In reply to David S. Wallens :
One is a Japanese Leica copy, a Leotax F. I had bought it from Japan on eBay last summer and used it for a few rolls, but it was about 6 months into it and the shutter ribbon snapped so I was out of luck getting a return on it. I had a feeling the shutter curtains was replaced before I got it and thought the ribbons were overtensioned based on how loud the shutter was, and they snapped as result. The repair to fix it was a new ribbon and it is significantly quieter than when I first got it.
The other is a Leica IIIC. I bought the body off marketplace, the seller had five from her father's collection, read ad and saw the seller would ship it. It was priced well enough to justify buying it and taking a chance and paying to get it serviced. The slow speeds and the fastest speeds would hang, but now its good. Waited about a year to get them back. Knowing what I know now, I probably would have sent them to Slovakia to have them serviced. Priced about the same, but with a quicker turn around time. Lots of demand to have Leicas serviced in the US, and a few repair people so they are swamped with work.
There was a website I was using that claimed to search marketplace globally, but all it did was point me to the Seattle area, and that was how I found that Leica iii lot. I swear one of these days I am going to accidently buy a car over on the PacNW that I otherwise can't find in Florida.
I will say the Japanese copies are built well and feel every bit as refined as the real thing. I have a roll of Kentmere 400 on Leotax and am pushing it 3 stops. Internet lore and the local lab have mentioned people have gotten good results out of pushed 2-3 stops so we'll see.
