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.

In the Footsteps of Ara Güler in Istanbul (Nov. 2024)

Ara Güler was a famous mid-century Turkish photographer (1928-2018). He recorded the lives of dock workers, merchants, sailors, stevedores, and citizens going about their daily lives. Ara was a member of the Magnum photography cooperative. 

"I'm looking for the reality that passes in front of me."

The Ara Güler Müzesi is located in a residential neighborhood in northwest Istanbul. The museum is in a converted beer brewery, a bit of a metro ride and walk from the normal tourist areas. It displays some of his original silver gelatin prints (meaning real photographic paper) plus artifacts from his working years. The number of prints on display is limited but well worth the visit if you like to view the work of photography masters.

Gular's well-used Leica IIIC camera with a later vintage 50mm ƒ/3.5 Elmar lens

Example of reviewing proof sheets and choosing the most interesting frame

Selection of frames from a film strip

Well, needless to say, I will never be an Ara Güler, but I tried to take similar pictures around the waterfront that show the bustle and activity of Istanbul. Güler was well known for his waterfront pictures, so let's walk in his footsteps.

On the Bosphorus

The Golden Horn view west with the Suleymaniye Mosque in the distance

The Golden Horn and the Galata Tower

Karaköy waterfront from the Galata Bridge

Fish market, Karaköy

Waiting for a fish, Galata Bridge

On the Galata Bridge

On the Galata Bridge

I took these photographs with my Leica M2 camera on Kodak Tri-X film, exposed at EI=250. Güler used Tri-X as well as other films from the period. He also did some color work, but I think he is mostly remembered for his B&W photographs.

Wandering around Istanbul with Portra 160 Film (Nov. 2024)

Dear Readers, Istanbul is an amazing city, but you know that. I had not been there for almost 20 years. It was time to return. 

Istanbul tourist map (from Masha Pasha Travel)

Istanbul was the center of great empires, even before the era of the Byzantines and Ottomans. Today, Ankara is the capital of Turkey, but Istanbul is the commercial, industrial, finance and tourist powerhouse of the country. History is all around you, everywhere. You walk and breathe history. Romans, emperors, Crusaders, Persians, Greeks, Turkomans, and a myriad others walked these same streets.

Most tourists stay in the Sultanahmet district. The Romans were here 2000 years ago. This is where Hagia Sophia and other amazing mosques are located. The sultans lived here in Topkapi palace. They built cisterns to store water and paved streets with stone blocks. 

In late November of 2024, Istanbul was still crowded, even though this was supposed to be the off season. And we had sunny, clear weather until the last two days of our trip. Summer, during the humid heat and the crowded tourist season, must be almost unbearable. Here is a quick overlook from my short visit.

View of the Bosphorus from Topkapi Palace (Pentax MG camera, 50mm ƒ/2 Pentax-A lens)

Topkapi Palace ticket

In December, ₺ 1700 was about US $29. That is quite a jump compared to 2005, my previous visit.

The Golden Horn with the Karaköy district in the background

Bosphorus view from the Asian side (Samsung digital file)

Ferry boats take you back and forth across the Bosphorus for a low fare. You may recall in "From Russia with Love," James Bond (Sean Connery) and the pretty Soviet cipher girl are on a ferry boat. He asks her to talk into his Rolleiflex, which is really a miniature tape recorder. Love that 1964 technology.

 

Turkish kitty in the morning sun near Hagia Sophia (35mm ƒ/2 Pentax-A lens)

Stray dogs and cats get medical attention and neutering in Istanbul. People feed them and treat them like pets that belong to everyone.

Interior of Hagia Sophia (Samsung phone digital file)

Few domes anywhere are larger than Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque. And this one was built between 532 and 537 by Byzantine emperor Justinian I as the Christian cathedral of Constantinople. It was an astonishing architectural feat for that era. It is a mosque again, so tourists can only access the balconies. The faithful can enter the main floor without fee. 

Arasta Bazaar - for the tourist trade (35mm Pentax-A lens)

You can have a Sultan or a warrior, too.

