Leica IIIb CLA by Youxin Ye

[250swb]

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I think one of the ultimate CLA's and overhauls in the camera world is offered by Nikon F2 specialist Sover Wong, who promises your camera will not only get an overhaul and be returned more accurate than Nikon's own specifications, but will also look better than it did. So he replaces any scratched and damaged parts that he can with better items from his spares as routine. Problem is last time I looked he had an eighteen month waiting list. Do any Leica technicians offer a full restoration service beyond a re-skin?

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[zeitz]

2 minutes ago, 250swb said:

Do any Leica technicians offer a full restoration service beyond a re-skin?

Repainting is certainly possible.  Re-chroming is nearly impossible because the Leica finish is hard to match.  If a repairman has spare chrome parts, then the chrome can be replaced.  I don't know of anyone who still does real vulcanite, which is a rubber product.  So re-skinning is not possible in the sense of a true restoration (as in a 100 points restoration of a Ferrari 250 SWB).

Don Goldberg will do anything you ask for, if he has parts.

[Ambro51]

I think there’s a specialist in the U.K. that offers true vulcanite...but memory fails me.  Quite Expensive.

[zeitz]

9 minutes ago, Ambro51 said:

I think there’s a specialist in the U.K. that offers true vulcanite...but memory fails me.  Quite Expensive.

https://www.angelfire.com/biz/Leica/vulcanite.html

This website has not been updated in over a decade.

http://www.lutoncameras.co.uk

I don't see vulcanite repair on their website anymore.  Maybe I'm just not looking in the right spot.

[Muso]

I sent my M4 to Leica USA last March (2021).  The full service cost $625 plus a couple of minor parts and a patch of vulcanite on the rear door, and was done in 2 months.  It came back perfect, as one would expect from a factory service - no worrying.  OTOH, I don't know if they service LTM cameras anymore.  But generally, I start with the factory before looking for other service options.  I'm just happy that a company can still service a camera they made 55 years ago 🙂

[qqphot]

I bought a IIIf from the Leica store in San Francisco listed as having been serviced/CLA'd by YYE in 2021, and its shutter curtains replaced. I don't know what state it was in beforehand, obviously. I needed to spend half an hour carefully cleaning off brittle dried black adhesive that had oozed through the cloth of the replacement curtain where it folds over, leaving a jagged edge that made very obvious lines in images at fast shutter speeds.  I also found that the 1/1000th speed was the same as the 1/500th, for which the Leica Store sent it back to him on their dime, but he returned it saying he couldn't do anything about it.  I can live without 1/1000th since i've read it's actually difficult to get it working, but if I was able to clean up excess curtain adhesive , he could have too.  On the other hand the rangefinder is very bright and clear.

I currently have a IIIg that I've put 200 rolls of film through in the past year and it's winding knob has started to almost jam when winding to the next frame, and I'm kind of at a loss for what to do. DAG has already had my M2 since christmastime and hasn't responded to any queries about it, so I'm not sending him another camera until I hear something about that one. And I have some doubts about YYe given the state of my IIIf when I got it, and people's anecdotes here.

Edited April 11, 2022 by qqphot

[jerzy]

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vor 1 Stunde schrieb qqphot:

and it's winding knob has started to almost jam when winding to the next frame

what you may check is if  rewind lever is fully in A position. Late IIIf and IIIg have improvement added - film transport is being blocked if rewind lever not fully on A. This is good modification, makes film transport more reliable but  is sensitive on the position of the lever. Of course there could be another reason for the problem, but this is what  you may easily check.

[qqphot]

2 hours ago, jerzy said:

what you may check is if  rewind lever is fully in A position. Late IIIf and IIIg have improvement added - film transport is being blocked if rewind lever not fully on A. This is good modification, makes film transport more reliable but  is sensitive on the position of the lever. Of course there could be another reason for the problem, but this is what  you may easily check.

Hi, this is very helpful and I'll keep it in mind! But unfortunately in this case it's not the problem, I've made sure the rewind lever is all the way over on A.  Thank you!

[doctorlebel]

As Jerzy noted, late model IIIf red dials and IIIg models have a spring loaded rewind lever system.  If you have a good quality screwdriver that fits the screw securing the A/R lever, keep the A/R lever pushed fully toward the “A” setting while at the same time tightening the screw gently.  You just want to be sure it is fully tightened.