Leica iiif (1954) - One Roll Review
Leica iiif - One Roll Review
Barnack Leicas are not known for being street shooters in modern age. Everyone wants a Leica M6 with a fancy light meter. After I did a CLA (Clean Lubricate Adjust) on the iiif, its ready to be taken out for a street walk. I had 30 minutes before sunset and a roll of Ilford HP5 Plus on that cloudy day. I pushed it to 800 iso as I was not really trying to do fine art photography with blurry images that evening.
Initial thoughts
I’m not entirely alien to the Barnack Leicas. I have used a iiia, iiic, ii, iiif before. This is my second iiif RD (Red Dial) ST (Self Timer). I always used them as a secondary camera as it’s hard to take them seriously with their small viewfinder and a weird form factor. Anyone who picks up these cameras will have the same thought, except if you have been only shooting plastic point and shoots and you are upgrading to this. But trust me, they are very able cameras. You can almost do anything with this! Barnack Leicas are better than any analog M cameras except for the viewfinder / rangefinder department. M cameras clearly has the best viewfinder in any rangefinder camera. That’s a fact.
External Viewfinder
I have a 5cm external viewfinder from Leica which is bigger and brighter than our eyes when we saw toilet paper in the supermarket when the pandemic hit. Don’t believe me?, just try one for yourself. One of these viewfinders permanently lives on my Leica M8. Composing image with this is just fantastic! It’s a game changer for real.
Rangefinder / Viewfinder
There is a separate RF and VF Windows. Leica hasn‘t figured out to put them together yet. The RF has a magnification of 1.5x that is higher than any M cameras. The highest magnification you get on a M is on the M3 (The first Leica M) which has a 0.91x magnification. Theoretically, you should be able to accurately focus than on a M.
Shutter Speeds
The camera has 1/25, 1/50, 1/75, 1/100, 1/200 instead of the usual 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250. The camera also has 1/500 and 1/1000th sec if you need to capture that Blitz fast moving action. You need to lift up the shutter dial to change the speeds. You can only change the speeds after cocking the shutter. You’ll get used to it as you start using it. This camera has more shutter speeds than any analog M Leica. That for me is a pro as I shoot a lot of evening / indoor pictures.
Shutter sound
It’s ridiculously quiet compared to any M cameras. The sound is so satisfying that I was firing the camera until my fingers hurt. You will never get tired of listening to this sweet sound.
Flash
The „f“ in the iiif stands for flash. The flash sync speed is 1/50th sec which was an improvement over the previous 1/30th sec on the previous models. But you are not buying this camera for it’s amazing flash sync speed.
Size
It’s incredibly small and compact. (Leica ii is even smaller). In camera world, smaller is always better.
Built
All the cameras are made of brass in Deutschland. It feels very Stabil in hands. Nothing feels billig. Hey, das ist eine Leica! The black Leicas go for higher price than chrome.
Lens
Most cameras that are on sale comes with an Elmar 5cm f3.5 lens. Imho, its one of the best lenses Leica ever made. It’s an extremely well made lens for its time. Some dust and few scratches shouldn’t scare you. Haze and fungus is a deal breaker for me as they screw with the contrast of the image. There are many LTM (Leica Thread Mount) lenses that are so cheap. One such lens is Summitar 50mm f2 (the predecessor of Summicron), which I have used. They are fantastic. Good luck finding one without scratches, dust, haze and fungus.
Shooting experience
It’s so much fun to use this on the street as it is a very different camera. It is slow to use so it makes you think a lot. The experience is artistic. The camera lets you travel through time and use the best technology mankind had to offer at that time. In a way it’s a time machine. It’s a timeless machine. Happy hunting!
