Leica is a name that is synonymous with the birth of 35mm photography. Although Leica has in the past made a wide variety of optical products, the name is also synomymous with rangefinder cameras. In truth, the success of 35mm film in becoming a serious photographic format was in a large part courtesy of a not so large German microscope firm, E. Leitz of Wetzlar, the parent company of Leica.
The original Leica screw mount was the creation of Oskar Barnack - who was the lead Leitz designer responsible for its development. Work on the camera began in 1915.
The Leica camera wasn't publically released until 1925. This was the Model A, which featured a cloth focal plane shutter. Oscar Barnack's ultimate goal was to offer a small precision camera that could be carried anywhere. While not the first to use 35mm motion picture film in a still camera, Barnack's innovation was that he turned the camera sideways, then widened the image frame from the standard 18mm by 24mm of the cine format to the 24mm by 36mm frame we know as 35mm film.
In 1930 a Model C was introduced that featured a 39mm Leica thread mount for interchangable lenses. In 1931 Leitz decided to standardize the lens mount so that its flange distance was 28.8mm from the film plane and the first 35mm system camera was born. After 1931, the Leica I, or Model C as it was then called, could accept lenses from any Leica with a standardized lens mount. The Model C - was the third variant of Barnack's original 1925 design and the basic building block for the next camera, the Leica II - Model D.
The Leica II of 1932 was the first 35mm camera with a built-in rangefinder focusing apparatus that coupled to a removeable lens. The speed, versatility and ease of use of the Leica II were immediately appreciated by professionals and high income amateur photographers alike.
The architecture and shape of the Leica II came to represent the essense of 35mm rangefinder photography during the 1930's. Each interchangeable lens now featured an inner cam ring which interacted with a sensor arm within the camera body. The placement of the independent viewfinder between two rangefinder windows would become the iconic trademark of Leitz cameras for the next 20 years. Form follows function on a Leica screw mount camera. The viewfinder and rangefinder apparatus utilize separate eyepieces, one for setting the focus and a second to compose with.
The Leica II is spartan by modern standards, but it is ever capable of precision photography. The Leica II set the mold on what was to become the Leica III.
Introduced in 1933, the Leica III was Leitz's response to the introduction of the Zeiss-Ikon Contax. It was also Oskar Barnack's last design before he died in 1935. Unlike the Leica II, the Leica III includes an extended range of slow shutter speeds. The added slow speeds range from 1/20th of second to one full second.
Both the Leica II and III share the basic body shell Leica I. To produce this third variant, a separate front mounted dial was installed onto the front body shell of the Leica camera. At first, the Leica III camera used the same RF/VF architecture as the Leica II. The Leica III also has two lugs or eyelets added to the body for a camera strap.
Aside from the extra front mounted shutter speed dial and the two lugs for a camera strap, the Leica III looks almost identical Leica II. As a tribute Oskar Barnack's frugal genius, one body shell now served as the basic platform for the Leica I, II, and III. E. Leitz could now sell 35mm cameras at three different price levels.
The front dial is only used to set the added slow shutter speed escapement. The top shutter speed dial was still used in the same manner as the Leica II to set speeds faster than 1/20th of a second. With the Leica III, the photographer could select shutter speeds between 1/500th of a second to 1 full second compared to the Leica II which only ranged from 1/500th to 1/20th of a second.
While it was an improvement over the Leica II, the Leica III still did not match its major competitor, which was the better specified Contax.
Fortunately for Leitz, the relatively uncomplicated horizontally moving, twin curtain, cloth, focal plane shutter, that been designed with the Leica I in mind, proved to be very reliable even when extented to the Leica III. On paper at least, the newly released Contax was a very impressive design, but its magnificent all-metal, roller blind shutter proved to be troublesome during its early years.
To bring the rangefinder of the Leica III closer to the improved specifications of the Contax, the III would be fitted with a 1.5 magnifier to its rangefinder optic. Magnification of the RF image is one way to improve the accuracy of the existing Leica II rangefinder and it also saved Leitz from having to produce a separate top assembly just for the Leica III.
- A Leica IIIa was released in 1935 and it added a top speed of 1/1000th of a second.
- A Leica IIIb was released in 1938 with a redesigned viewfinder optic, which brings the RF and VF eye pieces close together.
