Leica IIIb rare window

[estenopo]

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Hello everyone. Today I'm asking if any of the forum's historians can clarify a doubt I have about this 1937 Leica IIIb. It has a viewfinder window on the front that's different from all the others I've seen, as it's completely rectangular. Could it be one of the first ones manufactured, which more closely resemble the windows of the Leica III and Leica IIIa? Thank you very much.

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[jerzy]

quite normal for very early IIIb, it is the style as was in II/III/IIIa. 

[Dr Monochrom]

Hi @estenopo

Yours is an early version of the Leica IIIb that features an old-style (L-shaped) viewfinder window frame with a bulge on one side.

I have seen the same L-shaped frame on a very early Leica IIIb number 240004 (fourth one ever produced!), also dated 1937.

The Leica II Model D, Leica 250, Leica III Model F, and Leica IIIa Model G, manufactured no later than 1937, have old-style (L-shaped) viewfinder window frame.

In contrast, all cameras produced in 1938 and later, including the previously mentioned models and Leica IIIb, have rectangular frames.

I hope this helps.

 

Additional reading:

(2004). Leica IIIb - The Best Leica Ever, Or Only The Most Underestimated. Viewfinder, 37(1), 52-54

https://www.summichronica.com/leica-iiib