LTM users, its time to stand up and be counted!

[Joe Mondello]

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Well, I'm not an LTM user -- but I own a "user"!

 

This camera accompanied my father in law through Europe in the 1930s and served him in the American south western desert regions during WWII when he was a petroleum geologist.

 

I don't think he used it since the 50s.

 

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[earleygallery]

You could have that CLA'd and it will most certainly be in fine working use again (not sure about the lens, looks very hazy).

[wlaidlaw]

Well, I'm not an LTM user -- but I own a "user"!

 

This camera accompanied my father in law through Europe in the 1930s and served him in the American south western desert regions during WWII when he was a petroleum geologist.

 

I don't think he used it since the 50s.

 

 

Joe,

 

I am not even sure that is an LTM Leica - does the lens screw off or is it one of the even earlier ones with a fixed lens?

 

I agree with James, it does deserve a bit of a clean up and at least new rexine. I suspect the lens would clean up OK too. I cleaned up a rather older 105mm f2.8 Meyer Trioplan on my Wirgin miniature field camera, which originally looked about as bad. It came up almost like new. The only bit I had to get done professionally was the re-cementing of the doublet with new Canada Balsam. I re-polished the optical surfaces with "Brasso" - where not being coated is an advantage.

 

Wilson

[hektor]

Well, I'm not an LTM user -- but I own a "user"! This camera accompanied my father in law through Europe in the 1930s and served him in the American south western desert regions during WWII when he was a petroleum geologist. I don't think he used it since the 50s.

 

Dear Joe,

The camera is a Leica Standard. The lens is not interchangable. Can you post the serial number?

There are four people I know of who are capable of restoring this camera to good condition and replacing the vulcanite covering as well as cleaning the lens and making it fully operational. At f/8 the Elmar on your camera can compete with modern lenses.

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[doubice]

The camera is a Leica Standard. The lens is not interchangable.

 

Dear Justin,

 

I respectfully beg to differ. The camera could be a Leica I (model C) and is either a 'non standard mount' or a 'standard mount'. It could also be a Leica Standard (model E). All of these cameras had an LTM mount and used interchangable lenses, the only difference was that the 'non standard' version had to use lenses matched to the body.

 

If Joe would be so kind and provided a full serial number, the mystery would be solved.

 

All the best,

 

Jan

[earleygallery]

I'm pretty certain its a Model 1, which will either be non-standard mount (i.e. lenses need to be matched to the body as mount to film plane distance varied from body to body) or standard mount in which case there will be a 'o' engraved at the top of the mount on the body.

 

The earlier cameras with fixed lenses always have a bar of metal on the front of the body for the infinity lock. The next later model, the E, had a smaller shutter dial and rewind knob.

 

Please, take the lens off and post a shot of the body showing the lens mount, and all will be answered.

 

In either case, it really does deserve a CLA!

[wlaidlaw]

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a Model 1, which will be non-standard mount (i.e. lenses need to be matched to the body as mount to film plane distance varied from body to body)

 

You mean just like an M8?

 

Wilson

[earleygallery]

You mean just like an M8?

 

Wilson

 

Indeed! Its another cue to the M heritage, like the baseplate.

 

(I like the baseplate idea btw)

[hektor]

Dear Justin, I respectfully beg to differ. The camera could be a Leica I (model C) and is either a 'non standard mount' or a 'standard mount'. It could also be a Leica Standard (model E). All of these cameras had an LTM mount and used interchangable lenses, the only difference was that the 'non standard' version had to use lenses matched to the body. Jan

 

Apologies, mea culpa. You are correct Jan. I did not look closely enough.

[Irishimage]

My 111c (1946) with 5cm Summicron collapsable lens.

 

Anyone interested in restoring old Leica 111 series cameras as i am, might be interested in my own experiance lately.

 

I have spent many hours stripping down both camera and lens,cleaning adjusting and lubricating both and so far have exposed about 6 x 36 colour rolls with varabile results.

Some stray light (as if overexposure) in places on some of the images i have been informed on this forum ,would indicate a problem with the shutter curtains.

I have made some adjustments with the curtain tension and also have cemented a velvet strip of material into the camera housing close to the slow speed setting knob,this is a recommendation by Leitz according to their service manual.

Have a couple of rolls of Neopan 400 cn to test the camera with over the next week or so and will post results for anyone interested.

 

Noel

 

 

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[stumac]

A dear friend recently gave me her late father's "old camera and bits", 1939 IIIa and accesories, one of the few things the family managed to bring from eastern europe during WW2 and yes she did know what it is. Has had a hard life but will provide many hours of enjoyment restoring and eventually using.

 

Regards, Stuart

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[luigi bertolotti]

I posted today a thread in the M8 forum, hoping to receive some advice on using M8 for macro: I made today my first shots of home garden flowers with M8+Visoflex: so I couldn't escape the occasion to make some shots of a pair of LTMs, with two lenses I love a lot: the IIIf may become ny first-choice "backup camera" for M8...

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and also an occasion to play a little with Lightroom...a right subject

 

 

 

Pictures taken with M8/VisoII/Tele-Elmarit 135 head...I used it for my macro work, and only after processing it came to my mind that, as an hommage to LTM, I could have better made these shots with the head of my Elmar 135 LTM... I bet the results wouldn't have been so different.