- The Leica IIIc and the later Barnack inspired Leicas - -
A major redesign of the body and shutter crate was introduced in 1940 as the IIIc. The IIIc is not only a bit larger than it predecessors, but features an all new single cast top cover. Remarkably, the external appearance of the early Leica IIIc is almost identical to the previous III, IIIa and IIIb cameras of the 1930's.
To prove the point, the above photo shows a late Leica IIIc that was modified post-1950 to IIIf specifications - to include an adjustable flash synchronization dial mounted below the shutter speed dial. A gussied up film advance knob has been added from the IIIf parts bin. To complete the modification, the Leica technician screwed a thin metal plate with the necessary engraved synch numbers to the top cover of the older IIIc.
The war years took its toll on Leitz. For most of the 1940's, the IIIc wasn't as well finished as the late 1930's IIIb. Cut off from the Far East, Leitz no longer had access to the same high-quality silk curtains that graced the pre-war Leicas. Chrome was a strategic material in short supply, so by the end of the war, most Leicas had painted bottom plates and top covers. &nbps; At this time substitute shark-skin like material was often use in place of hard rubber vulcanite covering on the lower body. The chrome plating on the post war IIIc has tendency to pit or peel as well. They also no longer have a stepped platform for the rewind release lever.
By 1949 most of these cosmetic issues had been corrected, but if buying a post war IIIc - do have the shutter curtains checked and do expect to have to replace the replacement beam splitter for the rangefinder.
Even though all was not perfect in Leicadom during the war and immediate post-war period, the IIIc is a brilliantly designed camera. It evolved under difficult conditions. Collectors shun the post-war IIIc - which no longer has a stepped platform for the rewind release lever - or - the tiny knob for the RF focus adjustment lever. The post war IIIc is still a wonderful user camera, because it is affordable and it retains the then recently introduce miniature bearings to the top spindle of the rotating shutter drum. This was originally a wartime modification to improve reliabilty in extreme cold weather that became a standard feature on all future Leica III series cameras.
- The Leica IIIf, Black Dial versus Red Dial -
To easily tell a IIIf BD or IIIf RD from the previous IIIc, just look for the flash synch dial, which will not be found on an unmodified IIIc.
On the first IIIf of 1950, the engraved numbers below synchronization and top shutter speed dials are painted black. Hence, they referred to as a IIIf BD.
In 1953 - yet another redesign of the shutter assembly led to the IIIf Red Dial. The IIIf RD had an improved flash synch speed of 1/50th of second versus the 1/30th of a second of the IIIf BD. In addition to an extra set of miniature ball bearings being used on the main shutter drum. I'm told that the curtain and drum assembly were lightened to achieve this modest increase in the synch speed. The late IIIf seems to have returned to higher quality shutter curtains, more durable chrome plating to exterior parts and a beam RF splitter that seems to age much better than those on earlier cameras. In 1954 Leitz added a self-timer to delay the shutter release - so the photographer could get in the photo.
Other improvements included on both versions of the IIIf are film speed reminder at the top of the winder and a tab on the removeable base plate to prevent modern preloaded film cassettes from slipping downward during use. The Leica IIIc lacked this tab on its bottom plate. Without the protruding tab, modern preloaded film will often ride so low across the film gate that the exposure occurs over the sprocket holes at the bottom of each frame.
- The Leica IIIf versus the IIIc -
With regards to the added flash synchronization system - this was a big deal back in the early 1950's when Kodachrome color film was rated at sluggish 12 ASA. 25 ASA to 50 ASA was the normal B/W film rating. So, the use of a flash was essential for hand-held indoor photography. Prior to our modern strobe a wide variety of single use flash bulbs were available of different flash durations that made the adjustable synch dial more useful than it would be today.
Keep in mind that both versions of the IIIf will accept modern preloaded film cassettes without any of the off center framing issues that results in sprocket holes appearing in the image. The IIIf Red Dial tends to age better than either the IIIc or IIIf BD with regards to the brighness/clarity of the RF patch and featuring better quality shutter curtains.
For the purist, the Leica IIIc is still the simpler design. It has all the bare essentials for ambient light photography, but a bone stock IIIc or early IIIf BD for that matter, could really use a new set of shutter curtains and have a new half-silvered beam splitter installed to bring back the RF to its origninal specs.
- The Leica IIIg -
Leitz released the Leica IIIg in 1957. It was the final variant of the IIIc architecture. A newly designed top cover with a noticeable larger and improved viewfinder are immediately noticeable.
