The Vintage Camera Club Thread

[Starius]

I found this in a local antique store. $6.00.

Lee

Another Henry Dreyfuss design! Great find for the price.

 

[Bigfeet]

Here's a flea market find for leicanthrope.

My God, what a find!!


Bigfeet

 

[KilroyCD]

My God, what a find!!

What he said!!!! :eusa_clap

 

[feltfan]

Leica Repair?

leicanthrope, Spim, and others, do you know of a reliable, trustworthy
place in Northern California where one can have a Leica repaired?
I have my father's old Leica (with Weston Master V and Gossen Pilot light
meters). I can't figure out a model name for this Leica. It has
a number: Nr.599161 and says on its top, "Leica D.R.P. Ernst Leitz
Wetzlar Germany".

I do like my old Pentax MX, but if this thing is worth the expense,
I might get it fixed up. Not sure what's wrong with it.

Thanks for any assistance. I'll try to post some items from my
modest collection some time soon.

 

[Dexter'sDame]

Joining the club too please

My 1940 Argus C3 Rangefinder and I would like to join the club too, please.

I'm a newbie at this but have always wanted to learn photography, properly. My photos can't get any worse (really; it's a family joke), so I have nothing to lose by going Vintage, and everything to gain.

I've always loved the look of black and whites shot with an Argus, and my sister learned on the family's beloved postwar Argus, so I bought my own. (Some sources say mine is a '39, some say it's a '40, so we'll say '40 and maybe be pleasantly surprised.) My main problem was moving the camera when taking the picture, so it would seem a heavy camera couldn't hurt!

His name is George Argus. It seemed like a nice sturdy name for a companion sometimes known as "the Brick". Currently, we're on our third roll of film.

(Edited to add the words "of film" for obvious reasons...)

 

[MrBern]

TEN?!?!

Here's a flea market find for leicanthrope.

I applaud you! Thats what we would pay for a leica lens cap back in the `90s!!!
I'll have to post some of my collection. I use them for reenacting too.

 

[MrBern]

Customized leica

Ok, this one is a custom job. Common post-war IIIC. Chrome was stripped away & baked in black enamel. Shutter curtain was replace with a Red curtain to get the wartime germany production look.
I also reenact w/ a pre-war chrome IIIB and an old mid `30s blackpaint III.

LeicaIIIB nestled in an old helmet

Heres a leica shot done in Kodachrome

After a nite of no sleep, prepping the other photogs before we headed out to the Battle ofthe Bulge in FortIndiantownGap, Pennsylvania.
The base is mentioned in TheBigRedOne movie as well as AndyRooney's wartime memoirs.

Two leicas, a bag of film & flashbulbs & a backpack with the SpeedGraphic.

 

[leicanthrope]

leicanthrope, Spim, and others, do you know of a reliable, trustworthy
place in Northern California where one can have a Leica repaired?
I have my father's old Leica (with Weston Master V and Gossen Pilot light
meters). I can't figure out a model name for this Leica. It has
a number: Nr.599161 and says on its top, "Leica D.R.P. Ernst Leitz
Wetzlar Germany".

I do like my old Pentax MX, but if this thing is worth the expense,
I might get it fixed up. Not sure what's wrong with it.

Thanks for any assistance. I'll try to post some items from my
modest collection some time soon.

You've got a IIIf from 1951 or 1952. I don't know if there are any camera repair places on this coast. I suspect you may have to ship it off to one of the few people that do the work.

For most anything to do with this sort of old camera, you might want to talk to the folks at this forum: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/

Ok, this one is a custom job. Common post-war IIIC. Chrome was stripped away & baked in black enamel. Shutter curtain was replace with a Red curtain to get the wartime germany production look.
I also reenact w/ a pre-war chrome IIIB and an old mid `30s blackpaint III.

You might want to ditch the red dot for a WW2 era camera. They didn't use that logo until 1976, long after the Barnacks were out of production.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Camera: $10...that's the understatement of the year! Why can't I get that lucky?

Here's a flea market find for leicanthrope.

 

[BeBopBaby]

You guys are giving me the bug. I really want to get an Argus C3 now. Do they just take regular 35 mm film?

 

[MrBern]

You might want to ditch the red dot for a WW2 era camera. They didn't use that logo until 1976, long after the Barnacks were out of production.

Well, you dont see the dot when its in a case.
The mechanic liked the reddot, I dont feel like undoing his work. Usually I dislike them & cover them with black tape. Some of the more recent black dots arent bad. I prefer my dotless collection of M3, but my two M6 have the red dots.

