Leica Standard

[pippy]

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27 minutes ago, Ambro5I said:

Geez. I can  see you guys brooding over a few cameras adapters hoods shades etc. all day long.......trying to figure out Exactly what will be THE prefect combo to step outdoors with.......and the Sun sets in the West and you’re still shuffling  hoods shades lenses and cameras about.      🙂

Just you wait until we start to discuss which would be the best camera bag we should choose for a 1930's Leica...

P.

[pgk]

8 hours ago, Ambro5I said:

Geez. I can  see you guys brooding over a few cameras adapters hoods shades etc. all day long.......trying to figure out Exactly what will be THE prefect combo to step outdoors with.......and the Sun sets in the West and you’re still shuffling  hoods shades lenses and cameras about.      🙂

Its about the journey ........ 😉.

[pgk]

OK since I am of curious nature (!) I'm intrigued by some differences in the two Standards which are less than 500 difference in serial numbers (101069 & 101636) as well as an obvious difference under the baseplate. Don't get me wrong, these are 90 year old bodies and have been used so have potentially been modified and/or repaired during this time, and the baseplates may have been changed too. But the earlier one has a lens in feet and the open/close is in English so I'm assuming it may well simply be an export version. The earlier, 'export' body has a 1/4" tripod thread, whilst the other has a 3/8". I'm simply interested to know what might have gone on in the history of these two bodies.

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Edited February 11, 2023 by pgk

[willeica]

1 hour ago, pgk said:

OK since I am of curious nature (!) I'm intrigued by some differences in the two Standards which are less than 500 difference in serial numbers (101069 & 101636) as well as an obvious difference under the baseplate. Don't get me wrong, these are 90 year old bodies and have been used so have potentially been modified and/or repaired during this time, and the baseplates may have been changed too. But the earlier one has a lens in feet and the open/close is in English so I'm assuming it may well simply be an export version. The earlier, 'export' body has a 1/4" tripod thread, whilst the other has a 3/8". I'm simply interested to know what might have gone on in the history of these two bodies.

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I have a large number of Leicas from the 1931, 32, 33 period. I will check them when I get back home. A lot of changes happened over a very short period. Check also the hole in the base for catching on the lug in the side. As regards the tripod hole this was increased as indicated here, but I cannot remember when this happened. This would affect the ERC situation. An ESNAR should be OK for the camera, but if you want to include a rangefinder you would need something like an ESMIT. They are expensive these days. Will post something or send you an email when I get home. 
 

William 

[willeica]

Leica switched from having a small tripod hole, small side lug and a large speed dial to having a large tripod hole, large side lug and a small speed dial. I have at least one example of a camera which has a large tripod hole, small side lug and large speed dial. It may well be that a piece that fits in the tripod hole has been removed to allow the use of a larger tripod bush. The camera in question is No 42805, but that is not really of much significance, as it was just one of the first ones I pulled out of a drawer. I may have anywhere between 25 and 30 cameras between I Model As, I Model Cs, II Model Ds , Standards and III Model Fs that cover that period and I am not going to pull them all out at this time on a Saturday night 😀. A point I have made many times before is that looking for exact linear sequencing of features and numbers on old Leicas is often a complete waste of time, not only because of what was done in the factory, where feature overlaps often occurred , but also because of what was done by generations of repair people. You can, however, accept that there was a move over time between 1932 and 1933 in the direction I indicated in the first line above and your two cameras confirm this, but, beware, as exceptions will exist.

As I said before, the main thing you need to look out for is the size of the bush in an ERC. It is possible to get screw on pieces which will bring a 1/4 inch tripod bush up to 3/8 inch size, but going in the other direction is more awkward. My advice is that you should try out both cameras before you sell one of them. I would never do such a thing as selling a 90 year old camera, well not so far 😀. 

William 

[pgk]

11 hours ago, willeica said:

I would never do such a thing as selling a 90 year old camera, well not so far 😀.

Thanks William. As for selling, well they are both different and as has been pointed out can take B&W and colour .......

[LocalHero1953]

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Focusing with a Leica Standard.......I took the easy route of attaching a Nikkor 2.8cm f/3.5 LTM (I couldn't face the Hektor's f/6.3), and then using Delta 3200. At typical winter daytime apertures focusing by guesswork works just fine! I use a Nikkor 2.8cm finder.

And carrying one.........I use one of Luigi Crescenzi's half cases for early Barnacks, which have a strap attached, and are fastened by a screw into the tripod bush. The vulcanite  was in good condition, but was coming unstuck. I glued it back on, but as it looks original, I chose the half case for protection.

I'm not a purist either, and it's such an enjoyable camera to use!