Many of the souvenir shops in the Sultanahmet area are expensive and sell merchandise for the tourist trade. Best to avoid. The ancient stone building is part of the Sultanahmet Camii (Blue Mosque) complex. Renting commercial space is one way how mosques make money to use for their operations and upkeep.

Büyük Yeni Han, Fatih District (35mm Pentax-A lens)

A Han in Istanbul was a covered building that served as an inn, marketplace, and warehouse. Built during the Ottoman Empire, they were centers of commerce, similar to caravanserai in rural Anatolia. This one, built in the 1700s, still had some workshops on the second floor, but many of the rooms/units looked unused. The brick section crossing the courtyard was a later construction.

Fatih rooftops from Büyük Yeni Han

Egyptian (Spice) Market

The famous Spice Market, also known as the Egyptian Market, in the Eminönü quarter near the Golden Horn, is modern. It was built in 1664. Isn't it nice to be surrounded by infrastructure that is still in use 400 years later? Compare and contrast with the typical crappy US strip mall, maybe 15 years old and already abandoned and trashed. At the Spice Market, buy your oregano, figs, Turkish Delight, and baklava. 

Don't feed the seagulls? Seems like it is done in Istanbul.

Grand Bazaar

The core of the Grand Bazaar (Büyük Çarşı) was started in 1455. It is a huge complex of shops and stalls selling jewelry, textiles, rugs, and souvenirs. Today, it is rather civilized, with LED lights, clean floors, and ventilation, and the merchants accept credit cards. 

In 1965, the Grand Bazaar was rather earthy. I miss the earthy. I wish I had photos of the earthy, but I think those family slides have disappeared. 

Well, you readers know what is next:

 

Dinner with a new friend

Time for a Turkish coffee and pistachio pastry. What else do you do after an exhausting day touring?

If you have never been to Istanbul, go. Just do it. 

More Istanbul to follow. I took these pictures on Kodak Portra 160 film with a Pentax MG 35mm camera and 35 and 50mm Pentax-A lenses. The MG is a consumer version of the compact M series of SLR cameras from the 1980s. I am amazed how well this little camera works. It does not have a manual exposure mode, so I used it as a point-focus-and-shoot. The Pentax K-mount lenses are superb and inexpensive.   

P.S., my 2005 visit:  https://worldofdecay.blogspot.com/2013/02/at-grand-bazaar-and-egyptian-market.html

---

Tourist Information.  If you need the services of a knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and patient guide, call Lale Kosagan at KSG Tours. She is fabulous.

Primitive but Fun: the 1965 Volkswagen Squareback

Blog Note: I published this a few weeks ago but withdrew it so that I could post timely pictures of the April 5, 2025, Hands Off protest at the Washington State Capitol. Here is the Volkswagen again. 

---

Ankara, Turkey

In the mid-1960s, my dad worked in Ankara, Turkey. He wanted to buy a car and ordered a 1965 Volkswagen Variant (known as the Squareback in the USA market). This was Volkswagen's Type 3 design, their attempt to cater to larger families with a slightly upmarket car compared to their classic Beetle.  

I am not sure why my dad did not choose the bus. I could see him in that kind of machine. But he opted for the little Squareback.

Small, medium, and large (not to scale)

1969 brochure, but the car looked the same as the 1965 model

I do not know if there were Volkswagen dealers in Turkey. I think he had never driven this type of car as a test. Volkswagen delivered the car to the docks in Istanbul. Awaiting delivery was common overseas mid-century. Dealers did not have parking lots covered with cars as in USA just waiting for you to drive one away. Normally, you paid a deposit, they ordered your car, and it was delivered weeks or months later. 

My dad was energetic. He took the train to Istanbul, picked up his shiny new car and drove it back to Ankara. How he negotiated the paperwork, I will never know. He had lived all over the world and was not intimidated by unusual bureaucratic issues. (But if he were still alive, how would he fare in modern USA, with every institution designed to make life clumsy, irritating, and inconvenient for the customer?) 

