Susie Posted July 11, 2022 Share #1 Posted July 11, 2022 Advertisement (gone after registration) Dear All, I recently bought my first Model 1A. I have had rangefinder cameras (from Model ll to M9) for many years, but this is my first Model 1. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! It gives the feel of a well used, but cared for camera, but has some aspects that intrigue me. There is obvious wear on the black enamel, but the lens is in really good condition, with hardly a mark on it; the aperture nub works smoothly. The shutter blinds look almost new, but the second one is sluggish at lower speeds, and the whole shutter feels and sounds as if the lubricants are dry. The base plate has the hook shaped lug for opening the Type B FILCA and the Type N IXMOO cassettes. Does the base plate for the Type A FILCAs have just a small nub that presses on the folded latch? Bearing in mind the serial number dates the camera to 1930, had the Type A FILCA been phased out by then? The other odd thing is that the collar with the two triangular dogs for the rewind spindle also seems to be of a later pattern. It is much thicker than on my other screwmount cameras, and as a result will only accept the IXMOO or standard cassettes - not the Type A, nor the B FILCAs, which are now too long. I remember some posts a while ago about adding washers to the locking mechanism to make up the difference between FILCAs and IXMOOs! I wonder if the camera had a service after 1956 (when the IXMOOs were introduced) maybe about 1960 when the camera was 30 years old, but has remained almost unused since then, hence the dryness of the lubes. This might account for the rewind dogs and the perfect shutter blinds. Your comments would be welcome. Susie 6 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! It gives the feel of a well used, but cared for camera, but has some aspects that intrigue me. There is obvious wear on the black enamel, but the lens is in really good condition, with hardly a mark on it; the aperture nub works smoothly. The shutter blinds look almost new, but the second one is sluggish at lower speeds, and the whole shutter feels and sounds as if the lubricants are dry. The base plate has the hook shaped lug for opening the Type B FILCA and the Type N IXMOO cassettes. Does the base plate for the Type A FILCAs have just a small nub that presses on the folded latch? Bearing in mind the serial number dates the camera to 1930, had the Type A FILCA been phased out by then? The other odd thing is that the collar with the two triangular dogs for the rewind spindle also seems to be of a later pattern. It is much thicker than on my other screwmount cameras, and as a result will only accept the IXMOO or standard cassettes - not the Type A, nor the B FILCAs, which are now too long. I remember some posts a while ago about adding washers to the locking mechanism to make up the difference between FILCAs and IXMOOs! I wonder if the camera had a service after 1956 (when the IXMOOs were introduced) maybe about 1960 when the camera was 30 years old, but has remained almost unused since then, hence the dryness of the lubes. This might account for the rewind dogs and the perfect shutter blinds. Your comments would be welcome. Susie ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/334487-1930-leica-1a/?do=findComment&comment=4469337'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 11, 2022 Posted July 11, 2022 Hi Susie, Take a look here 1930 Leica 1A. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
nitroplait Posted July 11, 2022 Share #2 Posted July 11, 2022 It’s a beauty! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie Posted July 11, 2022 Author Share #3 Posted July 11, 2022 (edited) Also! I cannot see any serial number on the lens - should there be one, or was it just 'in with the camera'? The camera serial number is 36XXX Edited July 11, 2022 by Susie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerzy Posted July 11, 2022 Share #4 Posted July 11, 2022 Lenses on IA (and IB) do not have usually own serial. Exception is with IA above approx 55000, they might have own serial but not visible outside, number is stamped on inner optical barrel. From my observations numbering started with approx 70000, earliest I have seen was 712xx, was on IA with serial 58xxx. Numbering outside started with approx 92xxx. I have seen though few Elmars with serial 7xxxx stamped outside, like on later lenses but these lenses were converted with optics renewed and the former inside number has been stamped then outside. Interesting topic, I just recently came across it. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerzy Posted July 11, 2022 Share #5 Posted July 11, 2022 Btw, what is the serial of your camera? Features show that it is between 15xxx and 40000, is it really this range? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
