Leica III with 50mm Summitar f2 test
Whenever I handle an early Barnack Leica, Oskar Barnack was the driving force behind the creation of the 35mm compact rangefinder, his asthma preventing him carrying the heavy cameras of his day, I always get a sense of wonder. So small, so compact, yet dense, Barnack’s philosophy was that optics had to be superb to allow for the enlargement of the smaller negatives than the standard medium format of the day.
But this is a test report rather than the history of a camera. The III first came out in 1933, using the fully interchangeable 39mm thread mount. The III had slow speeds that the II lacked, with slow films of the day you needed them, and two advances – a magnified rangefinder to aid rapid focus, and strap lugs, no need to cart around the large never ready cases of the day.
Loading is the first challenge. The bottom plate comes off, no rear window like the later Ms, and the film leader has to be trimmed. Get it right, use a template or learn the hard way, and it slides in and bites rapidly. Get it wrong and bits of film end up in the shutter mechanism, and the film steadfastly refuses to advance. I’ve done it enough on my own early Leica that this is not a problem, but it’s one of the idiosyncrasies that makes these things a bit of a challenge at first.
All loaded up and equipped with a fast Summitar 50mm, continued lockdown meant the use had to be combined with my daily walks close to home. The Summitar largely retracts into the body when not in use, so it is ideal for concealment should my use of it be deemed inessential!
No meter, so I use my Sekonic spot to meter what I consider to be Zone V and expose from that. Other options are available, but I always meter.
Advance the film, set the shutter speed, focus through the rangefinder winder, then compose through the 50mm framelines of the viewfinder (it’s a bit small, I see why others use a larger viewfinder, and you will need those for different focal lengths. A little slow but you can learn to zone focus with the excellent focussing tab on the lens. The research vessel shot was a bit slow, by the time the yacht arrived, all was fine.
The Summitar is a little prone to flare, early ones are uncoated, the later single coated. The sun was bright and I had it shining just on the edge of the picture.
Up to the Citadel entrance, indulging my fantasy of using a 30s German camera surreptitiously to photography a military installation!
This lens is sharp. It’s soft at the edges at wide apertures, but frankly it’s up there with modern optics at small ones, and with a image quality I describe as serene. It is clickless, but the build quality is exceptional.
Below me, some vigorous swimming in early April waters. Exercise, but not as I know it! My walk continues, taking in the Polish Navy memorial below the Belvedere. The camera is lovely to hold, with its rounded ends, and I’m really enjoying using it. I never tested the low speeds, the day was too bright.
Finally back via West Hoe and then Millbay. The yacht Leander G, a super yacht formerly owned by the late Sir Donald Gosling was in for work and to sell, I wonder what the market is like at the moment, and a brilliant test for the resolution, sharpness and beauty of this lens. Some finishing work was also continuing at Princess Yachts in the sun.
Let’s not hold back, for some the manual nature of this camera will not appeal, for others it will be the idiosyncrasies, but for me that sense of connection to the early days of 35mm photography, the beautiful sense of precision engineering, if only I could play a recording here of the shutter sound – like a pistol clicking, and the size and feel in the hand, makes this a thing to covet. It takes great photos too!
This was shot on Orwo N74, marketed by Lomography as Berlin Kino – Russell has a load in stock, a 400 asa film that I shoot at 250 and develop in PMK Pyro. I bulk load it and use pyro to soften the grain.
I’m Charles Morgan and if you want to see other of my photos I’m charlesdamorgan on Instagram.
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