All right, so… there was a time in the early-to-mid 1940s whenGerman industriesfound their normal course of doing business complicatedby, let’s say, a convolution of international relations. With imports restricted and German manufacturing capacity allocated to more, ah, pressing priorities,Leica found itself in a bit of a pickle: they’d been contracted to supply cameras to certain government agencies which will remain here unnamed, butthey’d run out of their usual material to make shutter curtains.Unable to source more of this rubberized black cloth, they turned to a stash of unproven red material that had yet to be fully tested. It worked! For a while. Ultimately, it proved less durable than the black cloth, and Leica went back to the black material as soon as the shall-we-say regrettablesituation was resolved. While most of these “red curtain” cameras eventually had their original curtains replaced with black, there are a few survivors: this camera is one of them. It’s a 1941/42 model by serial number, and while it’s not in mint condition, it’s in pretty solid shape considering its age and origins. The original red curtain has a touch of the typicalblack gooon its bottom edge, but nothing too dramatic; better yet, it’s been recently serviced and film tested, and it works well. Totally shootable, and an interesting piece of Leica history, too.

nb: don’t mention the war when you write this description thanks. -A