beoon Posted July 11, 2022 Share #6 Posted July 11, 2022 It also looks like your camera is a "close focus" export model as the lens can focus down to 1.5 feet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie Posted July 12, 2022 Author Share #7 Posted July 12, 2022 Advertisement (gone after registration) 8 hours ago, beoon said: It also looks like your camera is a "close focus" export model as the lens can focus down to 1.5 feet. You're quite correct. The reason it has taken me a while to buy a Model 1A is that I specifically wanted a close focus lens, marked in feet, that wasn't too beaten up, and was within the price I was willing to pay. For my 'collection' I have tried to pick one good example of each model, rather than examples of the huge number of variations possible; I don't have the space nor the cash for that! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedaes Posted July 12, 2022 Share #8 Posted July 12, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, Susie said: one good example of each model A superb and well found 1A and a sound collecting strategy. Edited July 12, 2022 by pedaes Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nf3996 Posted July 12, 2022 Share #9 Posted July 12, 2022 3 hours ago, Susie said: For my 'collection' I have tried to pick one good example of each model, rather than examples of the huge number of variations possible; I don't have the space nor the cash for that! That's just how I'm building my collection too. But I will confess to owning two Leica I (Model A) cameras - one of which has had a recent CLA and is my 'back to basics' user. Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
willeica Posted July 12, 2022 Share #10 Posted July 12, 2022 48 minutes ago, pedaes said: A superb and well found 1A and a sound collecting strategy. Yes, Keith, it is sound, but if you are like me you could end up with 8 or 9 I Model As, all different, plus some converted to Standards. The first part of the slippery slope was reading Angela von Einem's book on the 10 variants of the I Model A with the Elmar lens which list an astonishing number of variations within the 10 classes. Then there was the exercise, which I started with Jerzy on the 25 variants of the Elmar identified by van Hasbroeck, in which we identified even more variants. It is a slippery slope, indeed. The real cause was the fact that Barnack was an inveterate tinkerer and nothing was ever perfect in his book. Susie, that is a lovely example of a close focus I Model A. According to von Einem, feet scale export models in the SN range 2400 to 46000 are close focus and I can see the 1.5 feet mark on the focus scale, which indicates a close focus model. If your camera is from 1930 it would be from the era of the FILCA B. The other modification to use the IXMOO would have been done later. Modifications related to film cassettes are common. Even the most expensive Leica ever sold, No 105, had a modification to use FILCAS in place of the original 0 Series cassettes which had become scarce in later years. The expert Leica technician, Ottmar Michaely, who had worked on No 105 in more recent years, told me that his inspection had indicated that the conversion had been done many years earlier to allow the use of the FILCA. While I was in Wetzlar I saw the following in the Archives, which indicated (a) how much of a tinkerer Barnack was and (b) how the FILCA was changed many times in the course of a few months in 1931. William Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie Posted July 12, 2022 Author Share #11 Posted July 12, 2022 Dear William, Many thanks for your information; Jerzy told me that you'd probably come up trumps with regard to FILCAs! So it appears that the baseplate is the original and the later IXMOO conversion probably was done when the camera was serviced in the late 1950s or early 60s, which given the almost perfect condition of the shutter blinds, I think it must have been. Oh! I'm quite well aware that the 'one good example' strategy often goes astray. The one camera I wish I had never sold was my M3 DS; I px'd it for my M6......🙄 but that was a long time ago: now I know better! Susie 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie Posted July 12, 2022 Author Share #12 Posted July 12, 2022 William, Reading the link you gave above, I notice that my 1Model A has the later 'V2' locking device for the FILCA Type D. Would this have been done at the same time as the IXMOO conversion? The serial number is 36XXX, which puts it as 1930 I think. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Susie Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Susie ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/334487-1930-leica-1a/?do=findComment&comment=4469948'>More sharing options...
