Showing posts with label Olympic Peninsula. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olympic Peninsula. Show all posts

Saturday, May 17, 2025

Really Good Things in Small Packages: My Leica IIIG Camera

Background


The stock market behaved as every economist predicted in response to the chaotic tariff regulations. Our family assets sink with each burp of the markets. That is sure making America great again...... The popular photo blogger, Kirk Tuck, recommended folks buy any cameras they might want immediately. Hmmm.....  

I like that advice!! I suffered another bout of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and ordered a camera I have thought about for some years, the Leica IIIG rangefinder. A sale of Leica goodies at Tamarkin Camera in Chicago was too good to resist. The 'Bay lists tens of IIIGs for sale, mostly from Japan. But the Tamarkin price was a bit lower, and all his camera bodies have been checked, cleaned, and adjusted as needed.


The Leica IIIG




The IIIG is the last iteration of the famous Leica thread-mount camera line. Leica made this beauty from 1957 to 1960, with production of only about 40,000 units. Ernst Leitz GMBH had recovered from the war and was selling their top quality cameras and lenses around the world. Leitz had introduced their fantastic M3 camera in 1954, and the IIIG was their last and most sophisticated version of the older thread mount series. Unlike all the previous III models, the IIIG had a viewfinder with movable frame bars to show the coverage of a 50mm lens. It was a major improvement, although not nearly as sophisticated as the finder in the M cameras. 

Framing the scene that a lens will project on the 24×36 mm piece of film is always imprecise with viewfinder cameras. In the past, I have been frustrated with cameras that have a viewfinder only, such as my Vito BL, Kodak Retina IIa, and Leica IIIC. Depending on where I placed my eye, the frame shifted left or right. The projected frame bars in my Leica M2 and my Canonet cameras are a major improvement in aiming more accurately. Therefore, my new IIIG provides this improved function also (see, I just justified GAS). 

 

Leica IIIG viewfinder windows including small window to illuminate viewfinder frame bars


Like the older thread-mount cameras, the IIIG has two shutter speed controls. The dial on the front is for B (bulb) and 1 to 1/30 sec. The dial on the top controls 1/30 to 1/1000 sec. The self-timer is the lever on the front. 


Immaculate engraving and machining

The IIIG is somewhat of an anachronism today, being a mechanical camera that takes film and has no light meter. But it is more compact than my M2 camera, has a hand-crafted jewel-like precision, and has a fun factor that today's electronic cameras lack. And film has certainly enjoyed a revival compared to the early 2010s. Whether it lasts, I cannot predict. 



Loading contemporary film in current 35mm cassettes requires some preparation. You need to trim the film leader to have a tongue about 10cm long, similar to the way film was supplied in the 1960s. You load the film from the bottom. Lacking a back film door, the body is especially rigid.

I already had three 50mm thread-mount lenses that I used with my 1949 IIIC: 

  • 1949 5 cm ƒ/2 Leitz Summitar (in the photos above)
  • 1962 Soviet 50 mm ƒ/2 Jupiter-8 (a Sonnar type of lens)
  • 1950s 50 mm ƒ/1.8 Canon (late production model) 

So, of course, too many camera toys....   

Note: In 1999, Leica issued their 50mm ƒ/2 modern Summicron lens in a thread-mount version. Hmmm... 


Olympic Peninsula, Washington


On a sunny and cheerful April day, my wife and I set out north into the Olympic Peninsula. I mounted my 1949 5 cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens on the body and loaded a roll of Kodak Portra 160. Leitz designed this 7-element lens before the war and continued production until 1953 or 1954. My example is coated and unscratched. I measured light with my Gossen Luna Pro digital meter, set at Exposure Index 100. Here are some examples. Please click any picture to see details.


Hunter Farm, Rte 106, Union
Fix me up, Center Road, Quilcene (1/250 ƒ/5.6)
Fixer-upper house, Center Road, Quilcene
Waiting for repair with a bit of fungus, Rte 101, Quilcene

Skeleton man on patrol, Quilcene
Also waiting for repair, Rte 101, Quilcene
Rte 101 bridge over Hamma Hamma River (1/125 ƒ/8.0½)
Motel, Rte 101, Lilliwaup (1/60 ƒ/4.0½)
Country store, Rte 101, Lilliwaup
Oh, oh, no coffee here, Rte 101, Lilliwaup


Summary


OK, I am thrilled. This  IIIG certainly passes the test. The body looks great, the finder is clear and clean, film spacing is even, and exposure is uniform across the frame (meaning the shutter curtains are running smoothly). 

