Found a Box of Old Cameras

[Every Miles A Memory]

A good friend of mine showed up at my house the other day with a box of old cameras.

His dad recently passed away and he found this box in a closet. There are some immaculate condition Leica's and old glass plate cameras from when his dad was stationed in Germany in the 30's.

I tried to do the typical Google Search but cant really come up with anything other than a few similar cameras being sold on Ebay and most of them arent near the mint condition these are in. Most of them have leather cases with directions (All in German) and documentation to go with them.

Anyone know of a place in Florida to bring some antique cameras to or anyplace in the United States that specializes in this sort of thing. I dont really think going to the nearest Antique place around my area would tell me what these are worth honestly

I'll try and get some photos of the stuff to post up later. Heck, right now, we're still trying to figure out how to open them all up and see what is in there.

 

[ywen]

Id love to know what you have and perhaps offer a price for them

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

 

[7wt]

Put a post up on the Rangefinder and they will be gone PDQ.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/modules.php?name=Jig

 

[matt s]

Those leica's are likely worth a bit. I would start in one of the camera forums for info. Rangefinder would be a good place to start.

 

[Lost Canadian]

Pat, what are the serial numbers on the Leica's? I'd contact Stephen Gandy at CameraQuest, he should be able to help you. His email is CameraQuest@earthlink.net

 

[Streakerfreak]

Any chance you could post some pics of these cameras?

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Thanks for the tips on where to start looking and I'll set them up and snap a few photos of them to post up on here.

I thought the Leica's would be the best. I know a few of the Kodak 126 cameras from the 70's and 80's are only worth $20 or some odd dollars, but they're cool to look at.

The intricacy and mint condition of the cameras with the billows and pretty awesome.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Couple of photos to see if anyone can point me in the right direction

Top of Camera

Bottom of Camera

I'm not sure if this goes with the camera or not, it was just in the box and there are a few different models of cameras, so I'm not sure which one it goes with

The back of this little brown leather case only has Germany ingrained in it

This is what's in it

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

One of the other cameras that's in the box. I dont know if this is even a Leica, but it has a lot of markings on the lens that the Leica has...Like the D.R.P. which I have no idea what it stands for

This is the brown leather case that the whole package came packed in

The little black leather case that looks like a Briefcase is a case to hold the glass plates

The second leather covered case says Vortex on it and is the actual camera

After about 15 minutes of fiddling with it, we finally figured out how to open it which showed us this.

You squeeze those two chrome levers below the lens and slide the billows out so it ends up looking like this

This is a little pamphlet that was foled up in the bottom of the brown leather case. It's all in German, so we have no idea what it says

The phamplet opens up which shows you a series of diagrams that has various calculations on it...again...all in German

When you fold it closed, the backside shows the lens and what I'm guessing is what to set the f-stop at for different calculations

 

[Desert Dan]

Wow they look like they are in great condition!

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

A cool little light meter that was in the box also

The little red rectangle says 'Sixon' on it

This is the back of it which has a diagram of various settings and what your f-stop should be at. I know, this is a crappy photo. I didnt feel like setting up real lighting, so this was with a flash atop the camera and I had to adjust the contrast pretty hard to bring down the blown out highlights

The little box above the serial number says 'Germany West' which is something I've never seen before

Coolest part about the light meter is when you're looking at the front, that little accordian looking thing is actually a cover that reminds me of a roll top desk. When it's closed, you see the diagram above on the backside.

But when you slide it open, it covers that diagram and exposes the light meter thingy on the top and the meter itself on the other side

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Wow they look like they are in great condition!

They could use a light dusting, but there are no scratches or any dings on any of the metal.

The Vortex camera has some of the leather curling on the edges of the camera itself, but other than that, they look like you could load some film in today and go out shooting :Wow1:

 

[smslavin]

Feel free to send me the Leica and Rodenstock. I'll be more then happy to put them to good use. :sombrero:

Seriously though, what an awesome find. The Leica is an unreal camera. You should keep it and use it. It'll go forever.

That's the viewfinder for when you use the 50mm lens on the Leica. Rangefinders work a little differently than your usual SLR.

 

[JohnLemieuxPhotos]

Old Leicas? They're worthless, send them to me. PO Box 666 Mammoth Lakes Ca 93546, I'll take them off your hands.

 

[Lost Canadian]

Pat the Leica is a 1938 Leica II (D). It looks like they fetch between $400-$700 depending on condition.