Anbaric Posted July 12, 2022 Share #13 Posted July 12, 2022 I wonder if the modification to the rewind spindle had anything to do with the IXMOO, or if it was simply to make the camera more convenient to use with shorter disposable cassettes that might otherwise slip down and show the sprocket holes in the frame? It hardly seems worth the bother of modifying the camera to use an IXMOO, when the user could simply continue to use a FILCA (readily available even today), but disposable daylight loading cassettes must quite quickly have become the most convenient option for many people. The V1 lock was a user-replaceable part that could be swapped out with a screwdriver - Leitz provided V2 locks free on request from some point in the 30s onwards, which a IIIa era manual states is required to use disposable cassettes ("the Leica cartridges of Messrs. Agfa, Gevaert, Hauff, Kodak and Perutz"). 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie Posted July 18, 2022 Author Share #14 Posted July 18, 2022 I thought I should look for the correct period lens cap for this camera. J.C., I notice that your 1 Model A set which is very similar to mine, except for the wonderful condition, and is also from 1930, has a Bakelite cap. Bearing in mind that I intend to use the camera, how robust are they, or should I get a Bakelite one for show and an enamelled one for use?! Susie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nf3996 Posted July 19, 2022 Share #15 Posted July 19, 2022 12 hours ago, Susie said: I thought I should look for the correct period lens cap for this camera. J.C., I notice that your 1 Model A set which is very similar to mine, except for the wonderful condition, and is also from 1930, has a Bakelite cap. Bearing in mind that I intend to use the camera, how robust are they, or should I get a Bakelite one for show and an enamelled one for use?! Susie I think the very first lens caps were the black enamel ones. I'm not sure when the bakelite ones appeared. Is there a timeline anywhere showing the development of Leica lens caps over the years? Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matlock Posted July 19, 2022 Share #16 Posted July 19, 2022 12 hours ago, Susie said: I thought I should look for the correct period lens cap for this camera. J.C., I notice that your 1 Model A set which is very similar to mine, except for the wonderful condition, and is also from 1930, has a Bakelite cap. Bearing in mind that I intend to use the camera, how robust are they, or should I get a Bakelite one for show and an enamelled one for use?! Susie I have a Bakelite cap (not on a 1A) and I tend to use it only for protection at home and use a metal one when out and about. The Bakelite one seems pretty sturdy but is not a particularly tight fit, maybe because of age?, and I would hate to lose it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitroplait Posted July 19, 2022 Share #17 Posted July 19, 2022 54 minutes ago, nf3996 said: I think the very first lens caps were the black enamel ones. I'm not sure when the bakelite ones appeared. Is there a timeline anywhere showing the development of Leica lens caps over the years? Alan I suspect that is right. My II Mod. D (modified from a IA) came with an enamel cap, and my IIIF with bakelite - both bought used so no guarantee that they are original, but wear and design indicates to me that the caps are reasonably contemporary with the cameras. They both fit a little too loosely so I use more modern substitutes. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc_braconi Posted July 19, 2022 Share #18 Posted July 19, 2022 15 hours ago, Susie said: I thought I should look for the correct period lens cap for this camera. J.C., I notice that your 1 Model A set which is very similar to mine, except for the wonderful condition, and is also from 1930, has a Bakelite cap. Bearing in mind that I intend to use the camera, how robust are they, or should I get a Bakelite one for show and an enamelled one for use?! Susie Susie, Keep the bakelite one at home and use any one in metal for use your camera outside, enjoy, it is a real pleasure. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
willeica Posted July 19, 2022 Share #19 Posted July 19, 2022 On 7/12/2022 at 5:27 PM, Susie said: William, Reading the link you gave above, I notice that my 1Model A has the later 'V2' locking device for the FILCA Type D. Would this have been done at the same time as the IXMOO conversion? The serial number is 36XXX, which puts it as 1930 I think. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Susie Apologies for missing this. Here are some photos showing the type 1 and Type 2 locks which I changed around in order to use a modern film cassette on a 1926 I model A. Leica would have offered this as a service, but it is an easy job to do, even for a non technician like myself. William Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrogallol Posted July 19, 2022 Share #20 Posted July 19, 2022 If anyone has a type 1 lock going spare I feel it ought to be put back on a Leica 1 camera and used with original FILCA cassettes, I would use it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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