Re: What Have I Got? (leica carrying case)

[Arthur Wouk <awouk@nilenet.com>]

one suggestion, that this is related to the binoculars fails the first
test: i never heard of binoculars with different barrel sizes for the
two sides, and which disassembled for storage. i may be wrong!:-)

the second suggestion, below is much closer. the location for the
three film spools is exact. but my case lacks any space in which we
could place a camera body. i tried with my I(C) and it doesn't fit
anywhere. however, in the place where the ETGUS has a camera, i have
storage spaces for what i now think are two lenses. one accepts the
elmar 35mm perfectly, and the focusing knob has a place  to keep the
lens in place!. the other such place may have been fro a much fatter
lens whose length would not be very large, about 1.5 inches at most.

i had not thought of other lenses besides the thin elmar 9cm and the
hektor or elmar 13.5cm as filling the major spaces. the ideas about
the other, to me legendary lenses (i have never seen them), makes a
lot of sense. my imarect finder does not fit the place the ETGUS kept
the vidom in, but i can see a vidom fitting that space. so i can
assume that this is an accessory and lens carrying case, to be used in
conjunction with a camera carried in its own leather case, around the
neck! the discrepancy in depth between my example (2.75") against the
ETGUS(3.75") may explain why mine cannot hold a camera body, while the
ETGUS can!

i find the suggestion of a film template for the spring loaded holder
very reasonable.

i picked this up in my collecting years, and never could figure out
what many of the slots and holes in it were for.

>>i have a leather hard case: 7.75" x 9.25" (top cover) x 2.75" h
>>the top has the usual leather hinge and a carrying strap is attached
>>to the top near the hinge and goes through small ports attached to the
>>box to give a stable carrying position.

>Arthur,
>
>In Lager's Leica Literature book, there is a picture from an old catalog 
>that looks very close to your discription. The dimensions are similar but 
>not exact, but there are several very similar cases in the same catalog, 
>so I'd guess that they were a lot of different models and probably a lot 
>of variations over time, just like so many other Leica things.
>
>I was amused to see that there is also "the case for the lady," which is 
>a leather, art-deco Leica purse, "available in green, red, lilac, dark 
>brown and light brown as well as chequered browns." It has a "lunch box" 
>handle on the top instead of a strap. It looks like a toy. I doubt that 
>Margaret Bourke-White or Gerda Taro carried one of these.
>
>This is from a British Leica accessory catalog from 1935:
>
>ETGUS
>
>Brown solid leather case with sling strap (roughly 7 3/4 x 9 3/4 x 3 1/4 
>ins. in size) for the Leica with 5 lenses, viz., the 5 cm. and 3.5 cm. 
>"Elmar" lenses, 5 cm. "Hektor" or "Summar" 13.5 cm. "Elmar" or "Hektor" 
>(or the 9 cm. "Elmar"), the 7.3 cm. "Hektor" (or the 10.5 cm. "Elmar") as 
>well as the "Vidom" universal view-finder, angular view-finder (or range 
>finder of the standard Leica*), reflecting view-finder, frame finder, 
>four filters, three front lenses and three extra spool chambers . . . 
>Etgus
>
>* Only when ordered.
>
>
>The picture shows it absolutely crammed full of stuff, some of which is 
>hard to identify (especially since I don't know the LTM stuff that well). 
>As you look at the case with the hinge side away from you, there are 
>three spaces for film cassettes in the near left corner. The camera (with 
>lens) sits with its back against the side of the case closest to you. The 
>left side of the camera is against the film cassette holder in the lower 
>left corner, and tucks behind the second cassette holder. The lens 
>extends alongside the second and third cassette holder. The picture shows 
>a long lens (like a 13.5 cm.) attached to the camera, which is held by a 
>strap alongside the third cassette holder. Since it tucks in like it 
>does, it might not be obvious where the camera should fit (provided it is 
>the same case).
>
>Another lens (the size of a fat 90mm) is alongside the lens on the 
>camera, to its left, just past the third cassette holder, where there is 
>a strap for it. There is another lens/strap beyond the end of the lens on 
>the camera, and two short lenses sit to the right of the camera's lens at 
>right angles to it. There are a whole bunch of little flat pockets with 
>filter-shaped objects in them; from the discription I guess that some of 
>these are "front lenses", whatever those are.
>
>I don't see anything that looks like the little rod shape; I can't 
>imagine what this would be. If it can hold something thin and flat, 
>rather than round, the space might be for a film leader template.
>
>I can make a sketch and email it to you, if you are interested. The case 
>looks interesting and clever, but because everything is fitted for 
>specific individual pieces, it looks like you can't really deviate from 
>the set of items that the case is designed for 
>
>- - Paul