Sorry to repeat. I am still looking for SPECIFIC information on the Leica 111D. and would welcome any detail information on the existance of any known examples of this model.Article to be published in LHS journal and all contributions would be acknowledged.

-- David Seaman (Lincolnshire,England) (david@leicam.freeserve.co.uk), January 23, 2002

Answers

DAVID,

YOU MAY ALREADY HAVE THIS INFO BUT THE PRODUCTION RECORDS ARE INTERESTING ACCORDING TO MY RESEARCH BOOKS. THE IIID CAMERA BODY IS BASICALLY AN EARLY IIIC THAT HAS THE RAISED STEP UNDER THE REWIND LEVER. SHUTTER SPEEDS OF 1/30, 1/40, 1/60, 1/100, 1/200, 1/500, 1/1000, +Z O B. SLOW SPEED DIAL: 1 SEC., 1/2, 1/10, 1/15, 1/20, 1/30 + T. NO SYNCHRONIZATION, NO FILM SPEED DIAL, EXTENDIBLE REWIND KNOB. THE VITAL DIFFERENCE IS THAT THE IIID WAS SUPPLIED WITH A BUILT IN DELAYED ACTION, GIVING AN APPROXIMATE TIME DELAY OF TWELVE SECONDS. THE DELAYED ACTION IS EXTERNALLY SIMILAR TO THE TYPE USED ON THE IIIF AND IIIG MODELS WITH MINOR DIFFERENCES OF DETAIL IN THE ACTUATING ARM. (ON THE ACTUATING ARM WERE SIX CONCENTRIC RINGS CHARACTERISTIC OF THIS MODEL WHICH LATER BECAME FOUR WITH THE IIIF.) HOWEVER LATER DELAYED ACTIONS CANNOT BE INTERCHANGED AS THE INTERNAL MECHANISM IS DIFFERENT. THE CODEWORD WAS LOOTP.

THERE ARE NO KNOWN VARIATIONS. IIID'S WERE MANUFACTURED BETWEEN SERIAL NUMBERS 360002 AND 367325 AND AS CAN BE SEEN FROM THE TABLE BELOW, VERY FEW WERE PRODUCED. THE EXCEPTION BEING 1944 WHEN 290 WERE MANUFACTURED.

(YEAR) # PRODUCED 1939 1 1940 19 1941 61 1942 33 1943 11 1944 290 1945 11 1946 0 1947 1

TOTAL PRODUCTION = 427 AND AS SUCH IS RATED AS (RRR)

HOPE THIS HELPS.

MIKE

-- MIKE CREETY (PELICAN@PADDINGTON.ORG), January 23, 2002.

DAVID,

I FOUND THIS AFTER I POSTED LAST MESSAGE AND IT SEEMS TO ALTER THE "NO KNOWN VARIATIONS" DATA CONTAINED IN THE FIRST TWO REFERENCE GUIDES. THIS DATA IS FROM THE LEICA BY PAUL-HENERY VAN HASBROECK, SOTHEBY PUBLICATIONS.

THE IIID WAS THE FIRST PRODUCTION LEICA FITTED WITH A DELAYED ACTION MECHANISM FOR THE SHUTTER RELEASE. A CLOCKWORK DELAYED ACTION RELEASE HAD BEEN DEVELOPED FOR THE PROTOTYPE LEICA VI (WHICH NEVER WENT INTO PRODUCTION BECAUSE OF THE ADVENT OF THE M3). THEN LEICA EXPERIMENTED WITH A DELAYED ACTION MECHANISM SIMILAR TO THAT IN THE SHUTTER DIAL SET COMPUR LEICA. THE TIMER MECHANISM WAS THEN SUITABLY MODIFIED BY THE ADDITION OF A SETTING OR TENSIONING LEVER AND AN EXTENDED RELEASING LEVER THAT DEPRESSED THE FLANGED TOP OF THE RELEASE SHAFT GEAR. IN THE IIID THE DELAYED ACTION MECHANISM IS THAT ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED FOR THE PROTOTYPE LEICA VI, WITH THE DIFFERENCE THAT IT IS BASED ON A PRONTOR, NOT A COMPUR, SHUTTER AND WAS SUPPLIED BY GAUTHIER OF KALMBACH, THE PRONTOR'S MAKERS.

ALTHOUGH THE SAME MECHANISM WAS USED IN THE IIID AS WAS TO BE USED IN THE IIIF AND IIIG MODELS, THE MECHANISM IN THESE LATER MODELS IS MORE RELIABLE BECAUSE IT IS OPERATED BY A MAIN SPRING WITH A LONGER RELEASE.

(OF THE MANY VARIANTS) OF THE IIID THE FOLLOWING SHOULD BE NOTED:

1) THE IIID WITH SERIAL #'S 360,001-360,134 HAVE THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS: A) BLACK SHUTTER BLINDS, B)A BRASS SPINDLE FOR EITHER MOTOR OR RAPID WINDBASE COUPLING AND C) NO SLOW SPEED DIAL LOCK.

2) THE IIID'S WITH SERIAL #'S 362,401-379,266 HAVE THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS: A) RED SHUTTER BLINDS, B)A MOTOR COUPLING SPINDLE AND C) A SLOW SPEED DIAL LOCK.

NOT ALL EXAMPLES OF THESE TWO MODELS ARE FITTED WITH A SELF TIMER MECHANISM. EARLY POST WAR IIICS COULD BE CONVERTED TO DELAYED ACTION WORKING (THAT IS IN EFFECT IIIDS) AT THE FACTORY.

CAMERAS #'S 367,305 - 367,324 WERE PART OF A BATCH DELIVERED TO THE JAPANESE NAVAL ATTACHE IN BERLIN IN 1944. CAMERAS #'S 367,325 - 367,500 WERE DELIVERED TO THE UNITED STATES ARMY SIGNAL CORPS IN JULY AND AUGUST 1945; SOME WERE FITTED WITH GREY VULCANITE BODY SHELLS INSTEAD OF THE STANDARD BLACK.

-- MIKE CREETY (PELICAN@PADDINGTON.ORG), January 23, 2002.