Leica IIIc Luftwaffe Engravings standard shutter

[Jim Lager]

Luftwaffe Leica IIIc camera with standard non K shutter
by James Lager

The Leica IIIc without the K shutter was prepared for the Luftwaffe between May 1940 and December 1942. I have researched examples in the range 361 thousand to 388 thousand.

Luftwaffe IIIc’s are engraved with Flieger number Fl.38079 ( an inventory/identification number denoting the Leica with 5cm lens) and the words Luftwaffen-Eigentum meaning
Air Force property.

Very early cameras occasionally have this marking across the rear vulcanite.

There are differences in the Luftwaffen-Eigentum engravings over time. The font can be stylized (early) or un-stylized (later). The shape of the letters and numerals is distinctive. A brief sampling is illustrated.

361528 July 1940 with marking on vulcanite

365664 November 1940 stylized font

368951 January 1941

388012 August 1942 grey paint finish

385780 August 1944

Text and Photos
Copyright James Lager 2017 All Rights Reserved

 

[Erik van Straten]

Rather strange that the number 388012 is from August 1942 and the lower number 385780 from two years later, August 1944. Is this correct?

Erik.

 

[johannielscom]

Very nice to see the progression in the engravings on these cameras. Helps to determine whether an offered camera is correct etc.

Were the vulcanite stamping and the engravings done at Leitz factory, or were these commissioned by the air force and carried out by another company or air force branch?

 

[lxmike]

Thanks for sharing, very interesting and informative

 

[Jim Lager]

Rather strange that the number 388012 is from August 1942 and the lower number 385780 from two years later, August 1944. Is this correct?

Erik.

Erik, Not unusual at all. Logic suggests lower numbers would be earlier.
With Leitz there seems to be no usual procedure. Numbers and delivery dates all over the place. Very confusing for the researcher. Thanks, Jim Lager.

 

[Erik van Straten]

Erik, Not unusual at all. Logic suggests lower numbers would be earlier.
With Leitz there seems to be no usual procedure. Numbers and delivery dates all over the place. Very confusing for the researcher. Thanks, Jim Lager.

Thank you very much, Jim. I will no longer see the numbers on Leitz products as logic coherent.

Thanks again,

Erik.

 

[Jim Lager]

Very nice to see the progression in the engravings on these cameras. Helps to determine whether an offered camera is correct etc.

Were the vulcanite stamping and the engravings done at Leitz factory, or were these commissioned by the air force and carried out by another company or air force branch?

Greetings Johann, Extensive research strongly suggests Leitz themselves
engraved the Luftwaffe issue cameras. The marking on the rear vulcanite
also appears to be done by Leitz. It is regularly seen on the Luftwaffe III and IIIb. Rarely on the the IIIc. I hope this helps. Thanks, Jim Lager.

 

[easyrider]

This may be a silly question but what did the Luftwaffe photograph with them?

 

[ProSimex]

This may be a silly question but what did the Luftwaffe photograph with them?

Luftwaffe related things

 

[Jim Lager]

This may be a silly question but what did the Luftwaffe photograph with them?

Greetings Easy, Anything connected to Luftwaffe operations. Aircraft, air fields, battle damage. Bomb loading, hanger operations. It is not a silly question. Many of the well known Luftwaffe photos were possibly taken with these cameras. Early cameras could have been on aircraft during the
Battle of Britain. Hope this helps. Thanks, Jim Lager.

 

[easyrider]

Thanks for the answer. Another thing I find interesting is that most of these and indeed even civilians' Leicas of that era had the standard 50mm lenses. The only ones with long lenses that I recall seeing were set up by propaganda units on the French coast during the Battle of Britain. There is a photo of them in one of Len Deighton's books.

 

[Jim Lager]

Greetings Easyrider, The Leica was normally supplied by Leitz with
a 5cm lens. The five letter codewords used during the 1930's and War years
identify which 5cm lens. Elmar, Summar, Hektor, Xenon, Summitar, etc. As an example the IIIc with Summitar in 1943 was labeled LOOKX. Focal lengths other than 5cm were supplied when requested. The PK used
plenty of Leicas and specialized long lenses as you suggested along the Channel Coast. Thank you for writing, Jim Lager.

 

[FUJINON]

Greetings Easy, Anything connected to Luftwaffe operations. Aircraft, air fields, battle damage. Bomb loading, hanger operations. It is not a silly question. Many of the well known Luftwaffe photos were possibly taken with these cameras. Early cameras could have been on aircraft during the
Battle of Britain. Hope this helps. Thanks, Jim Lager.

In the early Blitz attacks on English towns Liverpool, London,Coventry etc. the cameras found in downed Luftwaffe planes
were mainly reported as Leica IIIb's.

 

[sevo]

Greetings Easy, Anything connected to Luftwaffe operations. Aircraft, air fields, battle damage. Bomb loading, hanger operations. It is not a silly question. Many of the well known Luftwaffe photos were possibly taken with these cameras.

Most well-known photographs were taken by press officers. The pilot-issued cameras were intended for essentially clerical tasks - documenting aircraft damage, irregular display readings and the like. If any, they were frequently used off-duty for personal photography - and while the technical records the pilots were given the cameras for probably have been destroyed as irrelevant after evaluation or vanished in some archive, these private pictures sometimes have survived.