My llla doesn't leica the cold!

[CraigK]

I recently purchased a 1936 llla. It is a pretty spry user for its age, a ding here and there but otherwise is great shape. I've been having a wonderful time with it photographing musicians at a local Jazz haunt, the dogs and cat around the house, students at my photography school etc.

Then the other day I took it for a bit of a walk out of doors. Now, in case you've never heard of Winnipeg, it is more or less the Canadian equivalent of Siberia....only colder. However over the weekend we had balmy temperatures near zero so I left the Contaflex lV at home in favour of the llla for some chilly fun in the winter sun.

Not a good move. It seems that the llla, at almost 70 years old, has a touch of the "rumatiz". In essence, the curtain simply balked at the idea of actually moving at such low temperatures, prefering to wait until we got back inside.

So what is a poor prairie boy to do? I suppose the old girl (boy? are cameras female or male?) could do with a CLA to get it back into winter shape but I have no problems with it as long as I am indoors. Should I send it in for a nip and tuck just so I can stalk the occasional snow man or should I leave it be and choose one of the other several dozen cameras littering my livingroom for outdoor pursuits?

[doubs43]

I suspect old lubricant that stiffens up in cold weather but is fine when indoors. The IIIa also has the older shutter design without ball bearings and is more susceptable to slowing down in cold temps.

I suggest a good CLA and explain to the technician that it needs to be reliable in Canadian Winter weather. I'm sure there are lubricants - perhaps dry ones - that can be used to lessen the effects of freezing cold.

Walker

[SolaresLarrave]

This active lady of your probably needs a warm, cozy shelter before getting to perform. You didn't mention it so can I assume that you carried her (sounds better to me) into the cold hanging around your neck? :)

Let's hope that was the case... Because, if I'm right, for the next outing you'll have to nest it carefully inside your jacket until the moment you need her. And then, immediately afterwards, return the camera to the warm(ish) spot where you had it before.

Good luck! And let me add that I really like your writing style!

[back alley]

did you check the batteries?




hehehehe
joe

[2maneekameras]

Hello, I also have a 1936 IIIa, I have used mine down to about 0C/32F without problems. I always bring the camera into the house with me rather than leaving in the car overnight. Mine doesn't work well on the 1/40 sec setting in the cold but otherwise is okay. I really like the smallness(is this really a word?) of the IIIa, it is smaller than my feds or Leotax leica copies.

[Brian Sweeney]

My Canon Vt did the same thing. At the show, all was well including the slow speeds. After a hike in the Snow, no Go. The slow speeds did not warm up. It, and a Check for $138, are on their way to Essex in New Jersey. I will let you know how it turns out, but they have never let me down. They CLA'd a IIIf for me several years ago, and it came back like new. Did a great job with the shutter-capping problem of a Leica M3 that I bought here on RFF. The Leica M2 that they CLA'd worked fine in 10F with fast, blowing winds.

[Pherdinand]

That's a funny title:)
That's a funny reply, Joe, thanks for the laugh:D

Henry Scherer does "winterization" on Contaxes, make them work in min 20 C or less.
No i'm not suggesting that contax is better :D, nor that you should send your leica to him.
Only that it IS possible so keep looking.

[Nikon Bob]

Might be a good idea to treat the old girl to a CLA just to be nice. If you do go the CLA route is there any place in the Peg that does good work on Leicas?

Bob

[CraigK]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

So far I have learned:

1. The llla is in fact a girl. I've named her "Ilsa"

2. The batteries must be very, very small since I can't even find the compartment on the camera. Oh well, they are probably only available in former eastern bloc countries whose name ends in either "istan" or "ovia" and where the women generally have beards.

3. I should probably do right by the llla and pony up for some TLC (also known as a CLA)

4.RFF has now replaced several...uh..."mature subject matter" websites at the top of my personal favorites list.

[Pherdinand]

In my 28 years of "former eastern bloc" life experience i've never ever seen a bearded woman. I have seen, however, thousands of bearded men ready to kick your ass for such a comment, including myself. :D

You can send me your IIIc as a materialized apology for the comment you've made...

[SolaresLarrave]

did you check the batteries?




hehehehe
joe
Just reminds me of a guy in Photo.net, who posted an ad for a Leica IIIf saying that the lens contacts were clean.

And, there was another, who offered a Leica M6 for sale, claiming the shutter and self-timer were in great shape.

Craig, keep looking for those batteries! They used to hide them well back in those days...

[CraigK]

Pherdinand,

My sincere apoplogies.

I guess I should have qualified my "eastern bloc women" comment by stating that my only knowledge of them comes from televised olympic events featuring "women" athletes with prominent brows, 5 o'clock shadows and unusual bulges in their shorts.

Of course nowadays, it is well known that many former soviet republics are rife with hotties such as Anna Kournikova and that Ukrainian figure skater currently residing at the Betty Ford clinic.

By way of apology, I'm afraid I cannot send you the llla. But I could send you a half empty bottle of Absolut.

Or a photo of my relatives near Kiev that seems to support your claim. None of the women have beards...and the men look like they are in the mood for some ass-kickery

[Brian Sweeney]

Okay: Hidden Battery Story. I had a lot of fun watching a veteran camera salesman at Penn camera look for the batteries on a Nikkormat ELw. Finally he gave up and handed it to me so I could show him where it was hidden. Lock up the mirror, flip open the hidden switch, and try to replace the PX28 without screwing it up.

[CraigK]

This afternoon, just for a giggle, I took the llla into a photo store down at "the mall" . You know the type of store, the kinda place that employs young people wearing approximately half of the entire inventory of a Hardware Hank store in and through various home-drilled holes in their face/head/neck/nipple region.

