Re: [Leica] Help Needed for Leica IIIf purchase!!!

["Jason Hall" <JASON@jbhall.freeserve.co.uk>]

Yannis

As has already been pointed out by others that price is too high and
do you really want a screw mount Leica?  The screw mounts are great
cameras but not as user friendly as say an M2, for less than the £800
youve been quoted you should be able to pick up a clean M2 with 50/2
Summicron from Jessops, this would be my choice if I was planning to
spend that much.

Having said that I have a IIIC and a IIIC/F they both came with 50/2
Summitar's, the IIIC cost me about £290 (including £100 for new
shutter curtains and CLA) and the IIIC/F was around £250, both users
but quite clean looking, I bought them both on the infamous ebay.  The
IIIC is a cheaper alternative to the IIIF and the only major
difference is the flash sync.

Regarding the Summitar, it is a nice lens if you like a slightly soft
look but its nowhere near as sharp as modern glass, I use mine a quite
a lot but increasingly I find myself wishing I'd used something
sharper, particularly at f2.  You might also want to check the
aperture blades on the Summitar, the Hexagonal aperture Summitars have
less smooth Bokeh (out of focus areas) in my opinion, if you have a
choice get the one that doesnt have the Hex aperture.

Jason Hall

- ----- Original Message -----
From: "ioannis mylonakos" <i_mylonakos@hotmail.com>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2001 12:59 AM
Subject: [Leica] Help Needed for Leica IIIf purchase!!!


> Dear friends hi,
>
> I have recently joined the LUG as the result of my search on the net
for
> information about the Leica IIIf, a camera which I intend to buy in
the near
> future.
>
> I am an amateur photographer myself and my main photographic
interests are
> in B&W photography. My photographic experience involves mainly SLR
cameras
> and at the moment I own a MINOLTA T-101 (inherited by my father) and
a NIKON
> F-70 (N-70 in the US) which I bought some years ago. I have a quite
good
> knowledge of the SLR cameras and accessories' market since I have
been a lot
> of times around looking for new or used pieces of equipment for
myself or
> friends. However, I never had the opportunity, nor the money, to
consider
> buying or even looking to buy a Leica camera, up to now. The
increased cost
> of a Leica SLR along with the cost of a decent range of 2-3 lenses
that
> would be required to complete my photographic needs did not allow me
to
> "taste" a Leica before.
>
> About one and a half week ago I visited the local Autorised Leica
dealer as
> part of my montly visit to the various second hand photographic
dealerships
> in the city where I leave. There I saw and I fall in love almost
> immediatelly with a second hand Leica IIIf. Not knowing too much
about the
> camera itself I stayed at the window staring at it trying to figure
out its
> condition and its technical characteristics from what was written on
the
> body and the lens. The camera looked realy clean and after a word I
had with
> the dealer has been on the self directly from its original owner.
The dealer
> showed me also the original receipt of purchase which dated back in
1950s,
> somewhere in Germany. I checked the camera and the condition of it
seems
> really good. It is a Black Dial Model and comes along with a
Summitar 50mm,
> f2 (I hope to describe it correctly)lense, which is in the same
condition
> with the camera. The price the dealer asks for the set (body and
lense)is
> 795 British Pounds ($1,150).
>
> After my first encounter with the camera, I tried to find
information about
> it on the internet and have managed to read some things about it on
several
> sites. However, I have not the experience to understand whether the
amount
> of money the dealer is asking for this camera is within a reasonable
range.
> On the same window (of the shop) there were displayed two more
IIIf's, one
> with Red Dial and Timer mechanism and the same exact Summitar lense,
whose
> body and lense were showing evidencce of extensive use, priced at
450
> British Pounds ($650) ; and another one almost brand new, with a
Summicron
> lense 50mm, f2 (hope to display this info right too!!).The price for
the
> latter was 1,000 British Pounds ($1,440). Searching through the
internet in
> sites like eBay, Jessops and other on-line shops I found the same
camera at
> prices around 300-450 British Pounds ($430-650), some of which
showed
> evidences of bad use, but some of them were pretty ok.
>
> I am really keen on buying the camera I found, even if this means
that I
> have to live in a tighter budget for the rest 3-4 months. I just
wanted to
> know from anyone that has bought such a camera in the past or is
aware of
> the market (US or UK preferably) for these, whether the price of 795
British
> Pounds (about $1,150) is reasonable or not for the body/lense set of
the
> Leica IIIf described above. I would also appreciate any comments on
what to
> take into consideration before the purchase, or any information
about the
> technical cahracteristics of the camera ( or even relevant internet
sites).
>
> I am sorry if I have been too long.
>
> Regargs,
>
> Yannis.
>
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