Hanging around, Farabi Sk., Çankaya District, Ankara, Turkey, 1965

At the Grand National Assembly, Ankara, 1965

This VW came with a 4-speed manual transmission, manual steering, manual drum brakes, and an almost non-existent heat system. The 54hp engine was a 4-cylinder pancake design mounted below the back deck, which left plenty of storage space. With the back seat down, you had a flat platform about 6 ft long. The car ran on very low octane petrol, which was perfect for Turkish use. The electrical system was 6 volt. There were no seat belts, but he added them in the USA. 

We lived in an apartment in the Çankaya District, which is still an exclusive neighborhood with embassies, museums, theatres, and better apartments. I spent part of 7th grade at the George C. Marshall Regional High School. We explored and visited Cappadocia, when it was a quiet backwater in central Anatolia. 

In late 1965, my dad's project in Ankara ended. We packed up, and, with me as passenger, drove the little Squareback west to Istanbul, and then on to Athens. I recall the back was well-filled with possessions. From Athens, on to Patras, and then the ferry boat to Brindisi. Then Rome and, finally, Genoa. From Genoa, it went by ship to Boston. We flew to London and then took a Boeing 707 PanAm flight across the ocean to Boston.

Belmont, Massachusetts

Living on Winn Street, Belmont, Massachusetts, 1969

My dad used the Squareback as his commuter car. We took summer trips to Nova Scotia and Ontario. I took driver education at Belmont High School in some behemoth Ford Galaxy, but practiced in the little Squareback. The car carried my friends and me on many hiking trips to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  

Living in the snow, Belmont, Massachusetts, 1969

Pacific Northwest

In late 1971, another adventure. We packed my possessions and drove west to Seattle. The poor little 54 HP engine could barely manage 70 mph on a cool damp morning on the Great Plains. By the heat of midday, 65 mph was maximum with the accelerator floored. 

My dad left the Squareback with me and flew home to Massachusetts. I lived in the dorms and parked in the parking garages underneath Lander and McMahon Halls. Covered parking! 

On the Bremerton-Seattle Ferry, Washington, 1973

Somewhere at Mount Rainier, January 1974

Stevens Pass, Washington, January 1974

The little Squareback took my friends and me on many adventures in the Northwest, to Crater Lake, Mount Rainier, and Mount Saint Helens (before it blew up). With the rear engine over the drive wheels, that Squareback could go up muddy logging roads or snowy passes in the Cascades. I also did a roundtrip to and from Boston in summer of 1972. 

One trip while cross-country skiing at Snoqualmie Pass, someone broke in and stole the front seats. The police gave me a crate to sit on, and I drove back to Seattle. I bought better condition high-back seats at a junk yard.

If I was camping alone, I could sleep at an angle in the back and close the hatch. But with two people, we had to keep the hatch open at the bottom and let our feet stick out. If it was cold, our breath would condense all over the windows, and it was a mess to clean off the windows considering the almost non-existent defrost system.

The heat came from the engine fan via a tube in the middle of the car. Two levers controlled the air flow. One lever opened the vents to the floor. That was reasonably effective if the engine was hot and you had been driving a while. A second lever was supposed to direct air up to the windshield, but very little warm air made it to the glass surface. In other markets, Volkswagen sold a petrol powered heater, but I do not know if this was available in USA.

I sold the car to a friend. and moved on. I wish I had bought a classic Volvo station wagon then. That would have been a smart move. 

The Squareback had a sad end. My friend and his wife were moving across country. The Squareback rolled down an embankment in some reservation. When my friend last saw it, tribal members were stripping wheels, seats, and parts from the car. I wonder if the hulk is still down there? So it goes....

 

Tom Tom's museum/junk yard, Moab, Utah

Another treasure at Tom Tom's museum, Moab, Utah

In the last two decades, I have seen maybe 2 or 3 examples of a Squareback on the road. I saw some sad examples in Tom Tom's VW disposal yard in Moab, Utah. No one seems to care about restoring VW's Type 3 cars. I see a surprising number of restored Type 1 (Beetle) and Type 2 (bus) in Olympia, but no Type 3s. It was reasonable technology that did its job a long time ago.