Its a bit of a fantasy camera as this sort of IIIC is postwar & I doubt any were blackpaint. Tho you do see some military examples in grey.

I have a wartime zeiss collapsible lens adjusted to mount on Leicas, I'll post it soon as I take of pic of it.
Also some prewar SCNOO winders.

 

[MrBern]

"The Brick"

You guys are giving me the bug. I really want to get an Argus C3 now. Do they just take regular 35 mm film?

Yes, standard 35mm.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argus_C3

I havent used one. Just an older ArgusA that was inthe Pacific with a Marine.

 

[Bourbon Guy]

Dexter's Dame-

An argus c3 was my first rangefinder camera. You can take some wonderful photos with them.

Mr. Bern-

I paid more than $10 for a brass Leica lens cap.

Other leica screw mount lovers-

date your camera body here:

http://www.cameraquest.com/ltmnum.htm

date your lens here:

http://www.oresteen.com/leica lens dates.htm

My favorite camera is a post-war Leica III-c with an Elmar 5cm/3.5 lens from the 30's. Makes beautiful images. When Max Berek sat there in the early 20's with his slide rule working out the corrections for the Elmar, he was making art.

 

[MrBern]

The elmar is a great lens. I jsut always seem to be in lowlight, so I more often shoot with faster lenses. Everyone complains the summar is soft, but I think that varies. Ive gotten some nice shots with it. I also like the russian lenses. The 35/2.8 is a lovely copy of the zeiss biogon. I have one from the 50s & one from the 90s. Both were cheap & sharp. The newer one has a lovely coating, so it gives great color in slides.

Here in NYC, we used to see tons of ruski cameras & lenses. Mostly nice leica copies. Over on Cameraquest, one of my shots is displayed as an example of the russian 20mm lense's capability.
http://cameraquest.com/russian.htm

 

[feltfan]

You've got a IIIf from 1951 or 1952. I don't know if there are any camera repair places on this coast. I suspect you may have to ship it off to one of the few people that do the work.

Thanks! I'll check out the range finder forum.
If you can recommend someone reliable for this repair
I'd appreciate it. I take it the IIIf is worth repairing?

BTW, is it interesting enough to be worth posting a picture
or have you guys seen enough of these?

 

[MrBern]

Thanks! I'll check out the range finder forum.
If you can recommend someone reliable for this repair
I'd appreciate it. I take it the IIIf is worth repairing?

BTW, is it interesting enough to be worth posting a picture
or have you guys seen enough of these?

If you cant find anyone locally, I know a good repairman outside Boston.

Whats wrong with your camera?

 

[feltfan]

If you cant find anyone locally, I know a good repairman outside Boston.

Whats wrong with your camera?

Heh. Well it was my father's camera and did not
work most of his life. The actual problem is lost to
the mists of time. But it doesn't appear to cock and
snap a picture. Where the problem lays, no one knows.
It was a running family joke that some day the Leica would
work again...

I know of places to bring the camera locally, but I don't
know anyone who would vouch for them.

So a IIIf is worth fixing? I do like my Pentax MX...

 

[Bourbon Guy]

Heh. Well it was my father's camera and did not
work most of his life. The actual problem is lost to
the mists of time. But it doesn't appear to cock and
snap a picture. Where the problem lays, no one knows.
It was a running family joke that some day the Leica would
work again...

I know of places to bring the camera locally, but I don't
know anyone who would vouch for them.

So a IIIf is worth fixing? I do like my Pentax MX...

Oh yes! A IIIf is definitely worth repairing. There are 2 nationally-known Leica repair persons considered the go-to folks for screw-mount Leicas. One's a man and one's a woman, and I believe one is out east and the other is in Wisconsin. I'll see if I can find contacts for you.

 

[Bourbon Guy]

OK, here you go. The first is DAG Camera Repair in Oregon, Wisconsin. Website here:

http://www.dagcamera.com/

The other is Sherry Krauter at Golden Touch Quality Camera Repair.Web site here:

http://www.sherrykrauter.com/

I am sure there are others, but I have heard nothing but high praise for these two for a number of years. However, I would google each one of them, along with "Leica camera repair" and variations of that, and read all the entries on the camera and photo forums that come up, to get the latest scuttlebut on current turnaround times, quality of service, etc.

 

[feltfan]

Bourbon Guy- Thanks so much for the references.
Leicanthrope- As soon as I get a few moments, I'll do more reading
on Rangefinderforum.

I see I have another project...