The old Summitar lens is contrasty on a bright sunny day. The center of the frame is high resolution. But it has serious field curvature and is not as uniform across the frame as a modern lens. On the scale of internet display, the frames look fine. The entire package is fun to use, with a mechanical watch-like precision. 

My recommendation: Buy a Leica thread-mount camera and get back to the basics of film photography! Have fun! 


Reading

One of the best reviews of the IIIG camera is by Mike Eckman


Appendix - Leather Case


Genuine E. Leitz case for Leica IIIG with short or collapsing lens

Tamarkin Camera included a traditional ever-ready ("never-ready") leather case. Such cases were ubiquitous pre-1975 or so, but they fell out of favor with most photographers. I had enormous bulbous leather cases for my Nikkormat and Nikon F cameras in the 1970s. 

I stopped using cases for most 35mm cameras years ago. However, the one for my Retina IIa was useful and compact, and the square one for my Rolleiflex 3.5E adds almost no bulk. Despite the criticisms, cases can be handy because you can walk around in a rain and have your camera protected. But the camera remains easily accessible. And, you can toss it into a backpack or the floor of your car, and it will be reasonably padded. 

The case above is beautifully made of molded brown leather. And this one still has good stitching. It is a compact model with short lens snout, probably intended for collapsing lenses or a small unit like the 35mm Summaron. My Summitar fits when collapsed. 

Leitz also made taller cases that, I assume, were designed to hold the camera and a mounted selenium light meter.

Would this be handy for a bicycle outing? The leather straps are old and need to be replaced for safety, and a light meter will need to be in another pouch or a pocket. Hmmm, something to consider.





Friday, October 20, 2023

In the Olympics with a Film Treasure: Kodak Gold 100 (Abandoned Films 07b)

Years ago, you could buy Kodak's Gold 100 color negative film almost everywhere. When I needed a color film that always produced excellent prints, Gold 100 was my usual choice. For the ultimate resolution in 35mm, I used the famous Kodak Ektar 25 (also long discontinued), but the 100 was more versatile and easier to use. Late in its life, Kodak relabeled it as Bright Sun 100, but I think it was the same Gold 100. 

As long-term readers know, I have a weakness in experimenting with older films. With some checking on eBay, I found a 4-pack of Bright Sun/Gold 100 (both names on the same package - not confusing at all) that expired in 2004, near the end of production for this film. The seller claimed it had been in room temperature all its life. It was certainly worth an experiment.

Here are some examples from the Olympic Peninsula in the grand Pacific Northwest. During my July trip there, I loaded a roll in my little Voigtländer Vito BL camera with its remarkably capable 50mm ƒ/3.5 Color Skopar lens and took snapshots. Please click any picture to expand.


Wishkah Blue Artists Studio, Hoquiam, Washington 

I photographed the little studio in 2022. This year, it looked a bit more forlorn. I am not sure how active it is.

Waiting to get moving, Hwy 101, Humptuips
Pizza Grill, Route 101, Lake Quinault

Lake Quinault is a gorgeous elongated lake in the west edge of the Olympic Mountains. I photographed the old Kestner-Quigley homestead farm near the lake in 2022. 

Sunsets West Co-op, Clallam Bay (with polarizing filter)

We stopped here en route to Neah Bay and bought some nuts and dried fruits. The food options in the far northwest of the Olympic Peninsula are rather limited.

Fixer-upper house, Woodland Avenue, Neah Bay
Tall house, Bay View Drive, Neah Bay
Red house, Bay View Drive, Neah Bay
Native Grounds and breakfast stop, Neah Bay

We stayed two nights in Neah Bay. It is a quiet little town on the Makah Reservation in Clallam County. From town, it is a short drive to Cape Flattery, the furthest point west on continental USA (excluding, of course, the Hawaiian Islands and Alaska, where Sarah Palin* could see Russia). At Cape Flattery, we saw some new birds for us, the Pigeon guillemot and Pelagic cormorant. And in town, we saw the Glaucous-winged gull. 

The Gold 100 experiment was a success. It is probably lower contrast than when new. I definitely like this version better than the new Gold 200, which is too grainy for my tastes. The 100 looks similar in resolution to the contemporary Portra 160, which I will probably use in the future once my 3 remaining rolls of Gold 100 run out. Maybe Kodak can reintroduce it (we can hope). My little Vito BL camera, with its 50mm ƒ/3.5 Color-Skopar lens, performed well, as usual. 

In the future, I will post a series of Gold 100 frames from the 1990s in New York City. Stand by.


* Sarah Palin was a former Alaska governor. She was a genuine ding-a-ling and doomed John McCain's presidential hopes. How does the R party generate these brash goofballs and then champion them? Is it a political death wish?