I saw this question posted elsewhere, and it made me curious. Who's shooting with the oldest Camera and Lens on this forum. (Must be Leica, of course.) I know a lot of people use the M3, which is a fifty year old camera. (Leica '0' doesnt count) I'm shooting with a Leitz M6, circa 1984, and an Elmar-M 50mm 1:2.8, circa 1995(?).

-- Glenn Travis (leicaddict@hotmail.com), April 01, 2002

Answers

I still regularly use my 1934 Leica III with a uncoated 50/3.5 Elmar from 1936.

-- chris a williams (leicachris@worldnet.att.net), April 01, 2002.

I have a Leica M3 made in early 1955 that I use from time to time. My M6 TTL 0.72 is used daily.

-- Muhammad Chishty (applemac97@aol.com), April 01, 2002.

Y'all have me beat. My oldest Leica body is a '59 M3, oldest Leitz lens a '54 collapsible 9cm Elmar. Other than that, I have a Nikkor f/2 8.5cm in LTM that's from around '53-56. However, I routinely shoot w/some of my old Zeiss glass for Contax RF (dating all the way back to '36) on my Leicas (mounted via adapters).

-- Chris Chen (Wash., DC) (furcafe@NOSPAMcris.com), April 01, 2002.

Just came back from a short visit in town. Shot some pics with Leica C s/n 59000's circa 1931 with Elmar of same vintage. I am the third owner of this camera, previous owner purchased it second hand in London during WW2 and it was his regular camera until I acquired it. I run a roll through it roughly 3 times a year, works wonderfully and makes me slow down and enjoy photography.

-- Peter J. Hanlon (peter.hanlon@3web.net), April 01, 2002.

My oldest body is a 1937 IIIa; oldest lens is a 1950 5cm Elmar f/3.5. I use them just enough to keep them from gumming up.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), April 01, 2002.

i often use my 1c (as in little "c"), circa '31 or '32 i think. similar to the standard, but with a diff rewind knob. i use it exclusively with the CV 15mm. i had to remove (unscrew) the original finder so that the voigt finder would fit in the accessory shoe. i bought the camera (and another like it) from Andrews camera in the uk after i saw it featured in an amateur photographer piece on old screw leicas. it has been completely overhauled and works like a dream. if it only had strap lugs!!

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), April 01, 2002.

My oldest active camera is an IIIf with uncoated pre-war Elmars of various focal lengths. I am waiting for the new VC rigid 50/3.5 (or is it a 50/2.5) to permanently mount on it. The VC Bessa-T 101 with at marvelous coll. 50/3.5 is certainly tempting though! The last ancient lens I bought, the Hektor 135mm is quite a performer. Leitz never seizes to surprise me.

-- ray tai (razerx@netvigator.com), April 01, 2002.

My son-in-law still uses the IIIc with the 3.5/50 Elmar that I aquired in Germany in 1945. He hates cutting the leaders, but he still gets better than acceptable pictures. He loves the built-in diopter correction. (He's a Nikon nut - - so please forgive him for stuffing the IIIc into his pocket at every opportunity < grin >)

-- George C. Berger (gberger@his.com), April 01, 2002.

My oldest camera in use is a 1939 Leica IIIc converted to black dial IIIf. Very potent camera and many girls from the street compliment its looks more than my own self :)

-- Alfie Wang (leica_phile@hotmail.com), April 01, 2002.

Thanks for asking, I never looked before. My model II (#93xxx) is one of the first batch of rangefinder Leicas ever issued (on 1.2.32). It is in shiny black enamel and in superb condition except for one tiny worn area on the front of the accessory shoe. It was CLA'd by DAG last year and still functions perfectly, although next time I'll ask him to remirror the rangefinder, which is getting a little dim for these old eyes. I generally use it with one of the very last 50mm f:3.5 Elmars or a 50mm f:1.4 Nikkor, and keep kicking myself for not buying one of the new LST 50mm Summicrons from Tamarkin before they were snatched up. It was "liberated" by my best friend's father during WW2, and one day after the old gentleman passed on, it arrived, unannounced, in my mailbox. That's what I call a real friend.

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@comcast.net), April 01, 2002.

My IIIa and Summar, both from 1935, are both superbly made and function brilliantly. Readers might like to check out Don't hide 'em, use 'em, by Clyde Campbell at www.lhsa.org under Viewfinder articles.

-- David Killick (dalex@inet.net.nz), April 02, 2002.

I have just started a photo project with my 1929 1A with short focus Elmar for the college. I have taken 7 pics so far. I still use my 1936 III regularly.

-- Tony Brookes (gdz00@lineone.net), April 02, 2002.