Reid & Sigrist Reid III

The Reid III is a British 35mm rangefinder camera produced by Reid & Sigrist of Leicester, closely based on the Leica III design and using the 39mm screw lens mount. It was introduced in the late 1940s as a domestically built alternative to imported German rangefinders, and remained in production into the 1950s.

Inspect the cloth focal-plane shutter for pinholes, capping and accurate slow speeds, as these are the most common faults on bodies of this age. Check the rangefinder patch for contrast and correct vertical and infinity alignment, and verify that engravings and serials are genuine Reid & Sigrist rather than a later re-marked Leica copy. Service is specialist — only a handful of UK technicians still work on these cameras, and some internal parts must be fabricated, which is worth weighing against the purchase price.

Generated summary, 19 Apr 2026 — not checked by hand; prices on this page come from the sales, not from this text.