Had it been released in 1950 or 1953, it would be far more numerous today. The truth is that Leitz had shifted the playing field with the 1954 release of the Leica M3 It was an all new design with a new lens mount and an improved camera body that has little commonality to original Barnacks and the IIIc derived IIIf. The Leica M3 set a new benchmark for 35mm rangefinders that would last nearly 50 years. Leitz at long last had a camera that outclassed both on paper and in operation Contax.
The new larger viewfinder of the IIIg with two sets of illuminated framelines housed in a larger top cover was inspired by the even larger M3 viewfinder which had three sets of illuminated framelines.
The IIIg was in commercial production for only 3 years. The Japanese were by now ramping up production of cameras that incorporated the ergonomic improvements of the Leica M3 and adding a few of their own. The IIIg not only had to compete against the better spec'd Canon P and Nikon S3, but after 1958, a sister to the M3, the newly release Leica M2. The Leica M2 was to be a runaway success.
The biggest failing of the Leica IIIg is that it lacked the combined VF/RF assemblies, which allowed for a single much larger eye piece for focusing and composing at the same time.
The Leica IIIg features the following changes when compared to the IIIf Red Dial.
- A larger .7 mag viewfinder with two sets of illuminated, parallax corrected, framelines for the 50/90 focal lengths.
- Both shutter speed dials are calibrated with a modern shutter speed progression - which we still use today.
- The front shutter dial for the slow speeds is now a one way progression versus the old two way progression.
- Separate flash synch dial was deleted to be replaced with two flash settings at 1/50 and 1/25th of a second on the shutter speed dial.
- The film reminder dial is now located on the back of the body shell and exceeds ASA 100.
The IIIg looses a certain "je ne sais quoi" of the older Barnacks with its taller and less pugnacious viewfinder housing. It is however a joy to compose with and the finder also eliminates the need to carry an external finder for the 90mm focal length. The IIIg is not as common as either the IIIc or IIIf, which makes this camera attractive to collectors. Consequently, they sell for double or triple the price of well cared for IIIc or IIIf.
- Using a Barnack size camera today -
Truly the best photography is that which portrays the uncommon in a common everyday subject. This is where the photographer's own sense of "kraft" enters rather than their equipment plays a determining factor in the final image. The choice of lenses and equipment are secondary concerns, but they do affect the final print.
Entry-level digital SLRs with a with a moderately priced zoom as opposed to rock bottom entry-level lens can be purchased for the same money as a IIIf with three lenses. The IIIf will probably be worth what you paid for it in five years, while the DSLR body will probably be worth virtually next to nothing on the second-hand market at that time. For color photography, the digital SLR is by far the most practical choice. Furthermore, through the lens metering, auto focus, auto exposure, macro and long distance telephoto are not part of the reportoire of a Barnack Leica.
So, one may ask, so why use an old Leica III? - Aside from the handling a very well built compact-camera that is totally free of photography by wire, the best reason to carry an old Barnack is for B/W photography.
The word photography literally means to write with light. B/W imagery has only the nuances of light, shapes and subject matter / context to work with. It is becoming an uncommon medium today, and to be done well B/W requires a more sophisticated technique than with color photography. It is also the best way for the amateur photographer to use film as it allows for do-it-yourself development.
For the traditionalist good B/W photgraphy reveals itself on the print, not on a computer monitor. Using an vintage Leica III series, with their old-school optics delivers a look that has become unique in today's digital landscape. Digital raw files converted to B/W are gaining popularity, but have a different tonal signature and requires a more controlled lighting due to digitals more limited exposure latitude. The Bayern pixel pattern renders a much different structure than that of traditional silver halide B/W films, such as Tri-X or APX 100.
Unfortunately, most amateur photographers still think the B/W photography is the purview of professionals. In reality, B/W film is easier to develop at home than you would think and D.I.Y development doesn't require a darkroom. It's the next process - the traditional printing on B/W photographic paper which requires a darkroom.
While the diminutive Leica screw mount may not a clear winner in the multipurpose photographic category today, it is still a powerful photographic tool. It captures its images without pull down menus, numerous electronic buttons or battery power of any kind.
As a primary camera system it won't be nearly as versatile as a modern digital SLR, but for intimimate, close-in shooting of scenes of people in an intimate setting - a screw mount Leica will more than earn its keep.