Stuart Richardson
Active member
My aunt was digging through some boxes this fall, and she found my grandfather's camera -- a 1934 Leica III with 50mm f/2 Summar. My father told me that my grandfather visited Germany at that time and must have bought the camera then. Evidently he had photographs of Nazi roadblocks and so forth. He would go on to fight them in WWII after he joined the Navy. Hopefully I can find out a bit more of the backstory at some point. Unfortunately he passed away several years ago, so I will have to search the family history to find out.
I am the serious photographer in the family (at least the only one who still mucks about with film), so my aunt sent it my way, along with a Weston Master II that was with it. The meter in beautiful as well -- incredibly retro and made to an impeccable standard. It seems to still work, though I have not checked it for accuracy yet!
The camera is in great shape considering its age. It is a black enamel version. Amazingly, the finder and rangefinder are very clear and contrasty -- no problems there at all. The shutter works, but functions as bulb at slow speeds and is visibly sluggish at higher speeds.
The lens is in ok cosmetic shape, but the glass is extremely hazy. I sending everything to Sherry Krauter -- hopefully she can bring it back to good working order. It should be fun to shoot -- I even have a 35mm f/1.8 Canon RF lens and a 15mm voigtlander than should work on it.
This is the camera:
I am the serious photographer in the family (at least the only one who still mucks about with film), so my aunt sent it my way, along with a Weston Master II that was with it. The meter in beautiful as well -- incredibly retro and made to an impeccable standard. It seems to still work, though I have not checked it for accuracy yet!
The camera is in great shape considering its age. It is a black enamel version. Amazingly, the finder and rangefinder are very clear and contrasty -- no problems there at all. The shutter works, but functions as bulb at slow speeds and is visibly sluggish at higher speeds.
The lens is in ok cosmetic shape, but the glass is extremely hazy. I sending everything to Sherry Krauter -- hopefully she can bring it back to good working order. It should be fun to shoot -- I even have a 35mm f/1.8 Canon RF lens and a 15mm voigtlander than should work on it.
This is the camera:
