Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/08/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Unaccustomed as I am to being in the position to correct you Marc, I think the K for Contax winterized cameras was "K?ltefest" ie cold resistant. I can't really imagine that either the Leica or the Contax would have been easy to use when wearing gloves - or did they put enlarged knobs and other control elements on them?. Douglas Marc James Small schrieb: >At 04:40 PM 8/30/04 -0400, Chandos Michael Brown wrote: > > >>Damn, Marc, something with which we are in entire agreement: cold weather. >> >>But surely even Leitz recognized that all mechanical cameras don't operate >>infallibly under extreme cold temps. Didn't they offer a cold-weather >>variant of the Barnack series? >> >> > >Chandos > >After the German Army seized Norway, they found that their Leica cameras >would not function effectively in the Northern part of that Kingdom during >the winter of 1940/42. As a result, Leitz developed the IIIc(K), the last >initial for "k?gellager" or ball-bearing. This version had the >pin-bearings on the shutter replaced by ball-bearings. Later, Leitz found >out that only one ball-bearing was necessary and this has remained the rule >to this day. > >Zeiss Ikon was also asked to produce special cold-weather Contax cameras >and did so by producing a run of Contax II and, perhpas, III cameras with >almost no oil. These cameras are marked "K" -- though, in this case, for >"Kaltfest" or "cold-conditioned" -- internally and are not well known >though Bob Pins seems to be the expert on them. > >I have never tried to use a Leica I or II in cold weather. My Postwar >IIIc, IIIf RD, and IIIg, as well as my M3 and M6, seem to be unaffected by >ambient temperature. > >Marc > > >msmall@infionline.net FAX: +540/343-7315 >Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir! > > > >_______________________________________________ >Leica Users Group. >See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > -- Ihre bevorzugten Shops, hilfreiche Einkaufs-Hilfen und gro?artige Geschenk Ideen. Erleben Sie das Vergn?gen online einzukaufen mit Shop@Netscape! http://shopping.netscape.de/shopping/