Phil Koenig

 Leica (screw mount)

The original Leica. The purist’s Leica. Not so easy to use, which enhances the mystique.

Why are they called ‘screw mount’ (or ‘Barnack’) Leicas?

The original Leica cameras were designed by Oskar Barnack. They had a 39mm-diameter screw thread lens mount known as the Leica thread mount, LTM, or M39. Later Leicas, starting with the M3, had a bayonet lens mount.

Design aesthetics

The Leica screw-mount camera is a classic of Machine Age industrial design. Its beauty and historical influence is recognized by the Museum of Modern Art in New York whose permanent collection includes a Leica IIf.

The Leica takes off

Closely following the 1931 introduction of the Leica I (model C), the 1932 Leica II (model D) added a rangefinder. This established the essential Leica capability set and look. Subsequent models differ in details which are not too significant for my type of work.

The Leica II and subsequent screw mount Leicas have separate viewing windows for the rangefinder and viewfinder. Some find this inconvenient, but there’s an advantage. Because the rangefinder is not used for framing. it has higher magnification to help with focusing.

The Leica III started production in 1933, adding slow speeds selected using a dial on the front of the camera. The later Leica II models were essentially Leica IIIs with the slow speed dial deleted and a patch in its place. The Leica III models have all the capabilities I need and the Leica II models do 95 percent of it.

A long production run

Design updates were done through the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. The top shutter speed went from 1/500 to 1/1000, shutter speed intervals were changed, flash synch was added, body structure part-count was reduced, and so on. These variants are described in Matanle (1986) and elsewhere. The company continued to invest in the screw-mount product line even after introducing the completely new bayonet mount M3 in 1954. The last screw-mount Leica was delivered in 1960.

(References for Leica history: Rogliatti 1985, Matanle 1986, Gustavson 2011, Leica Photographic Equipment, Catalog.)

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

Copies of the screw mount Leica were manufactured all over the world. Copying began just two years after the introduction of the Leica II when, in 1934, the FED factory in Ukraine, USSR began mass production of the FED-1. (See the Zarya article for that story).

Japanese, Chinese, British, American, and maybe even more screw mount Leica clones hit the market later. Examples are in Gustavson 2011, McKeown 1996, and St. Denny 1989.

The screw mount Leica in use

The screw mount Leica is one of my top favorite cameras. My Leica IIIa (made in 1938) is the one I’ve used longest and the IIf is the most recently acquired. The IIf, being a "‘II’ model, lacks the low shutter speeds but has a bright and well-aligned rangefinder and that makes a difference.

Some Leica IIIc cameras, including mine, are covered in a rougher material called ‘sharkskin’ instead of the standard ‘vulcanite’. I like the sharkskin.

Screw mount Leicas are not the first choice when using lenses of different focal lengths, because an auxiliary viewfinder is needed. But the vast majority of my photography is done with a 50mm prime lens (or the focal equivalent in other formats) and these cameras work great for that.

Folding lenses

Folding lenses are a major plus feature. Both of my Leitz lenses are folders: the 5cm f/3.5 Elmar and the 5cm f/2 Summitar. With these, the camera + lens package is extra compact as shown below.

Compatible lenses from other manufacturers

I’ve started experimenting with Japanese Leica thread mount (LTM) lenses on my Leicas. With Leitz lenses increasingly difficult to find in good condition, high-quality lenses made by others are looking like an attractive option.

Canon made rangefinder cameras and lenses with the LTM mount well into the 1960s. Nikon rangefinder cameras (1950s) did not use the LTM lens mount, but the company made LTM Nikkor lenses that were supplied with Leica-copy cameras made by Nicca. LTM lenses were also made by Chiyoda Kogaku (later renamed Minolta), Tokyo Kogaku, Fujinon, and more.

Leica copies were made in the Soviet Union, and their lenses such as the Industar and Jupiter are also candidates.

