Leica IIIc K panoramic outfit

Unique German military panoramic outfit, containing grey Leica IIIcK W.H. no. 491432K (points present, white “K“ on curtain) delivered to Berlin on 01.07.1943 LOOPN “W.H.“, with Elmar 5cm f/3.5 lens W.H. delivered to Berlin on 03.02.44 as Elmar “W.H.“ with shipment no. 9773.
With grey Hektor 13,5 cm lens f/4.5, delivered to Berlin on 04.09.44 with special gray reversed VIOOH finder W.H. (finder restored) with reticle for 13,5 cm, mounted on matching woodenLeitz tripod with aiming circle “beh“. Including a Leitz scissor-telescope S.F.14 Z. Gi. with special ocular adaptor for photography with the 5cm Elmar through the telescope. As a complete outfit with case only one other example is known to exist. Ex Luigi Cane collection.

Leica cameras were also delivered for military applications during World War II. Two of the features to be found on wartime Leica cameras are ball-beared shutters and also a gray paint finish. The ballbearings were to enable the cameras to be operated even at very low temperatures. To indicate this, some of the cameras were engraved with the letter “K“ for “kaeltefest“ (winterized). Among those, the Leica IIIcK “W.H.“ (Wehrmacht Heer) represents a rarity.
Technically, these camera were also particularly interesting: Two fiducial points in the frame bisect the long dimension of the negative format. Those points were usually removed in cameras used after the war. As a so-called “roundshot-camera E2“ it was used for panoramic photography by the Artillery.

Literature: Wilhelm Albert, Die Geburtstage der Leitz Fotokonstruktionen seit 1927, (Leica Historica e.V. 1995), p. 67, 69; James L. Lager, Leica Illustrated History, Vol. III, p. 182.

Photo credit: © WestLicht Photographica Auction