Jump to content

Vintage Flash Question


Recommended Posts

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hello,

 

I just purchased my first Leica and wish to thank everyone who replied to my post “Leica Purchase” 07/19/08. I bought a very nice IIIc made in 1949 with an Elmar 50mm 3.5. I should receive it soon but I can tell that I’ve already been bitten by the Leica bug. I’ve been browsing for accessories and I have another question.

I came across an old Leitz Wetzlar Leica Flash at an on-line store and asked about it. The reply was that the flash, even though in good condition was for ornamental purposes only, and that they were no longer usable. I asked why but never got a response. Why wouldn’t these old flash units work? Do they no longer make bulbs for these or why would they not be usable?

 

Ken

Link to post
Share on other sites

x

Were the IIIc’s ever fitted with a flash connection. I had thought that I read somewhere on the forum that they were after a certain date. Well in any case, I won’t know until its delivered. Which brings another question, how can I tell if it has been modified for flash?

 

Ken

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

The IIIf/IIf were the first Leicas with an internal flash sync connection. A standard P/C (Prontor/Compur) nipple is found at the rear of the top plate, below the accessory shoe. These cameras also had a sync dial under the speed dial, settable to give the flashbulb a head start on the shutter, between 20 and 0 milliseconds, so that the bulb would be up to full brightness when the shutter started to run. This made it possible to use speeds down to 1/500 with the right bulbs. The '0' setting is equivalent to X sync.

 

Any 'c' camera that was factory converted to 'f' style sync in Wetzlar or elsewhere under the Leitz aegis received the sync dial. Any camera with a P/C nipple (possibly in an un-orthodox place) but without the dial has been retrofitted by an independent camera mechanic, to give standard X sync. This was a fairly common practice in the early 1950's.

 

The old man from the Age of Flashpowder

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...