1936 Leica III

This an article I am posting in response to a post on the The Online Photographer, about collecting cameras ( click here ), the article raises some interesting points and questions , recently I bought my own little collectable camera, I would appreciate your thoughts…..

A few weeks ago I was in Victoria, B.C. and I bought a black-paint 1936 Leica III ( see picture above ) from a local camera dealer, it was owned by a local man, it doesn't seem to have been used much, just stored in it's leather case, or perhaps it was brought out for when the Queen visited ! as the camera was purchased in Great Britain. Right now it sits in repair shop in Toronto ( Kindermann Canada) as it needs a CLA ( clean, lube and adjust ) it would appear that the camera is all 100 % original, but its possible that it could be a "re-paint" its hard to to tell, it looks very clean, with no brassing, it doesn't ever seem to have been taken apart, the slow shutter speeds don't work, and film advance knob is a bit stiff and squeaky…… so do I have it stripped down and taken apart so it can be cleaned , lubed and adjusted or do I leave it as is ? in terms of a collectable, it's not a particularly rare model, but its kinda rare in the sense that the camera has hardly had any use for the past 75 years, I have been told by some people that it would be worth more in it's original condition and that taking it apart would de-value it. So I'm not sure, all though I am leaning towards getting it tuned up and operating properly, I have already run a couple of rolls of film through it and its a lovely camera to use ( see image below ) I have always felt that a camera should be used and not sit inside of a glass display case. Thanks for reading and again I welcome your thoughts, especially any Leica aficionados I will keep you posted as to what I will do with the old camera.


Royal Roads, Japanese Split Leaf Maple, Oct, 2011