Looks like a piece of junk, right? But it’s a Leica, apparently a IIIC, and by the serial number #386955, it has been made in 1941-42. The lens is a fabulous Summitar, 50/2, and this (also apparently) has been made in 1940, marked in the Leica Lens serial numbers chart as a “Luftwaffen”, with only 5000 of them made. Suddenly, this camera is not to be looked at as to a piece of junk, methinks.
However, the feeling may persist somehow: this camera is in a poor condition; it stood forgotten on a shelf, and not used at all in the last 40 or so years. The former owner used it last in the 80s for reproduction work, and that was it. It was relegated to the basement, where nasty things happen to good old cameras, we all know this.
Mind, I am not a specialist in repairing cameras, and I am certainly not a connoisseur of Leica, far from it. But from what I can tell, the camera has the following issues: shutter cloth is moulded here and there, shutter speeds erratic (the long ones are definitely not there), the body cover – vulcanite – is long gone, rust or oxides on the metal of the body, lens is dusty (no fungus or anything like that present or that I can see), shutter release collar missing, the rangefinder viewer is cloudy and I can barely see anything, the long speeds dial is stuck at 1/30. So yeah, this is a long job for anyone who’ll attempt to clean and re[air this great piece of technology.
And repair shall be done, because I want this to be in good working order by the summer. I have a lot of plans with it, when travelling again to some European countries. Oh, imagine shooting the old town of Dubrovnik with this beauty, loaded with some Ortho 80, a film which is on my top list.
One may ask why do I bother? I can always buy a very decent similar camera, without all the faults this one has, serviced and ready to roll. And one would be right; however, this is a gift from a very good and close friend of mine, who used to be a great photographer back in the 70s and 80s, but he slowed down his film shooting days to almost none now. I was very grateful for his gift, so I will send this to be repaired. I’ve a mind of honouring his gift and his friendship by doing so. And yes, I am aware of the costs.