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[willeica]

13 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Focusing with a Leica Standard.......I took the easy route of attaching a Nikkor 2.8cm f/3.5 LTM (I couldn't face the Hektor's f/6.3), and then using Delta 3200. At typical winter daytime apertures focusing by guesswork works just fine! I use a Nikkor 2.8cm finder.

And carrying one.........I use one of Luigi Crescenzi's half cases for early Barnacks, which have a strap attached, and are fastened by a screw into the tripod bush. The vulcanite  was in good condition, but was coming unstuck. I glued it back on, but as it looks original, I chose the half case for protection.

I'm not a purist either, and it's such an enjoyable camera to use!

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Nice set up, Paul. Another variant on the 'Snapshot Leica' theme. I have a vintage Leica case with a slot at the bottom for a SCNOO, but I've never used it. The top part is coming apart, but I could remove that and use it as a half case.

The Snapshot Leica was a Standard with a 3.5cm f4.5 lens of which a couple of prototypes were produced, but it never achieved full production. The main difference between these two is the lens design.

Focus was intended to be preset, but the two knob set up must have made for easier changes.

William

 

[pippy]

Apologies for the poor quality snap but, FWIW, here's my preferred set-up with a Leica 1(*). Perhaps not quite a Snapshot as I went for a 35mm which does often benefit from being focussed but, still, it's pretty close. Here she wears the cut-down FED-1 case mentioned in post #8;

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Philip.

* This one's a 1930 1a converted to Standardised 1c (Ser. No. 36750).

[jerzy]

Am 11.2.2023 um 13:52 schrieb pgk:

OK since I am of curious nature (!) I'm intrigued by some differences in the two Standards

I believe you mean the nuts as below

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Early cameras had nuts with 2 cutouts, later, for a short time 4 and finaly 6 like the right one. Very ofteb, during any repair the 2 and 4 were replaced with 6  as they allowed fo more precise adjustments of curtain tension and thus speeds. 

Edited February 12, 2023 by jerzy

[pippy]

23 hours ago, willeica said:

The Snapshot Leica was a Standard with a 3.5cm f4.5 lens of which a couple of prototypes were produced...

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This camera, posted by William, has had me thinking...

Leitz has produced the most extraordinary range of accessories for their Leica camera models both in terms the sheer numbers of products offered and of their variety. Why, then, have they never offered (AFAIK) an attachment which could slip over the viewfinder housing for the Leica 1 where an extra element / optical system could be positioned in front of the finder's window with the purpose of widening the angle of view to match, for instance, that of a 35mm lens?

I believe I'm correct in saying the WEISU looked similar to the finder fitted to the camera pictured. This might actually be a foot-removed-and-screwed-in-place WEISU for all I know.

First of all; is there such an accessory? If not then does this lack of such an accessory hint that the whole of the optical unit would have to be changed and that a simple adapter slipped over the standard (Ho!Ho!) finder would not offer a sufficiently high-quality v/f image?

Philip.

Edited February 13, 2023 by pippy

[willeica]

8 hours ago, pippy said:

This camera, posted by William, has had me thinking...

Leitz has produced the most extraordinary range of accessories for their Leica camera models both in terms the sheer numbers of products offered and of their variety. Why, then, have they never offered (AFAIK) an attachment which could slip over the viewfinder housing for the Leica 1 where an extra element / optical system could be positioned in front of the finder's window with the purpose of widening the angle of view to match, for instance, that of a 35mm lens?

I believe I'm correct in saying the WEISU looked similar to the finder fitted to the camera pictured. This might actually be a foot-removed-and-screwed-in-place WEISU for all I know.

First of all; is there such an accessory? If not then does this lack of such an accessory hint that the whole of the optical unit would have to be changed and that a simple adapter slipped over the standard (Ho!Ho!) finder would not offer a sufficiently high-quality v/f image?

Philip.

Philip

Now you are setting me off on a whole series of things. The Snapshot Leica had a viewfinder for 35mm, but that was fixed. By that stage the VIDOM and its brothers existed, of course, so anyone who was using a 35mm lens along with others could use that. Earlier on, before the VIDOM existed, swing masks were introduced on the 50mm viewfinder to allow the use of 135mm lenses. You are correct that a WEISU could be used for 35mm and that was available in a version that sat in the camera shoe. I believe that the viewfinder on the Snapshot Leica was based on the WEISU. I stand  to be corrected on this, but I'm not aware of any Leica viewfinder add-on which widened the point of view until the TUVOO attachment came along for the VIOOH, which, of course, unlike the VIDOM, was corrected to provide the scene the right way around.

William