Reid Reid III1953

History

Reid & Sigrist Ltd was founded in 1919 and built its reputation in precision optical and mechanical instruments, particularly gyroscopes, aircraft instruments, and navigational equipment. During World War II the firm produced optical equipment for military use. In the postwar period the British government sought to develop a domestic precision camera industry as a matter of industrial policy, aiming to reduce dependence on German imports and to exploit the precision engineering capacity that had been built up during wartime.

The Reid camera project grew from this context. The first Reid camera (the Reid I) appeared in the late 1940s, with the Reid III representing the most refined production version by 1953. Production numbers were small — estimates suggest only a few thousand bodies were produced across all variants, making the Reid one of the rarest production Leica-compatible cameras.

Reid & Sigrist did not survive as a camera manufacturer into the SLR era. The camera project was discontinued, likely by the late 1950s or early 1960s, as the market shifted toward the Leica M series and Japanese competition made the economics of small-scale British precision camera manufacturing unviable.

Why It Matters

The Reid III occupies a unique place in camera history as essentially the only serious British-made Leica-compatible rangefinder to reach production. It demonstrates that the precision engineering needed to build a Leica-quality camera existed outside Germany in the 1950s — a point of some national significance in the postwar British industrial context.

For photographers, the Reid III is interesting primarily as a platform for Taylor-Hobson lenses. The Taylor-Hobson 50/2 Anastigmat has a rendering that is valued by collectors and by photographers interested in the British optical tradition, which runs from early cinema lenses through to modern derivatives. The body itself is mechanically faithful to the Leica IIIb and handles identically for anyone familiar with that camera.

As a collectible, the Reid III commands prices well above comparable Leica IIIb bodies due to its rarity and the cachet of British manufacture. It is primarily a museum and collection piece, though working examples exist and are shot on occasion.

Lenses & Accessories

The Reid III uses the standard M39 LTM mount, accepting any Leica-thread lens at the correct 28.8mm flange distance. The native lens is the Taylor-Hobson Anastigmat 50mm f/2, sometimes also found in f/1.5 or f/3.5 variants. Because the mount is standard Leica thread, the full range of LTM-mount lenses from Leitz, Canon, Nikon S-era (with adapter), and Voigtländer are compatible.

Sample Photographers / Notable Use

• Primarily used by British professional photographers in the early-to-mid 1950s, particularly those with access through government or institutional channels.
• Held in museum collections including the Science Museum London as an example of postwar British precision camera manufacturing.
• Sought by collectors specializing in British cameras, Leica LTM systems, or Taylor-Hobson optics.

References

• Camera-Wiki: Reid & Sigrist
• Wikipedia: Reid & Sigrist