[noddy]

Hi All

 

Just joined the LTM club. I've purchased a 111c with a red scale elmar 50mm attached. I can't put the thing down, it's so much fun having to actually think about each shot! Takes me back to my school days when we had to use Zenith E's - no 'light meter', unlike the Zenith....

 

 

As a side issue, can anybody tell me if there's a difference between the balck and red scale elmars, I cant find much info from Google.

 

Andy

[earleygallery]

Hi the red scale was redesigned and had different coatings. I did a test with colour film recently and the red scale shows more contrast and better colour. Not a problem if you're using B&W. Both are excellent lenses.

[luigi bertolotti]

Hi All

 

Just joined the LTM club. I've purchased a 111c with a red scale elmar 50mm attached. I can't put the thing down, it's so much fun having to actually think about each shot! Takes me back to my school days when we had to use Zenith E's - no 'light meter', unlike the Zenith....

 

 

As a side issue, can anybody tell me if there's a difference between the balck and red scale elmars, I cant find much info from Google.

 

Andy

 

Welcome to the club of LTMs ! The Red scale Elmar is simply the last version of this legendary lens (production from 1951, s/n 905.000), with a new glass formula: is generally considered the best Elmar 3,5 (the BM version is different again, but not for optics, I seem): the 2,8 version (again, new glass) was also available in screw mount, but is no more the "classic Elmar" : it is mechanically styled as the 3,5 BM above quoted.

BTW (sorry, collector's illness...) TWO version of the Red Scale Elmar exist : the first has the focus index with a "diamond" shape, in the second is a "triangle" shape... do not know if one is rarer than the other (rather rare is the last black scale, with stops to f22 instead of f16).

 

Eh, the Zenith E... when I was a student, in the '70s, was the camera of choice for lot of us... one of the reasons for I became a Leicaphile is that at that times I wanted to distinguish myself from the crowd... not a Zenith for me.. I bought a ZORKY 4K ! So started my love affair with RF...

[earleygallery]

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-collectors-historica/19410-elmars-comparison-4-images.html

 

This is the comparison I made between the black scale, red scale and 2.8 (old verson) Elmars.

[noddy]

Thanks for the replys.

 

James your comparison is quite interesting. It does appear that the Red Scale has more contrast. Maybe that accounts for the perceived extra sharpness!

 

Andy

[jclinefelter]

I have a IIIa from 1936 that came with a Summar from '36 or '37 and a push-on yellow filter.

I bought this gear from a customer at the camera store I work at here in Portland about

a year ago. The chrome is in good condition, ditto the covering, and the rangefinder

is very good. (I suspect that the camera had a CLA at some point in the recent past as

the shutter curtains are immaculate). I like my M3, but the IIIa is a real joy to use (and easier to pocket during a Portland rain) I'll post photos later this month.

An aside: one of my customers (who owns 19 LTM Leicas) recently acquired a IIId that

was originally sold in Budapest in 1944. I've seen my share of LTMs in 25 years of

selling cameras, but I never thought I'd see a IIId in the flesh.

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Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[luigi bertolotti]

James, your customer with 19LTM maybe has a hell of nice collection : can you ask him the permission to take some pics of them and post here ? If all 19 are different I suspect he has some other rarity besides the IIId...250 ? 72 ?... I touched a 250 in flesh but NEVER a 72 (and I was on the point to buy a 250, but the dealer, honest guy, told me that the price he asked was good because the s/n appeared retouched... original, in his mind, but maybe stolen....)

[wlaidlaw]

I have a IIIa from 1936 that came with a Summar from '36 or '37 and a push-on yellow filter.

I bought this gear from a customer at the camera store I work at here in Portland about

a year ago. The chrome is in good condition, ditto the covering, and the rangefinder

is very good. (I suspect that the camera had a CLA at some point in the recent past as

the shutter curtains are immaculate). I like my M3, but the IIIa is a real joy to use (and easier to pocket during a Portland rain) I'll post photos later this month.

An aside: one of my customers (who owns 19 LTM Leicas) recently acquired a IIId that

was originally sold in Budapest in 1944. I've seen my share of LTMs in 25 years of

selling cameras, but I never thought I'd see a IIId in the flesh.

 

James,

 

You may find the Summar quite soft. At university in the early 1960's, for my dissertation in Physics, I did camera and lens testing. I had my father's Summar. I knew it was not going to be good, as he had also used it for enlarging for years, so I sent it to Wallace Heaton for a rebuild along with my father's IIIC for a CLA. The Summar still came out bottom of all the lenses I tested for MTF's. I also had a Kodak Retinar 50mm f2.5, a 50mm Summitar, a Mamiya Sekor 50mm f1.9 and a Contarex 55mm Planar f1.4. The Planar and Summitar were top equal. Nonetheless, my father managed to take thousands of good photos with the Summar, mainly colour transparencies and preferred it to his later IIF/Summitar, that I still have, which he felt was too contrasty and the Bulls-eye Contarex we bought him for his 60th birthday, which he found too heavy. My father 'acquired' the IIIC in circumstances he never quite explained, during his stint as commander of the local Home Guard in the North of Scotland during the war. Sadly the IIIC and Summar were stolen in Spain in the late 1960's and my mother gave away the Contarex. I envy your lovely original combination of the IIIA and Summar.

 

Wilson