There is a label affixed to the inside of the bottom plate of my Leica IIIa No. 304168 (circa 1938). I am interested in learning why the label is there, and what is the significance of this label. Is this the vendor's label? I have attached photographs of the label and camera. Thank you very much. Dann

There is a label affixed to the inside of the bottom plate of my Leica IIIa No. 304168 (circa 1938). I am interested in learning why the label is there, and what is the significance of this label. Is this the vendor's label? I have attached photographs of the label and camera. Thank you very much. Dann

It's a dealer label. "Photo-Kino" ("Photo - cine") presumably indicates that the dealer sold both still and ciné cameras, the dealer's name is Jos[ef] Rodenstock. I presume the illegible word is "Nachf." ("Nachfolger" or "successor to"), "Optiker Wolff" was the previous owner ("Wolff the Optician"), the shop had branches in München (Munich) and Berlin. The last word is hard to read ("Bobraoptik"?), it means nothing to me, I presume it was a trade name "Bobra optic[al products]".

Regards,

David

PS: There's a guy here
http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=006sQr
with another camera from the same shop - the last word is "Robraoptik", which is apparently the name of a photo store in Munich (still in business):
http://www.photoworld2.de/photoworld/haendler/1,1582,0-178,00.html
Maybe a group of 3 dealers' shops (1 in Berlin, 2 in Munich) who all used the same sticker?

Thanks David. I appreciate your help on this one. I really enjoy learning about the history behind these old cameras. If infact, if this specific camera was sold from Robraoptik that makes things even more interesting. Adds a little provenance. Also being marked in meters makes me think it was not made for the US market. Possibly picked up in trade during/after the war.

From my own basic research Josef Rodenstock very well may be the same Rodenstock from the lens family . . .

Rodenstock History (http://www.rodenstock.com/rod_web/com/en/content.jsp?id=documents/0000/00/00/40/16531.xml)

I use their lenses on my enlargers.

Thanks again.

The optical company Rodenstock who make eyeglasses and photographic lenses was "G. Rodenstock", not "J. Rodenstock".

The optical company Rodenstock who make eyeglasses and photographic lenses was "G. Rodenstock", not "J. Rodenstock".

Thanks Seele. This may be so, but according to the Rodenstock line-up a certain Josef Rodenstock was the a founding member with his bother Mikey . . . . .Rodenstock entrepreneurs (http://www.rodenstock.com/rod_web/com/en/content.jsp?id=documents/0000/00/00/40/16535.xml)

Great News! We found it . . . "V" for Victory http://www.retrography.com/rodenstock.htm

It's the same Josef Rodenstock.

So, a question now is . . . did Robraoptik sell my camera or did Rodenstock supply the lens? I'm thinking it's the dealer label as David mentioned. Probably not found on most Leica cameras.




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There is a label affixed to the inside of the bottom plate of my Leica IIIa No. 304168 (circa 1938). I am interested in learning why the label is there, and what is the significance of this label. Is this the vendor's label? I have attached photographs of the label and camera. Thank you very much. Dann

The label is especially interesting because this camera obviously was sold by a dealer branch of Rodenstock Company in Berlin, it's founder (1877) was Josef Rodenstock.

Regards,
bertram