New Leica IIIa Delivery Report

[owen w.]

My New Leica IIIa Delivery Report

<p>

Several months ago, I bought a 1936 IIIa on the auction site. The

long thread is down the list somewhere. Delivered to a colleague, it

was only ferried out to me in Bangkok about a week back, whence it

went straight into my bench man for a little TLC in a CLA while I went

upcountry.

<p>

I picked it up today. My bench man pronounced it "perfect", and I

absolutely agree. This thing has a couple minor bright marks and

modest tripod brights, but it is, to my stunned eyes, damn near brand

new. I don't have any macro capacities, so no fondler pictures, but

I'm just amazed at how much better it is than I'd even hoped. It's in

fantastic condition and now is operating sweetly at all speeds.

<p>

I'm indulging in some fondler babble here. The covering, small

screws, top plate and small nobs all look and feel.. dare I say it???

.. Pristine!

<p>

The little '36 Summar I found is clean, too. It did not, however,

come from an old collector. It spins easily when collapsed. Did

these have a docking or lock position in the collapsed state? This

one seemingly does not. It locks in when pulled out properly, so

function seems fine. First roll of film carefully loaded. Nothing

interesting to shoot, but that's another matter. I'll go out tomorrow

morning.

<p>

The amazing thing is just how TINY this thing is. It's so .. what? ..

SMALL. My Ms are simply monstrous sitting next to it. Even the CLEs

seem big in comparison. My hands don't really know what to do with

it, yet, but it's already fun trying.

<p>

Clearly, this is NOT a "decisive moment" tool for me! Aperture

markings on the Summar are tiny, as are the shutter speed marks. I

need reading glasses, but I can work through the haze pretty well.

<p>

It's bloody hard to focus, for eyes that grew up with CLE and M finder

windows. The rangefinder view is so tiny. The little magnifier lever

seems more like a diopter than 1.5x the old manual describes. I find

it does help up at about 10 o'clock.

<p>

I have a loading question. You trim the lead. You roll up the

take-up spool and insert the film as a piece. How far should you wind

up before you insert? Do you wind the entire trimmed lead? It seemed

the right thing to do, but it was not easy to get it seated all the

way down. Any particular tips to the proper insert technique? Thanks.

<p>

More notes when they seem worthy. Owen

[al_kaplan1]

You don't wind the leader at all before inserting. The long leader is to make it easier to get the film behind the pressure plate when pushing the cassette/film/take-up spool into the camera, something about impossible to do with the full width film. It'll hang up when it hits the film rail on the other side of the film gate. Just clip the end in the spool and load!

[huw_finney]

Great little things the Barnacks.

 

Loading, with the correct trim length there is no need to roll film onto the takeup spool, in fact the trimmed bit is there to ensure proper loading and should be the only film that is pushed into the film gate, after pushing the film down give the knob a little turn to ensure the sprocket engages. Two frames are more than enough to get to blank film.

 

To explain (maybe) the loading concept.

 

1. The half width film is pushed past the bottom bit of the film gate. The full width can't be pushed up into the top of the gate so...

 

2. The whole width is then pulled by the film transport into the film gate from the end.

 

Summars do spin when collapsed, the barrel is gripped by a felt ring, not too difficult or expensive to replace if it bothers you.

[owen w.]

Thanks. Great advice. Also about the Summar.<p>

Just to know what is "normal". This is great! <p>

Owen

[anthony_brookes5]

Good luck. I love my III with the Summar. Best camera I've ever had. (and I have an M6 as well.)

[john_shriver]

The lever on the RF eyepeice is a diopter adjustment. With a 1.5x magnification, a diopter adjustment is essential. I'm also happy at about 10 o'clock.

 

Enjoy your Summar. Nice portrait lens wide open, yet if it is a good specimen, it will get sharp and contrasty when you close it down 4 stops.

[paul hart]

I've often thought Leica could make some serious money re-creating the screwmount body in the same proportions as the original but with some discreet updates (eg make loading easier). Base it on the IIIf D/A. Produce an Elmar 50/3.5 with the latest coatings.

