Hard to find! 1940 Leitz Leica IIIb , CLA'd, Freshly Serviced!

Cleaned, Lubricated & Adjusted, Ready for immediate use!

There are times when camera collecting is incredibly difficult. It comes as moments when you’re asked simple questions like “What’s the best camera…?” or “Which is the most significant camera ever?” The brain starts working, the heart beats nicely and the mouth moves but if an answer appears at all… it’s a long and complicated one, full of design details, historical moments and personal rationalizations.

Fortunately answers come quicker when we are asked to feel more and think less…. Matters of the heart are easier to answer and to agree on. The eye and the heart have a directness and honesty that the brain lacks as it struggles to retain, comprehend and balance all the many details.  

So here’s a simple question for the heart. What is the most enjoyable camera of the 20^th century…? I don’t know about you, but I see the answer almost immediately. I can also feel it between my hands. And it’s a surprising answer because it runs counter to my technology oriented brain. What I see is not the most expensive, the rarest or even the most sophisticated. That evidently doesn’t impress my heart… which is why the heart and the mind are such a good match. They need each other for balance. The brain tells us what we think we need and the heart tells us what we want.

The most enjoyable camera ever….? I thought it would be a Pentax Spotmatic but it’s not. The winner is a screw mount Leica. It’s honest, it’s significant and above all it’s great fun to be with. The Leica is like the perfect partner that some of us search our entire lives for. It has that unique mix of something for the heart, something for the eye and something for the head. It’s that perplexing mix that insures we never tire of being close. And when you cradle it in your hands, you’re not simply picking up a camera… it’s more like being reunited with an old friend. A friend with rich sparkling stories of adventure and history, life and death, valor and treachery, lives and passion… And like a faithful friend it will go on and on recording our adventures, our children’s adventures and possibly be still there for our grand children to enjoy and to remind them of our life, excursions and adventures.

This camera’s own life is long and colorful. I can’t tell you the stories of where it’s been but I can tell you this Leica IIIb started its long journey of many roads and many years in 1940. Produced during the dark years of WWII, it witnessed a time and a place and a world that looked very different than it does today. Some 85 years later, it has a signs of use but other than that it’s managed to survive the war in remarkably fine condition. Most of these cameras were used very intensively during WWII. As a result many were worn out, damaged, lost or destroyed during the hostilities.  As a result, a clean fully functional Leica IIIb is difficult to acquire because it only produced for three years and only about 31,500 units were ever produced.

To make sure that this camera will continue to work beautifully for many years to come, it’s been carefully cleaned, lubricated and adjusted. This camera is fully functional. The shutter curtains run smoothly and are completely light tight. The coupled rangefinder image is easy to see which makes focusing quick and easy. The  viewfinder has also been cleaned and it’s clean and bright. The camera winds very smoothly and all shutter speeds, 1 sec. thru 1/1000^th are appropriate. The lever operated diopter adjustment (conveniently located under the rewind knob) works as it should. 

It comes complete with a film take up and a vintage leather camera cases.

All in all this is a wonderful collectable Leica. Just add your favorite lens and you’ll be good to go. The perfect company on your own search for that perfect picture, that perfect moment, when you discover that perfection isn’t about being perfect… it’s about being comfortable about yourself, your choices and following your heart.  

In case you’d like to read more about this fascinating model here a useful link: https://www.summichronica.com/leica-iiib