owned, and I'm practicly making love to it and its amazing leather smell every night. My grandpa must've acquired it and the Japanese Lenses during his US Navy tours. I must say my grandpa had good taste in cameras and a PHD in photography because this camera has about 7 different knobs for settings. I understand very little about analog camera's so if you could point me at a website with simple instructions on how to care for and use the Leica I would be very grateful. I thought I would share my joy with you, Leica's are the sex.

 

Photos of it are in the attachments.

[luigi bertolotti]

Welcome to the forum !

713.001 to 729.000 was a big batch of IIIf made in 1954, indeed. To be precise, is the model usually referred to as "IIIf Red Dial with self timer" (I seem to see the selftimer lever in pic # 2). Seems there is also a Leitz lens (first pic, right)... can you post a detailed pic of it ?

Here Leica camera instruction manuals, leicaflex camera instruction manual

you can find many infos / manuals on this model. Of course, there is A LOT to say about those cameras (and THIS is the site in which you can find many deep discussions about) which are a milestone in the history of photography... there are also many fine books about (Lager, Van Hasbroek, Laney... and others).

 

Ask anything you like about your IIIf and related gear...(for instance, I see a fine multifocal viewfinder - the VIOOH : going on, you'll quickly understand the magic of these codes ) ... someone, here, surely has the answer for you...

[samiba]

Congrats Jerb,

a very fine and complete set you own now.

I also have the IIIf RD, it is a great camera once you have learned to operate it and especially have learned to insert a film You will find all the necessary information in this forum.

I see that you also have two Nikkor lenses. It seems, that you have the 2,5/35 and the 3,5/135. Both lenses are extremely good. Especially the 2,5/35 is almost as good as the Leica 2,0/35 Summicron, if they are fungus and haze free. You are also very lucky to have the leather housings and sunshades for those two lenses, as they are extreme rare.

Have great fun with this lovely ensemble.

Regards, Michael

[Xmas]

Hi

 

You need to make sure there is not a part used film in the camera, and not by opening it. If there was a film the images may still be recoverable, and you might not want to lose them.

 

Try lifting and then turning the knob nearest to the view finder eyepieces, it should turen freely for a long time if it stops there is film and you need the instruction book...

 

Then you need to buy lots of film. It is probably best to find some one who is familiar with an early Leica to show you how to load it, use it, and what not to do. But you might prefer to go it alone.

 

Noel

[Jerb]

Thank you all for the input. There are more photo's attached(they are on my flickr, click the link) highlighting the lens that luigi bertolotti mentioned. I assume this lens came with the camera because it is in a Nippon Kogaku case (the lens which is on the camera now) and has a Leica cover on it. I also have a filter kit somewhere which is how they used to "auto white balance" back then, I'm guessing. So is my lens, haze and fungi free? Also which lenses should I be using for different situations? I'm gonna see if anyone knows how to load it because I want to learn and I really don't want to break it. What is the biggest "NO-NO" when handling this camera? Getting heirlooms is flippin' sweet.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23597984@N06/sets/72157624048794012/detail/

[etp095]

welcome to the forum

you have a really nice kit there,hope you enjoy it for a long time to come.

[luigi bertolotti]

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Thank you all for the input. There are more photo's attached(they are on my flickr, click the link) highlighting the lens that luigi bertolotti mentioned. I assume this lens came with the camera because it is in a Nippon Kogaku case (the lens which is on the camera now) and has a Leica cover on it. I also have a filter kit somewhere which is how they used to "auto white balance" back then, I'm guessing. So is my lens, haze and fungi free? Also which lenses should I be using for different situations? I'm gonna see if anyone knows how to load it because I want to learn and I really don't want to break it. What is the biggest "NO-NO" when handling this camera? Getting heirlooms is flippin' sweet.

 

Lens - a set on Flickr

 

The Leitz lens of your set is a Summicron 50 mm : one of the legendary lenses for Leica (if you look at today's Leica pricelist, there is still a "Summicron 50 f2" , of course a new version...... but they won't abandon that famous name). So, not surprisingly, your Leica is equipped with a trio 35-50-135 mm lenses : a moderate wide angle, a standard, a tele : using one or another depends on a lot of factors (subject, your distance from it, your intention to "isolate" more or less the subject etc...) and is a matter of general apprenticeship on photo-taking tecnique.

About loading with film your IIIf... not easy... , but if you go to the site I linked above you'll find a 3-parts pdf manual (from the home page, go to "Leica", then, at right "If-IIf-IIIf), which has 2 or 3 pages about loading the camera.

The biggest NO-NO is to make the camera fall to the ground... ... but there is a typical operation you have to specifically AVOID on this camera :

- DO NOT change (rotate) the shutter times knob (top) when the shutter is not cocked (knob on the right of the top, holding the camera to take a picture)