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Leica M EV1: Die erste M mit EVF statt Messssucher ×
Leica M EV1: The first M with EVF instead of Rangefinder ×

Conversions, upgrades, modiefied ones

romanus53

By romanus53
in Leica Collectors & Historica

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pippy

pippy

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1 minute ago, Shac said:

Sorry about that Philip - I'm making too many mistakes these days - It's a Leica II with the diopter adjustment added. After that photo was taken, I had strap lugs added too.

😸

No need to apologise, Shac, I assure you!

I only really noticed because I was spending time admiring your II + Color-Skopar pairing. Beautiful combination! Having lugs fitted just adds a bit more cream to the cake IMO.

Had you lived here in the UK I would have asked after the name of the craftsman who carried out the 'lugs' modification for you. I'd very much like to do the same thing with a Leica 1 which I have but don't use often as I would like as I don't enjoy carrying it around in a case. I should, perhaps, do some digging...

Out of in

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René R.
René R.

New member here. This is my Leica 1 serial number 3395 made in June 1927, converted to a II in November 1937 (information from Leica records). I got it with a 1934 Summar lens. This is a regular user

willeica
willeica

Group of unconverted and converted Sharkskin c models. The converted ones are in the middle back row, conversion from IIIc to IIIf Black Dial and back row right, Ic converted to IIf Black Dial.

willeica
willeica

I thought that I had posted this before, but I don't see it on this thread. This is my No 1671 which started off as a I Model A in 1926, but was converted to a IIf in the 1950s. It might also have rec

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alan mcfall

alan mcfall

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Upgraded leica No. 226 does not have the original Anistigmat lens unfortunately.  It has an unnumbered Elmar. Probably, the original lens was modified to interchangeable thread and returned to the customer; then sometime later the original lens was separated from the camera and lost any traceability back to this camera.

I would roughly guess that as many as 20-30% of the original Anastigmat cameras were upgraded to interchangeable (threaded) lenses, and of those maybe one-half or more still have the Anastigmat lens (now threaded) attached, the remainder, like mine, have lost the original lens.

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UliWer

UliWer

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vor 4 Stunden schrieb alan mcfall:

I would roughly guess that as many as 20-30% of the original Anastigmat cameras were upgraded to interchangeable (threaded) lenses, and of those maybe one-half or more still have the Anastigmat lens (now threaded) attached, the remainder, like mine, have lost the original lens.

Do you know of any „updated“ separate Anastigmats with threadmount?

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chris_livsey

chris_livsey

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15 hours ago, pippy said:

 

 

Had you lived here in the UK I would have asked after the name of the craftsman who carried out the 'lugs' modification for you. I'd very much like to do the same thing with a Leica 1 which I have but don't use often as I would like as I don't enjoy carrying it around in a case. I should, perhaps, do some digging...

I would think if anyone can here in UK it will be : Leica repairs and repaints | Bury | Cameraworks-uk

Only a paying customer, did an excellent M2 repaint  for me some years ago and make some parts themselves. 

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willeica

willeica

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10 hours ago, alan mcfall said:

Upgraded leica No. 226 does not have the original Anistigmat lens unfortunately.  It has an unnumbered Elmar. Probably, the original lens was modified to interchangeable thread and returned to the customer; then sometime later the original lens was separated from the camera and lost any traceability back to this camera.

I would roughly guess that as many as 20-30% of the original Anastigmat cameras were upgraded to interchangeable (threaded) lenses, and of those maybe one-half or more still have the Anastigmat lens (now threaded) attached, the remainder, like mine, have lost the original lens.

They would have needed to have a 39mm thread added as the original I Model A lenses had a 33mm thread. I covered this in my recent Zoom/You Tube talk on the first interchangeable lens Leicas which were modified in Britain and I was surprised at the number of people who did not know about this.

 

William 

 

 

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Shac

Shac

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17 hours ago, pippy said:

😸

No need to apologise, Shac, I assure you!

I only really noticed because I was spending time admiring your II + Color-Skopar pairing. Beautiful combination! Having lugs fitted just adds a bit more cream to the cake IMO.

Had you lived here in the UK I would have asked after the name of the craftsman who carried out the 'lugs' modification for you. I'd very much like to do the same thing with a Leica 1 which I have but don't use often as I would like as I don't enjoy carrying it around in a case. I should, perhaps, do some digging...

Out of in

Phillip – the camera came with the variable diopter, but the strap lugs were attached by the late  Horst Wentzel in Vancouver

Glad you like the combo by the way - it not only looks nice but it's a pleasure to use

David

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alan mcfall

alan mcfall

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17 hours ago, UliWer said:

Do you know of any „updated“ separate Anastigmats with threadmount?

Camera 151 shown in Viewfinder 14-2 and camera 173 shown in viewfinder 16-4, both have anistigmat lenses that have been converted to the interchangeable, 39mm thread mount. I have recorded a couple  more that were advertised but without photo to confirm. It's been over 25 years since I last saw an anistigmat lens for sale separately without camera, I regret not buying it.