Camera feel and ergonomics

The controls of screw-mount Leicas, and the way their bottom plates fit, have a smooth, precision-machined feel. They are compact and durable. The main operational downside is that they’re comparatively difficult to frame and focus, and film loading is an involved multi-step process.

Film loading

It’s not done the usual way. There is no rear door, nor does the back of the camera come off. Access is only from the bottom. Here’s the general idea:

1. Remove the bottom of the camera. There’s a drawing inside, showing how the film leader is to be trimmed. Leica made a template, but it’s not necessary and I don’t have one. I use a pair of scissors and follow the drawing.

2. Remove the take-up spool and insert the trimmed film leader.

3. Insert the film canister + film leader + take-up spool assembly into the camera, upward from the bottom.

4. Put the camera bottom back in place, and wind the film on, while checking the rewind knob to make sure that the film leader is properly attached to the take-up spool.

5. Manually reset the film frame counter.

There is a detailed, illustrated, step-by-step set of instructions for this in Emanual (1957). It’s a finicky process but after a few rolls of film it becomes second nature.

Loading from the bottom does have advantages:

1. Lack of a door or removable back makes the camera body stronger. No camera I’ve used, not even the Leica M3, has the solidity of a screw-mount Leica.

2. The bottom plate attaches to the body in a precision metal-to-metal fit. No need for the foam light seals used in the film doors of many 35mm SLRs.

Maintenance and repair

I had the shutter curtains of my Leica IIIa replaced in the late 1990s and that’s the only maintenance and repair I have done on any of these.

References / further reading

Cartier-Bresson, H. 1999. The Mind’s Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers. New York: Aperture. Writings by the master of the ‘decisive moment’.

Cartier-Bresson, H. 1976. Henri Cartier-Bresson. New York: Aperture Foundation. Masters of Photography series. 95 pages of photography and text by Cartier-Bresson.

Emanuel, W.D. 1957. Leica Guide: How to Work With All Leica Models From I to M3. New York: American Photographic Book Publishing Co., Inc.

Film loading is explained step-by-step, with illustrations, on pp. 13-15.

Gustavson, T. 2011. 500 Cameras: 170 Years of Photographic Innovation. New York: Fall River Press. The 500 cameras are from the George Eastman House Technology Collection, Rochester, N.Y.

Several screw mount Leicas are included, see pp. 224-227, 231-232, 245-247, and 264. Multiple Leica copies are written up: p. 243: Soviet FED-1; p. 248: American Kardon 35; p. 257: Japanese Nicca IIIS.

Instructions for Models — Standard, IIIa & 250 and Accessories.. n.d. Ernst Leitz, Wetzlar and London. Hove Camera Company reprint, Hove, Sussex, England. n.d.

Leica Photographic Equipment, Catalog No. 35. 1960. E. New York: Leitz Inc.

McKeown, J.M. and J.C. 1996. McKeown’s Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 1997-1998. Grantsburg, Wis.: Centennial Photo.

This has 14 pages on Leitz/Leica cameras and lenses, including a tabular guide to identification of the different models on p. 292 and a list of Leica serial numbers on pp. 293-297.

Matanle, I. 1986. Collecting and Using Classic Cameras. London: Thames and Hudson.

Morgan, W.D. and H.M. Lester. 1956. Leica Manual and Data Book. New York: Morgan & Morgan.

Museum of Modern Art, New York. Leica Camera AG, Wetzlar, Germany, 35mm rangefinder camera (model IIf) 1951-1956. Architecture and Design Department, Object number 1271.2018.a-c

Pritchard, M. 2015. A History of Photography in 50 Cameras. Buffalo, N.Y.: Firefly Books. The Leica I is camera no. 20.

Rogliatti, G. 1985. Leica: The First 70 Years. East Sussex, England: Hove.

St. Denny, D. 1989. Cameras of the People’s Republic of China. Leicester, England: Jessop Specialist Publishing.

pp. 75-78: The Shanghai Camera Factory made screw mount Leica copies from 1958 to 1963.