john_lawrence4

Hi Jonathan,

I've owned a few Rollei 35s (before being won over by Leicas!) and had a similar problem. The guy who fixed mine said it was down to the lubricants drying up.

It's worth having a look at www.kyphoto.com/classics/ and doing a search for Rollei 35 there - I seem to remember there used to be quite a few pictures and info. on stripping them down and curing problems like this.

Hmm, for what it's worth imho is there any intrinsic value in anything material? Surely the value of an item is based on what someone will pay for that item?

The craze over the past few years for collecting items (fuelled by countless t.v. programs etc.) has now passed. In just the same way that its predecessor, the "home improvement / DIY" craze also ended.

What is now happening is that the market is levelling out - just as it did with classic cars in the early 1990's. But levelling out, not bottoming out. There will always be people willing to pay for items with quality workmanship - hence the high value of used Rolex watches, even though most medium priced modern watches are more reliable and accurate.

Any guesses at what the next craze will be?

Thanks to all for the comments thus far.

Unfortunately I can not post a picture of the camera as I do not have a digital camera, borrow a computer from my (thankfully tolerant) sister and the camera is not mine. I was just given it to borrow and try out with some others, and I thought it might be nice to give the owner a document with some details of the camera on.

What I can say though is that the IIIa has the round range-finder cam, O mark at 12:00 clock position, straight line below view finder window, weighs the same and has the same screws in the same position as a III I also tried out, has the original instruction booklet with it - and the pictures in the booklet (of the mechanics) when loading with the base off are identical to those in the camera.

Maybe the top-plate was replaced by Leitz, but the engraving of the words Leitz Wetzlar seem to be the same as those of the serial number - if you see what I mean!

John L

Hello,

I hope that someone can help with some research I've been asked to

carry out on a Leica IIIa.

The camera came from a 1935 batch, and is genuine (I've read the

other posts to confirm this), but what seems strange is that there

is no DRP engraving on it.

I was asked to carry out research on this and four other Leicas for

a non-computer literate user, and all the others have either DRP or

DBP (dependent on age etc.) on them. However, this has none.

I can't seem to find anything about this on the web. Can anyone shed

any light on this.

Many thanks for your time and help,

John L