The Leica IIIc is a 35mm rangefinder camera introduced by Leica in 1940. It was made of aluminum, with chrome-plated brass top plate, base plate and knobs. Some had grey paint finish due to the lack of chrome during the war.
The Leica IIIc was built from 1940 to 1951 (serial numbers 360,101-525,001), with approx. 131,000 units produced.
The Leica IIc (1948-1951, 440,001-451,000) was a IIIc without the slow speeds dial. The Leica Ic (1949-1951, 455,001-562,800) was also based on the IIIc chassis, without the rangefinder and the slow speeds dial.
As an upgrade of the Leica IIIb, the Leica IIIc had important changes:
- One piece die-cast body, instead of an assembly of small parts. The cover of the rangefinder is no longer a separate piece.
- Improved internal mechanism.
- 3mm longer than the previous cameras.
- Larger release button.
- New exposure counter mechanism.