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There’s nothing more to see.

MrPhotog

Until the early 1970’s almost all 35 mm films came with the longer leader. This was some 15 + years after the last III series Leica was produced.

Auto loading cameras that were being introduced about that time worked better with a shorter leader, and most cameras were not fussy. That became the norm.

You can still buy new metal guides for trimming the leader into the old, longer shape. And there are still Leica copies being produced in factories or with equipment, seized as reparations by Russia after WWII.

wmurnahan Loc: Bloomington IN

The thing on top is a telephoto viewfinder since rangefinders viewer doesn't zoom in but the frame gets smaller (a frame comes in and "crops" the view on some viewfinder) They removed the branding for what must of been a movie shot.

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gwilliams6

What no old photogs here. This is a Leica III 35mm film rangefinder camera.

Used them years ago and that optical finder in the accessory shoe is for use for proper framing with a telephoto lens beyond the focal range of the in-camera rangefinder. Remember with a rangefinder camera you are NOT sighting through the lens attached.

Worth a small fortune today if in good shape.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leica_III

Cheers

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srt101fan

Have you read the other posts on this thread? Apparently not....🙄

rck281 Loc: Overland Park, KS

My Leica M3 didn't have a HOT shoe. The shoes were used primarily for viewfinder to match the lens. The built in viewfinder was only for 50mm.

KindaSpikey Loc: English living in San Diego

HI Paul. I'm glad you recommended "Google lens". I've been using it for quite some time now, for identifying birds, flowers, animals, tools... Pretty much anything one can imagine! I find it an incredibly useful tool that I don't think a lot of people know about yet, (and it can make you appear a lot smarter than you actually are, lol). I often recommend it to people, and hope it can be as useful for others as it has been for me, (and obviously yourself). Anyway, as usual, stay safe and have a great day!
Ray.
(oh and by the way, it can also be used straight from your phone if you long press on the image until the menu pops up).

KindaSpikey Loc: English living in San Diego

For anyone who is curious, this may have some answers. There is much more info to be found with a little searching. Hope some of you find this useful.
Ray.

The built in viewfinder on a Leica LTM covers only 50mm, 35mm i wider so you will lose a lot, so yes, for other focal lengths you need a aux viewfinder, I suggest you get a universal viewfinder such as the Voigtlander Turnit or the russian turret viewfinder which cover all focal lengths from 35mm though 59,100 and 135, for the turnit or for the turret 28,35,50,85 and 135, the viewfinder on the leica is a bit squinty, and I find with my 111f that I use the built in finder only for the rangefinder, composing is a lot easier with the Turret I use,

mgb74
Jun 22, 2018
My Canon P has frame lines (in the VF) for 35mm. However, it can be a bit difficult to see the full 35mm frame if wearing glasses

User ID

Now why ever would he do THAT ?!?!?!?
Finding that there’s no reason at all to post your valuable, precious, “expertise” is a stone cold drag :-(

Watash

If you take CHG_CANON's advice you can see who she is.

KindaSpikey Loc: English living in San Diego

I "kind of" remember many many years ago, as a child I showed some interest in my father's 35mm camera, (after somehow damaging it, and I don't remember the details), however I do remember that as a result he bought for me, (for birthday /Christmas), my first camera. Now, I couldn't even guess what make model or brand it was,but I do remember that I was thrilled to receive a "real" 35mm camera of my very own, (I guess I was only 7 or 8 ish years of age at the time, and the envy of my friends because of it). Anyway, I really don't recall many details about it. I just remember that it was very lightweight plastic with hardly any controls, but it worked, and I loved shooting rolls of film and then waiting for my father to have them processed for me. It really was the gift that kept on giving! I had that "Lil Ole" camera till it literally fell apart, at which point I was a little older, and received a nicer and more "grown-up" replacement for, again, birthday or Christmas.
Anyway, that's enough reminiscing for now, (although it would be fun to hear some of your stories).
The point of this is that the first camera had one of those "viewfinders" that was basically a hole with a piece of plastic over it, and a square printed on it to frame the shot. There was no way to determine distance etc, and looking back, it was little more than a toy.
However, I do remember that it had a hotshoe on the top, (just like my dad's), although it wasn't, "hot", it was just a secure point to attach accessories such as a flash, (which I loved), another birthday /Christmas gift. In addition to the flash, I was given another device that could attach to the "hotshoe", and at the time I didn’t really understand what it was, but, getting back to the OP, it was, as in the original picture on this post, an additional and far more accurate viewfinder to improve the functionality of my "toy" camera.. There were no electronics nor automatic settings, but from what I can remember, you could "dial in" approximate distances and view more accurate images before taking the shot.
So there you go, my long winded explination for what that odd looking device could be on top of that camera. If you've read all of this, thanks for sticking with me, it brought back some fond, long forgotten memories of that long gone camera, and more importantly to myself, my long gone father. (thanks dad).
Ray.

AndyT Loc: Hampstead, New Hampshire

Thanks to everyone for replying and sharing all your information. It certainly is a beautiful camera.

Stan Fayer

It appears to be a Leica III or. IIIf. The finder on top adjusts for several lenses by cutting the size of the view but doesn’t “zoom” in or out there is also an adjustment for parallax . I have one
Stan

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Lucian Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio

Could be the Leica or a Russian copy of maybe a Zorki etc.