 

Far more interesting than fancy a la carte MPs.

[gerald_mullen1]

Hello owen: My IIIC and Summar are a treat to use. Stopped down

to f8 or so the lens can be set for max depth of field by setting

the lens so that the 8 is opposite the infinity mark, or you

might want to set it at F12.5, you read the closest distance

opposite the F mark on the other side of lens.Anyway, You can

tell if film is loaded OK by looking at the sprocket holes

on take-up side, you will see teeth engaging the film sprocket

holes. When winding shutter PRIOR to setting speed, watch the

rewind knob, IT WILL ROTATE. That's a sign film is advancing properly.

I usually wind and shoot 3 blanks to make sure the leader

is all transferred prior to taking pictures.

Hope this helps. You cannot beat the Barnack Leicas for easy handling

and simplicity. It is like going back in time.

Post some pics. when you can.

best wishes

Gerry

[steve_hoffman]

Now put some film in there (maybe Efke 25) and go outside, find a subject and think "What would Dr. Wolff do?"

 

Report back!

 

Congrats.

[russell_brooks]

"Clearly, this is NOT a "decisive moment" tool for me!"<br><br>Give it time. The point is rather that due to the small size and weight that you actually have it with you as opposed to some other camera.

[feli]

>"Clearly, this is NOT a "decisive moment" tool for me!"

 

It can be! ;-)

 

I have a IIIc with 2/50 Summicron collapsible and VIOOH finder.

 

I load her up with Tri-X and out here in sunny California you can shoot f16@250 during

the day. I set scale focus to f16 (infinity mark opposite f16 marking). Now everything from

8ft to infinity will be in acceptable focus. Next dial in the VIOOH to focus at 15ft or 5

meter. That's it. Fire away as fast as you can advance the film.

 

cheers,

 

Feli

[owen w.]

I'm sure I'll get better, but starting slowly (may) have it's own rewards. The hyperfocus, ultra depth approach works, but sorta defeats the purpose of "fast lenses on small bodies", yes? The camera is certainly fast enough. It's just me that's a slow learner.

<p>

All the hints and suggestions are, however, very much appreciated.

<p>

Owen

[owen w.]

One observation. The Barnack is making me (yet again) confront old and newly acquired bad habits. Years ago, sunny 16 meant you shot at f/8 or greater whenever possible. Faster film made that almost mandatory. Who knew what f/1.4 and f/2 looked like?

<p>

When I finally got an M body, with meter and .85 viewfinder, I had to learn to shoot faster shutter speeds and use the f/1.4 of the Lux long used at f/5.6-8. So, I became a bit of a slave to the meter and to precise focal plane selection. I had lots of bad habits to try to unlearn and new ones to acquire. The Barnack is making me rethink my view of metering (so to speak), not to mention concern with precision focusing.

<p>

I'm still way down my learning curve on seeing those images. I have the little Orako filter. It really helps, but it wants bright ambient light or white objects with sharp edges. It's partly about getting to know the lens, too, of course. It'll take a couple of rolls of different film to get a sense of where it's strengths and weaknesses lie. I do admit that the body makes me understand why the small Elmar may be the ultimate lens, but that will have to await another day.

<p>

Just chatter. Owen

[owen w.]

Okay, a few photos. I definitely underexposed about a third of my shots, but it was a hot, hazy bright mid-day. I think I was gun-shy about flare and overcompensated in stopping down too much. A few under cover of shade. Anyway, my first Summar shots. No PS, except auto-levels or something and resizing.<div></div>

[owen w.]

A second shot<div></div>

[owen w.]

Last of three.<div></div>

[hans_berkhout]

Get a slip-on bright line viewfinder for 50mm(made by Leitz), it will make all the difference. I had the same combo in 1959 (my first Leica), still print the occasional neg from that period. Camera got stolen, still miss it.

[owen w.]

And, one sample of Summar Flare. It's a storage corner, with a very bright hazy light from outdoors. Obviously a flare prone setting. The Summar delivers Flare on command quite easily. Some night shots might be fun to try, too.<div></div>