Leica cameras are favorites of collectors. The name"Leica" came by joining the factory name (Leitz) with "camera." Some Leica models are very valuable. But just about all models bring a good price when they are in oper-ating condition. The first production Leica appeared in 1925 and was sup-plied in two models—one with a focal-plane shutter andone with a Compur shutter. After that, the drum-type focal-plane shutter became a Leica standard. Very few collectorscan boast about having an original production model. Leica a and b models are also rare—and highly valued. It's unlikely you'll see one for repair. But many collectors dohave one or more of the screw-mount Leicas dating fromthe 1940's—"screw-mount" means the camera has a screw-mount lens rather than the bayonet-mount lens introducedin the M-series Leicas.

The IIIc was introduced in 1940. If you find one of theoriginal IIIc models, it's even more valuable—the originalIIIc has a red curtain. The Ic and IIc came slightly later. But the Leica IIIf may be the screw-mount Leica you seemost frequently. Introduced in 1950, the Ill has two varia- tions—the red-dial Leica and the black-dial Leica. Thenames come from the color of the calibrations on the flash-sync dial under the speed knob. Moving the flash-sync dial changes the length of the syncdelay. In the days of flashbulbs, the Leica photographercould set the sync delay according to the shutter speed andto the type of flashbulb. But these days, you only need theelectronic-flash settings. These are: black-dial Leica—1/30 second, flash-sync setting 2.red-dial Leica—1/25 second at the flash-sync setting of 0or 1/50 second at the flash-sync setting of 20.