Black -Nickel Leica III with RAPIDO rare winder

[gigibond]

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Hello,

 

Some months ago I found this beautiful camera in a watch shop. The price was reasonable, and that strange winder took my attention.

 

 

My new little old jewel di giusvio, su Flickr

 

My new little old jewel di giusvio, su Flickr

 

 

I just realized that the strange winder is a very rare Rapido winder.

Another strangeness of the camera is the flash pin near the left rewind knob.

 

I just want your comments about the camera, and some confirmation about the rarity of Rapido etc..

 

Thanks for your comment!

[luigi bertolotti]

It's really a RAPIDO, though apparently, not complete with its strap + ring : a rare accessory, indeed, which makes this a very interesting collectible. The flash sync is by sure an addon, maybe done by some third party... is not uncommon to find old Leicas with this kind of modification (you can see some example in the forum, too). Btw, also the RAPIDO is not, strictly speaking, a Leitz accessory : it was designed and made by a third party, but proved to be very well appreciated and Leitz decided to distribute it in its catalog (few 3rd party items had this "honor"... One was the very first pneumatic selftimer DIREKT, for instance)

 

Here is a complete article on the rapido (Italian)

My Leica Historica: Avanzamenti rapidi

[UliWer]

Congratulations to your fine camera - 374 numbers older than mine (and mine is of course without a RAPIDO).

[jc_braconi]

We have already seen, may be not THIS camera, but the same with rapido and "piercing" flash syn.on this forum some years ago...