[mattb123]

I had a friend and respected community member pass away suddenly last year in a car accident. He was an ex-pro photographer and his widow has asked me to help evaluate his camera collection. So I went over to check it out last night and found some interesting items.

He had a box of old folders and a big view camera. All in nice shape and apparently in working order as far as I can tell.
There was a Voigtlander Bessa (old bellows style), A Kodak Series III, and a really beautiful Rochester Rev Back Premo 5x7 with April 1895 stamped in it. All in nice shape but based on some Googling last night, not especially valuable.

Another that caught my eye and I grabbed to try with a roll of film (coming toward the end of the week) was a Voigtlander Vito B rangefinder in beautiful condition. It's got the leather case and looks like it hasn't been used. This is a really neat little rangefinder with cool 50's deco styling. I really like it and want to try it out!

There were a few modern-ish film bodies: Olympus (OM-1), Nikon (I forget exactly what), and Canon 650 with various lenses, both OEM and Vivitar.

The one that sparked my interest the most is a Leica R4 SLR with a Summicron-R 50mm f/2 lens. From what I can tell that lens is probably the most valuable thing in the collection. The body is nice too, I've got some batteries on order to test it out but I'm already dreaming of adapting that lens with a Leitax conversion kit. The body comes from the earlier serial numbers indicating it may be one of the problematic electronics ones. It also needs new light seals as the old ones are disintegrating.

I'll share more as I catalog it all. If any of you are particularly interested in any of these items let me know and I'll give my fellow forum members dibbs when we are ready to sell some stuff. I think I'm going to grab the Leica for myself, and maybe the Vito B as well depending on how my tests go.

[csa]

Thanks for helping out his widow; this is a very nice gesture!

[mattb123]

They are a great family and this is what we do in our small community.
I also gave her a print of a scene that was special to her and her husband not long after he passed that she said she treasures.
After such a shocking tragic event, I just want to help ease the pain. But I also have to admit it's fun to dig through the old cameras and try them out!

[wildman]

April 1895 stamped in it.

Most likely the date patent was given not date of manufacture.

[mattb123]

Most likely the date patent was given not date of manufacture.

Yeah, from what I can tell this camera was in production from 1897 to 1903. Still pretty old!

[TomB_tx]

Go for the R4 & lens. R4 bodies are quite inexpensive now, but are very nice for film use. The light seal around the film window in the back will probably be bad - most usually just cover it with black tape. The main issue is usually the contacts on the mode dial, and normally exercising it will clean them well enough. Manual meter modes are not real convenient - having to read a combination of numbers and LED and match them, but spot meter mode in auto works well: pick the area to meter, half press the shutter and reframe.
The Summicron R sells for much less now than the rangefinder version, but is as good a performer. I prefer it to the Summilux R.
I find the R lenses are very nice on the Sony A7 with a cheap adapter.
A couple of years ago an older friend found that his kids had no interest in his film cameras, so he offered them to me - 5 Leica bodies and several lenses. The newest was a 1955 M3 body, the rest mainly from the 1930s, and none in working condition. Also a Leica enlarger (1950) and such. I paid him a bit more than they were worth, and have most cleaned, repaired, and working well. He seems happy that they are now appreciated.