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willeica

willeica

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3 hours ago, alan mcfall said:

Camera 151 shown in Viewfinder 14-2 and camera 173 shown in viewfinder 16-4, both have anistigmat lenses that have been converted to the interchangeable, 39mm thread mount. I have recorded a couple  more that were advertised but without photo to confirm. It's been over 25 years since I last saw an anistigmat lens for sale separately without camera, I regret not buying it.

They and Elmax conversions appear on ‘upgraded’ cameras at auction from time to time. I don’t recall ever seeing an Anastigmat lens for sale on its own. I have a couple of modified Elmars from I Model As, one on a camera that had been modified to a Standard and one on its own. Both were significantly shorter in length than items on the I A cameras. Jerzy and I did an exercise in measuring early Elmars some years ago. It must have been the increase in mount size from 33mm to 39mm that caused this. The mount for the I Model A also needs careful positioning of the lens at c 7 or 8 O’Clock as it is being attached, hence the dots or arrows on the early British conversions, both on the camera and on the lens, to create the first ever interchangeable lens Leicas.When I first took a lens off a I Model A to measure it I had difficulty remounting it until Jerzy told me how to do this. 

William 

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Pyrogallol

Pyrogallol

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On 4/20/2024 at 3:26 PM, willeica said:

They would have needed to have a 39mm thread added as the original I Model A lenses had a 33mm thread. I covered this in my recent Zoom/You Tube talk on the first interchangeable lens Leicas which were modified in Britain and I was surprised at the number of people who did not know about this.

 

William 

 

 

Have you seen this ?

https://mwclassic.com/product/dallmeyer-4-inch-f5-6-tele-anastigmat-lens-no-147600-with-iris-diphragm-in-original-leica-l39-screw-mount-lens-made-for-the-leica-i-model-c-non-standard-mount-camera-would-have-been-matched-to-th/

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luigi bertolotti

luigi bertolotti

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On 4/21/2024 at 4:51 AM, alan mcfall said:

Camera 151 shown in Viewfinder 14-2 and camera 173 shown in viewfinder 16-4, both have anistigmat lenses that have been converted to the interchangeable, 39mm thread mount. I have recorded a couple  more that were advertised but without photo to confirm. It's been over 25 years since I last saw an anistigmat lens for sale separately without camera, I regret not buying it.

As this one... not for cheap 😉 https://www.leitz-auction.com/en/Anastigmat-3.5-50mm/AI-22-14634

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René R.

René R.

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New member here. This is my Leica 1 serial number 3395 made in June 1927, converted to a II in November 1937 (information from Leica records). I got it with a 1934 Summar lens. This is a regular user for me, following a needed CLA.

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SpotmaticSP

SpotmaticSP

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Leica was such a strange company... I just got this sorry looking (but despite that still working) Leica Standard. I already showed it to Jerzy and just like him I think the original owner of this camera originally had an early black paint one, but decided he wanted a chrome one instead. Maybe that happened much, much later. So Leica just engraved the original serial number on a completely new body. Hence the ridiculously low number of 10279 on a chrome Standard. I will ask Leica about it.

 

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SpotmaticSP

SpotmaticSP

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SpotmaticSP

SpotmaticSP

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"79" should be the original camera according to Leica. The number right to it is the number of the accompanying rangefinder. Can anyone make out the place where it was sent to? I see only a name "Barwick e. Borzemski". Other cameras show readable cities like Köln, München, Zuffenhausen, Prag.

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SpotmaticSP

SpotmaticSP

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After the above information I asked Leitz if the camera was ever returned to the factory. Of course, the codes of what had been done are not known, but given that it was returned in 1939 I think it is fair to deduce that in February, 1939 a chrome Standard (a completely new one with old serial number) was returned to the customer.

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nf3996

nf3996

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I have recently acquired a well-used black and chrome Leica III camera body, which I know from its serial number (No 80349) began life in 1932 as part of the first run of black and nickel Leica II cameras. Information from Leica is that the camera was originally delivered to Berlin on 9 May 1932, and that it returned to Leitz on 17 September 1934 for conversion. I’m familiar with the various upgrade options available from the 1930s onwards and this set me wondering how Leitz carried out such modifications.

Back in 1934, would the owner of my camera have received a completely new Leica III from Leitz with just the old serial number engraved on it (a sort of part-exchange), or would any of the original innards have been re-used inside a new body? Either way, what did Leitz do with ‘donor’ cameras and their parts – discard them, re-use them for spare parts?

Externally almost all signs of my camera’s Leica II origins have gone: the film advance knob, rewind knob, shutter release and collar, and both shutter speed dials are chrome, consistent with a new Leica III body, as is the larger locating pin for the baseplate. Oddly, however, the film counter dial is nickel (not so clear in the photo, but it is definitely 'yellower' than the other knobs) – maybe this part was carried over from the original camera onto the new body; if so, why not use a new part here too?

I presume that if a modification was simple – such as adding strap lugs – the original camera was modified, but how complex would a modification need to be before a whole new camera was supplied with only the original serial number remaining?

Alan

 

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