Mukul Dube 
, Jan 04, 2012; 12:30 p.m.
Around the time I bought Bubbles the M6, I also bought this IIIc from 1946/47, which arrived from Russia today. I chose the name Silki because that is what everything feels like after Oleg Khalyavin's work; but I accept a friend's view that Silkski will also be an apt name. In the photo are a 9cm Elmar from 1951 and an older FIKUS hood and VIOOH finder. At my request, Oleg added flash sync. It is not adjustable and is X only.The socket could well have been installed at the factory. Silki reached me naked but I had an Aki-Asahi covering waiting as I have no experience of nude photography.
I cannot provide a photo now of another thing he did as the camera is loaded. Leicas prior to the IIIf were designed for cassettes 2.2mm longer than today's standard cassettes. Thus the current factory film rides low and the image area goes into the sprocket area along one edge. With an earlier IIIc and a IIIa I used to put a small and soft conical spring between base plate and cassette. I had asked Oleg to rescue from his junk bin a suitable spring -- but he installed an ingenious and truly elegant solution. Photo later.
Silki the IIIc
Afzal Ansary , Jan 04, 2012; 01:31 p.m.
Nice ! Mukul, I thought you said Bubble was your last purchase of film cameras !! Anyway, this one looks nice, but will you have parallex problem with this lens ( 90mm) and the mounted viewfinder?
Best wishes for 2012
Afzal
Paul Beavin , Jan 04, 2012; 01:33 p.m.
Mukul--a beautiful camera and lens!
But now--you can no longer claim to be "poor"--:-)
I'm looking forward to the pix of Oleg's cassette solution.
Thanks!
Paul
Mukul Dube , Jan 04, 2012; 02:03 p.m.
Ansary Sahab, this one was bought at around the same time as Bubbles. The nose of the finder tilts up and down to correct for parallax at different distances. Paul, "poor" is relative. I paid low prices for both cameras.
Louis Meluso 
, Jan 04, 2012; 02:27 p.m.
Nice looking rig with a new jacket. What, you have no plans to use flash bulbs? Ha, ha. Happy Shooting.
Mukul Dube , Jan 04, 2012; 02:50 p.m.
Louis, in 1965 I was asked to photograph a wedding. At the time I used a Rolleicord whose Compur Rapid had only M sync. I ended up with five negatives. The local shop had only six bulbs, of which one turned out to be a dud. There was another photographer blasting away with an electronic flash, then a novelty in India. I still remember the name, Kakonet, because it was so much like "coconut". I knew enough not to borrow it and waste film: but I did not know that I could have fired my camera on Bulb and got the other chap to fire his flash manually to give me light.
Afzal Ansary , Jan 04, 2012; 03:33 p.m.
LTM cameras have their own charm and great pleasure to use and enjoy, despite being slow. Here is one of my beauties.
LTM
Mukul Dube , Jan 04, 2012; 03:56 p.m.
Handsome IIIf, and the Summicron looks like it's in fine shape.
I propose to use Silki chiefly for slow work such as semi-formal or formal portraits. For two years or so an earlier IIIc was my only camera and I used it for everything. I managed, as tens of thousands of photographers managed who did not have the options that are available today.
Arthur Plumpton 
, Jan 05, 2012; 12:17 a.m.
Nice IIIf, Mukul, with what appears to be an equally clean 90 or 135mm lens. My IIIc/f was in a lesser cosmetic condition but fully operational and a Japanese gentleman gave it a nice black paint job. Th V-C classic 35mm f2.5 lens and VF are generally used with hyperfocal distance setting at f8 or smaller, which allows the system a quite rapid response.
IIIc converted to IIIf
Mukul Dube , Jan 05, 2012; 12:48 a.m.
Thank you. Yes, Silki is good looking. I had asked Oleg half seriously if he would do a painting job but he said he did not work with foul acids. Unlike your pretty conversion, Silki has had only a simple sync installed and so remains a IIIc. I have always considered this model an excellent choice for the user. It is not fundamentally different from the IIIa but is, I understand, better constructed in certain ways. It has everything: and the one major lacuna, flash synchronisation, has been addressed. I aim to use it, with 75mm and 90mm lenses, for portrait work when I am not able to do much else. The 9cm Elmar looks good and I expect it to sail through the tests to which I shall subject it. The morning here is foggy, the lens is not.
