If anyone wonders why photographers have had such reverence for a camera, pick up a IIIf with practically any LTM lens on it, load it with film and shoot some pictures.
Provenance of collector cameras is important as well as interesting. This camera appears to have had a particularly interesting life in the 1950's and 60's during the Cold War days in Berlin. It had been purchased by an Attaché in the French Government who lived in the French sector of Berlin. Here is shown the original document that indicated purchase from a Berlin dealer and permitted the owner to carry the camera, lenses and other accessories across the military checkpoint and eventually into France (I have obliterated the name of the Attaché for purpose of maintaining anonymity).
The original receipts for purchase from the Berlin Leica dealer are also among the documentation for this camera. In 1956 in Berlin, DM156.95 is equivalent to $2781.50 in 2006. It would appear that the value of good cameras and accessories has remained fairly constant during the past 50 years. Of course, the dealer provided a 17% discount presumably in defference to the Attaché's position.
