I finally got a Leica

[mhcfires]

After nearly fifty years in photography, I have a Leica! It is a wonderful little Screw mount Leica IIIa with Summitar 5 cm lens and Elmar 9cm f4 lens. Haven't yet used the Elmar, but have run a roll of tri-x with moderate success. Love the quiet shutter and the small size of this thing. It fits my hand so well, is like a feather compared to the old Topcon RE Super I carried for so many years. I have been shooting my 4x5 Speed quite a bit of late, this little camera is perfect for street shooting. I will be getting a 35mm lens as soon as I can come up with some more money. Glad I don't have to argue with a wife over more camera gear.

[fattyale]

Congratulations!! I'm jealous..

[LaGrassa]

Not too long ago, I acquired a IIIc with a 5cm f/2 Summitar and have added the same 9cm f/4 Elmar, and most recently a 3.5cm f/3.5 Summaron. I have run several rolls of film through it using combinations of all three lenses, mostly with B&W film. I am pleased with the results and I agree that it's a very nice "little" package. Enjoy! Remember to "trim" the leader of film when you load it. If you don't know what that means, let me know. It makes it much easier to load, although still not a very intuitive loading system. A Leica quirk I imagine.

[Ian Grant]

The IIIa is a great little camera, if you're lucky and have a good Summar then your lucky. My firts was poor, so I bought a far better Elmar, although I've a decent Summar too now. Mine needs use

Ian

[mhcfires]

I discovered early on ( with the first roll) that the leader must be trimmed. Having taken care of that problem, I have put one roll thru the camera, have another one in for the rest of this weekend. It has been raining (a rare event in Southern California) and I have to work tonight, so I probably won't get out today, but I'll have some time in the next few days to enjoy my new toy. I still like the Speed, but this is going to be fun, it is so spontaneous.

[vedmak]

the nice thing about leica ltm is that you can get tons of russian gear for cheap, try industar 61 LD, Industar 22, Jupiter 8 - all are cheap just make sure you pick those from man date 50-70 (best production years) they are newer and mostly better performers than old leica glass, that was probably mishandled and has scratches/fungus.

[Steve Roberts]

the nice thing about leica ltm is that you can get tons of russian gear for cheap, try industar 61 LD, Industar 22, Jupiter 8 - all are cheap just make sure you pick those from man date 50-70 (best production years) they are newer and mostly better performers than old leica glass, that was probably mishandled and has scratches/fungus.

Like the OP, I bought a Leica (1935 III) a few weeks back. Weekends have been wet and miserable since then, so I'm saving my first roll for the Christmas break. However, I did a bit of web research about using Russian lenses and one of the things that was thrown up was that the manufacturing tolerances of the Industar etc can cause the focussing to be considerably out when used on a Leica body. Apparently it's the luck of the draw. On the other hand, there are several references I've found to the Industar being actually better than the Elmar in terms of image contrast and no slouch in the other areas.

Steve

[Rhodes]

I have a IIIc and love it. After I adjusted the rangefinder, I liked her even much. You can load the film without triming the leader, but you have to put the shutter at T, with out the lens and with the shuter fired, adjust the film. Of course that triming the lead is possible better! Enjoy the camera and lens!

[Leighgion]

Yeah, you're a Leica owner alright. You're already referring to lenses by optical formula.

[df cardwell]

Have fun. Shoot, shoot, shoot.