Reid LTM Reid III

Reid M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
My understanding is no, though there may be some similarity in design (perhaps someone has the diagrams). There's a clear difference in appearance, with the lens on the Reid marked as a 2 inch/2 "Taylor-Hobson Anastigmat" & collapsible, whereas the lens on the Foton is a 2 inch/2 "Taylor, Taylor & Hobson Cooke Amotal Anastigmat" & rigid. Having both, I would say the lens on the Reid is a bit better than that on the Foton.

So is the T2.2 Amotal 50mm on the Foton the same lens as comes standard on the Reid????

David
 
After the demise of the Bell & Howell Foton system, many of the Cooke Amotals were bought by U.S. Leica dealers to be adapted to LTM & sold with Leica bodies. This was done in order to circumvent existing retail price maintenance rules, i.e., at that time, a Leica dealer could not sell Leica cameras at a discount unless they were packaged with a non-Leitz lens. Fast forward 60+ years, & today, you will occasionally see Reid bodies sold with adapted Cooke Amotals from Fotons rather than the original standard collapsible Anastigmat, causing some confusion.

The T&H was the standard lens for the Reid from the beginning. Not quite sure how the other lenses came into the frame.
 
Sizes etc

Sizes etc

Hi,

How about a British machine shop having all its tools calibrated in inches and the Leica being designed around millimetres? Compare using a lens marked in feet with a range-finder that's marked in metres.

So you do a conversion using maths and the answer runs to 5 or 6 decimal places: or you go for the nearest sensible Imperial size...

Years ago in the 70's I needed a metric micrometer and it took a while to find one. Everyone had them in inches, of course.

Regards, David
 
I don't have a Leica IIIb, but compared to the IIIc & IIIg, the Reid III is certainly as well-built if not better. IIRC, in my discussions w/Don Goldberg ("DAG"), who got 1 of mine into working condition, he said that many, if not most, of the Reid & Sigrist parts are not interchangeable w/Leica because they are smaller & made to tighter tolerances.

As far as the Taylor-Hobson 2"/2 Anastigmat, I would mostly agree w/Mr. Hicks that it's comparable to the collapsible Summicron, but more flare-resistant (in my experience, anyway) perhaps because of better coatings. I've never used a Summitar, so have no basis for comparison there.

How would you compare the TTH Anastigmat on the Reid to the Amotal on the B+H Foton ?


David
 
I was only reading about the Reid cameras last night, These cameras were built to imperial measurements and not metric.
Not entirely, e.g. the 39mm x 26 tpi lens mount. Also (as the mount illustrates) Leicas were not exclusively metric. Where were you reading about it? I'd trust some sources more than others.

Cheers,

R.
 
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