Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/04/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]<<At 07:33 PM 4/19/2001 +0100, leica@davidmorton.org wrote: >I'm a little confused, is it a Minox product, a Rollei product, a >collaboration between the two or from another company entirely? The "Leica IIIf" and the "Rollei 2.8F" are products of a Japanese company. These cameras take Minox-format film. Marc msmall@roanoke.infi.net FAX: +540/343-7315 Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!>> Yes, these cameras are all made by Sharan camera, but in the USA some are being re-branded as Minox. So far only the Leica IIIf and the Leica M3 DS. Robert Rotoloni and I wrote a small piece for the NHS newsletter this month that shows the two Nikon F models. (black and chrome) There is also a Leica IIIf black and a Rollei TLR subminiature. These replicas are all cute and functional taking Minox 8mm film. None of them are "pro" cameras of course...but at least for me all of them have been good sellers to collectors who appreciate the nice look of them. The make accessories for them as well. In particular a flash that fits all of them (about $150) a leather strap, ERC's that mimic the real ones, lens caps ...in the case of Leica ones these are real chrome embossed caps w/red felt like for the Elmar 50f2.8 but smaller. (perhaps the nicest part of the whole collection!) I have shot them and they do just about the same job as a Minox camera does. Maybe not quite as well as my Minox B/C, but definitely better than the later cameras. That is my opinion enlarged to 4x6 and one (terrible) 8x10. Most of these sell for $400ish retail, but of course some have gone for much more and some now sell for less. Rumor is they have worked on licensing the name for a lot more of these...so if you love them "great" if you hate them...get used to it.<g> Many people have made the point to me when asking the price why someone would pick this over the actual classic camera it represents? Well, in the many I have sold, I doubt a single buyer didn't actually already have the original camera. They are an extra toy, not a replacement of course. BTW, this is not an ad for them, I'll do that in my Friday post coming shortly. I just got about five emails tonight asking me questions about these and I thought it might just be easier to write this short post in case anyone else is wondering too... cheers, Rich photovillage.com