So anyway I asked the young person (I'm still not too sure of the gender) if he/she had batteries for my leica. The reply....I kid you not..."We are out of them but I can order them in." I was also told that there is a new CF card that is faster and cheaper than the ones they had last week and that it was compatible with my camera.

Yes indeed ladies and gentlemen, your tax dollars are hard at work in the public school system educating the youth of today to a level just slightly above comatose.

[Tim S]

Craig,
If your IIIa needs a CLA, then Kinderman in Markham (Greater Toronto area) apparently has a very good technician who works on screw mounts, though I have not taken my IIIc to him. The Kinderman route might be less of a hassle than shipping to DAG or one of the other Lecia Screw mount specialists in the US.

As a former Winnipeger now in Toronto - which mall was the Expert Leica technician in???

[furcafe]

Yes, we've all been "instructed" that Leica is King (especially the shutter)! ;)



Henry Scherer does "winterization" on Contaxes, make them work in min 20 C or less.
No i'm not suggesting that contax is better :D, nor that you should send your leica to him.
Only that it IS possible so keep looking.

[Pherdinand]

Craig, - apologies accepted. I'm not a vodka fan, so you can finish the bottle. You can send the picture, you made me curious. :D

What's a "5o'clock shadow"???

[CraigK]

What's a "5o'clock shadow"???

An american idiom (http://www.englishdaily626.com/slang.php?049) refering to regrowth of facial hair late in the day.

The men on my mother's side of the family (Icelandic) have such heavy beards they sometimes shave twice a day. Even then they usually sport a five oclock shadow by diner time.

Somehow I missed that gene. I'm only capable of a rather ratty goatee.

[Bertram2]

So what is a poor prairie boy to do? I suppose the old girl (boy? are cameras female or male?) could do with a CLA to get it back into winter shape but I have no problems with it as long as I am indoors. ?

Craig,
I don't know HOW cold it is there but a mechanicical camera with such narrow tolerances like a Leica can have problems at temperatures constantly lower tha minus 10°C , and a old lubrication can get resionous which causes problems even at temperatures not so very low.
If I remember right in former times Leica recommended a winter lubrication for all cameras , which were used at very cold places ( minus 10°C and less).

I other words maybe a normal CLA can solve your problem if it isn't too cold and you can wear it under the coat mostly. If not give it a winter set up.

Best
Bertram
Nice signature BTW ;-)

[denishr]

Speaking of "winterisation" and low temperatures, I took my Cannonet GIII QL for a spin a while ago - to see kids' carnival on the main square. It was bitterly cold (-20 deg. C in the early morning), my guess about -18 to -15 deg. C...

In short, it was the coldest weather I ever used any camera, and I also had problems with Canonet, but not with shutter or anything, but with film, which apparently got too stiff, and I managed to tear a few sprocket holes. When it jammed, i.e. when I heard that awful tearing sound, and experienced problems in winding film for the next shot, I thought I tore up the whole film. Put the camera in my overcoat pocket to warm it up a bit, and then continued shooting. It froze again a couple of minutes later. I held it covered with both hands for a while, and managed to warm it up again, enough to wind again...

In short, of 24 exposures, there were sprocket hole tears in two places, and about 3 overlapping exposures. Not bad, considering the cold.

I should have taken the Leica, but didn't want to fiddle with a separate exposure meter.
BTW, the Canonet's meter worked OK in the cold.

All in all, I was amazed that the camera actually worked OK - the problem was with film, which froze.... As I almost did - after about 1/2 hour of bitter cold, I decided to pack it up and go home, for some steaming hot tea.... :)

Denis

PS. attached is a shot from that roll...

[RML]

Forgive me my giggling... hihihihihi. :p

So much trouble with the cold! Temperatures of -20 C, -25 C, even down to -35 C haven't stopped either my Bessa R, my Leitz Minolta CL or my Leica M2 in Mongolia! Even my Eos 300D kept on working nicely, though, admittedly, I returned it into my coat (not just the pocket) to keep it warm.

Only my M2 has had an CLA which it needed because it was rather beat up when I got it first. But the R and CL haven't, and they perform well in the cold. This time I kept them in a courier bag, which are not very warm, but still they worked right out of the bag. I'm wondering, do you guys treat your cameras as you would treat yourself at freezing tempts? Or do you leave them outside to fend for themselves, like Mongolian dogs? :)

I agree that the III probably would benefit seriously from a CLA. When you get it back, keep it inside your coat when you go out and it should work just fine.

[CraigK]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I think I will treat the old girl to a CLA. There is a good shop in Winnipeg and another in Toronto that offer TLC to weary Leicas.

As for cold weather photography, I think I will look to one of the other cameras lining the shelves in my studio. On the weekend I used my Deardorff/Ektar combo at -15 with no problems. The Mamiya 7 worked well at -20 until I tried to get a few long night exposures which proved a bit draining for the battery. The camera gave up the electronic ghost about half way through a roll of HP5 220.

Today the Himatic 7 gets the nod. The forecast is for a balmy -23 tonight and I will be at a local park with the dogs.

I have a Canon G6 digital camera as well but to be perfectly honest, in the three months I have had it, I've used it once...to photograph an 8x20 camera that I am restoring so I know how to put it back together. Other than that, the little digi-widget gives me no warm and fuzzy at all. I am sure it is a good camera, and I am not anti-digital (I use Canon DSLR's every day at the studio). Somehow, when I am shooting for myself, in the cold Canadian air, it just feels better having a collection of brass and glass, screws and gears in my mitts.