Leica III with flash sync added on top plate

[Ronald_H]

Hi all,

Found a black 1936 Leica III on the auction site. Seller is from the Netherlands so I can probably see before I buy.

Pictures look very nice, the cam seems genuine (I learned a thing or two since I first came here :D)

'Problem' is that somewhere during the last 70 odd years a flash socket was added on the top plate, right through the 'Leitz Wetzlar' engraving. A bit ugly.

What would be a 'normal' price for a camera like this? Yes, I know the drill, check previous auctions etc., but I've never seen a camera like this before.

Edit: The camera comes with an Elmar lens.

[Mr_Flibble]

What a coincidence, Ronald. I have also Leica III with a PC flash-sync in the same spot. Mine has a chrome top plate though and I bought it from someone here on the RFF.
I guess it would cost a bit less then an unmarred III. But the black finish, if still good, should up the price a bit too.

If I recall correctly I paid $175 for the camera body.

I've been meaning to try the flash socket, but up to this point I've never done flash photography, certainly not with a Leica.

What would be a good flash to use with this camera? I prefer something hand-held.

[Ronald_H]

Frankly I would rather buy it without the PC flash sync. Flash and Leicas don't really go well together, I'd rather use a fast film and lens and use flash with a dSLR in the studio.

Can't really help you with a suitable flash. You will have to meter manually of course, unless the flash is sophisticated enought to do it. But other will chime in with suitable candidates soon enough ;)

[john neal]

Ronald,

Black body prices seem to be on the up (well before the credit crunch anyway). I have seen mint- bodies at around GBP250, plus another GBP70 to 100 for a useable Elmar. I would guess that the flash socket kills any collector interest in the body, regardless of general condition, so I would guess around GBP100 for the body if it is working correctly, a little less if it needs a CLA.

Having said that, I guess it always comes down to how badly do you want it?

[Frank Petronio]

I've seen that auction and it is a very nice camera and the PC socket installation looks very professional, so it would probably be a good "user". I think the prices are a bit higher than the estimates above, in the mid-$300 USD range.

With a simple auto flash like the Vivitar 283, you can set the aperture and the flash for f/5.6-8-11, etc... and fire away. It has an "eye" that judges exposure. You simply get a short "Vivitar to male PC" cable. Of course the flash photos will still look like awful on camera flash photos ;-)

[Mr_Flibble]

With a simple auto flash like the Vivitar 283, you can set the aperture and the flash for f/5.6-8-11, etc... and fire away. It has an "eye" that judges exposure. You simply get a short "Vivitar to male PC" cable.

Thanks Frank, I'll have a look.

[Ronald_H]

Having said that, I guess it always comes down to how badly do you want it?

Not that badly. But when the days are getting longer I find myself idly passing the time by looking for nice cameras. I'm not a collector, but I'd like to have a LTM Leica one day. Preferably a black, converted I, as old as possible, without getting into dangerously (and expensive) collectable ones. Oh, and it should work, because I intent to use it. But basically any usable pre-war Leica would do. I could buy an early Zorki or FED, but I have never seen one I wanted to own.

In the last two years or so I bought/was given a Nikon FM, 2 FE's, an EM, a Canonet GIII QL 17, a FED5 and a Leica M2. Only the Leica was anywhere near expensive. The rest I got for pocket money or less.

But there are cameras out there that have always intrigued me, and now are actually within reach budget wise. A Yashicamat 124 for example (OK, I wanted a Rolleiflex, but sometimes common sense cuts in). Or a Hassy 500 C/M. Or a Leica M3... you get the idea. But I'm a photographer first, a gearhead second.