Well, I forgot I had not put this up on the Blog. This was the first Barnack rangefinder that I purchased.
After many decades of wanting to own a Leica I got one. Sadly there was a problem with it … one of the eye piece lenses was missing (which explained why everything looked out of focus).
Even though Leica has a nice service manual for the IIIF, and there are other numerous sites that describe this, I am providing my info on the procedure … including some images taken from the IIIF service manual.
Wind the film and set the shutter speed to Bulb.
Remove the two screws that secure the flash shoe. Remove the shoe.
Remove the reverse lever screw and pull off the lever.
Note that under this lever there is a cylindrical collar. Remove, or it will fall out while servicing the camera and get lost. This keeps the lever free to move when the screw is tightened.
Remove the flash shoe bed plate.
Unscrew the threaded sleeve around the shutter release button.
Pull the rewind knob up.
Loosen the screw until you can pull the rewind knob off.
Pull the lock collar off.
Use tweezers to unscrew the locking collar.
Remove the diopter adjustment lever.
Remove the two screws that hold the eyepiece cover.
Remove the cover and be aware of the lenses behind it.
Viewfinder | Rangefinder
These two lenses are not the same, so if you remove these (they could be partially adhered) mark which one goes where.
Sadly, in my case the viewfinder lens was missing.
Set the ISO to 125.
This will line up the hole with the internal screw.
Pull the dial up to access the screw.
Loosen the screw (do not remove it) so that the dial can be unscrewed counter-clockwise.
Pull off the film counter dial.
Pull off the gear.
This was the hardest part, because I did not have the best tool.
Remove the two retaining ring around the viewfinder and rangefinder ports.
Note that the rangefinder ring is larger than the viewfinder ring.
These are probably secured very tightly. I used pliers with very little force, just enough to loosen them so I can turn them off by hand. You would put a thin elastic between to keep the metal from being scratched.
A flexi-clamp would be the appropriate tool for handling Leicas.
Remove the viewfinder port lens by just prying it out. It is held by tension.
The rangefinder port lens is screwed in.
Remove the adjustment cover screw. Note the plastic washer.
Remove the two screws by the film winding side.
The shutter speed dial is secured by three screws around the edge. Loosen those to pull off the dial. This will reveal the cam that it is secured to.
The cam can be removed by pulling it up to expose the lock screws.
Loosen this screws to pull off.
Note that the shaft pull itself back down, and it will make it harder to put back on … so I am not sure if this part needs to be removed to get the top plate off.
The last two screws securing the top plate are underneath the film rewind knob section.
Pull off the top plate.
Be aware that the wiring to the PC socket is still attached.
Pull the top plate up. You will have to carefully pry the front section, above the lens mount, to get around the viewfinder/rangefinder ports.
Now you can access the viewfinder/rangefinder section for cleaning.
The end caps (noted as B in the diagram) of the view/rangefinder block are just lacquer secured so you can pop them off.
I can’t say much further as I just did a surface clean.
Put the top plate back on and proceed backwards.
The rectangular hole of the eyepiece cover is on the right (covering the viewfinder port).
When you get to the point of putting the winding mechanism back together you will need to fit the takeup spool correctly.
When putting the film takeup spool you have to position it correctly.
Under the top plate there is a hooked lever.
This lever is notched
The top of the takeup spool has a spring attached.
The spring must fit the notch in the above hooked lever so that the tooth on the lever locks into the gear at the top of the pickup spool
When putting the winding knob back on, you will have to pay attention to over tightening it. If it is screwed on too far it will interfere with the shutter release mechanism … so make sure the shutter is firing properly before tightening the locking screw.
After securing the winding knob, attach the shutter speed dial. Do not tighten it as you will probably need to make sure the cam is in the Bulb position (wind film and fire shutter to figure if you got it right). Once the cam is in the bulb position you can adjust and secure the shutter speed dial.
The rangefinder alignment is done like the Canon … vertical by turning the rangefinder port (after removing the cover ring), and then the horizontal by turning the rangefinder port (remove the screw beside the viewfinder port).
This Old Camera 