my first leitz-summitar!

[Michael I.]

A dream came true today!
I always dreamt of a leica and I got a Summitar 5cm/2(closes down to 12.5) No 523982 Ernst Leitz Wetzlar(focus scale in feet)
It has a small nick on the rear lens.I paid 75$ for it.

Tell me more about the lens please.

When I mount it on my zorki 4 the lens mounts a bit askew(the DOF field and apperture indicator are not in the middle - if middle is 12 oclock and the camera faces me they are 1:30 or so)Is this normal?

Also the lens cap coming with it says Carl Zeiss.Will the lens be jelous and kill it at night or vise versa?

thanks

[planetjoe]

That mounting alignment sounds like no problem; my Summitars do pretty much the same thing. The LTM thread allows for some "slop" in the angular position of the lens once it's tight, especially on FSU bodies.

Enjoy that lens - you've got it at a great price, nick and all. It's a great performer, if a bit flare-y at times. If there's any question about condition, send it to Don Goldberg (dagcam@chorus.net) for a CLA; he's a whiz. He turned my Summitar (hex iris) into a dream lens. I have another one (round iris, older) which should be on the way to him, soon.

Post some images, and join the club.


Cheers,
--joe.

[Michael I.]

My Iris is round and it seems uncoated allthough I am not sure.Any mounting/unmounting collapsing/extracting rules?

[planetjoe]

I think the older, older lenses were single-coated (if not uncoated; someone can correct me on this).

As far as collapsing - when in doubt of the fit to the camera, go slow. If the lens can collapse without interfering with internals (i.e., open up the back, fire the shutter on "B", and collapse the lens while watching for contact), then you're good to go. Once you've determined that, you can mount/unmount collapsed or not.

I have heard - and I also follow this prescription - that in general, one should be careful when mounting a coupled RF lens, in particular to make sure that the lens is set to minimum distance before mounting. At infinity, the RF coupling collar is racked-out as far as it will go, and when mounting the lens it can push the RF cam around a bit. I'm sure it isn't a huge deal, so YMMV.


Cheers,
--joe.

[Michael I.]

could anyone estimate the year of production?

[photodog]

The year of production for your Summitar is 1939. This was the first year of production.

[colyn]

A dream came true today!
I always dreamt of a leica and I got a Summitar 5cm/2(closes down to 12.5) No 523982 Ernst Leitz Wetzlar(focus scale in feet)
It has a small nick on the rear lens.I paid 75$ for it.


This is a prewar uncoated lens. The post war models went to f/16

You did good..

Tell me more about the lens please.

When I mount it on my zorki 4 the lens mounts a bit askew(the DOF field and apperture indicator are not in the middle - if middle is 12 oclock and the camera faces me they are 1:30 or so)Is this normal?

Also the lens cap coming with it says Carl Zeiss.Will the lens be jelous and kill it at night or vise versa?

thanks

Leica screwmount lens normally mount slight off center. My Summitar and Summicron both mount at about 1:00 on my IIIc and IIIf.

Don't be surprised if you wake up in the morning with both lens and cap intact.

[payasam]

The position of the indicator for focussed distance is deliberately not at 12 o'clock, where it would be obscured by accessory finders and such like.

So far as I know, all Summitars made before the end of WW2 -- except possibly a very few for the German armed forces -- had no coating. This can be checked.

I doubt that the Zeiss cap will get eaten up; but you should begin immediately to look for a good hood: this lens is notoriously prone to flare, even in coated form. A good hood means a rectangular one, and without doubt the best is the Leitz SOOPD.

[Michael I.]

I will adapt the original fed 42mm squeeze on type.

[Michael I.]

camera porn!!!

[Michael I.]

no one responds to this gorgeous camera porn?come on!what's wrong with you people?:)

[erikhaugsby]

what's wrong with you people?:)

We're all racist, and your cameras are not blonde haired and blue eyed
:p

[Michael I.]

some of them are actually of slavic and aryan descent. I have some japanese which considered themseleves a masterrace for years.

Now how do I get me,a ukrainian-russian jew of polish origins(with possible spanish roots 500 years ago) living in Israel in a city originaly being a muslim bedouin outpost constructed by an austro hungarian architect-city planner for ottoman turks and later conquered by british. I need a nap.

[Radek Slustik]

Hi, I am thinking about buying a summitar. But there are two 16f/stop versions of the apperture(later hexagonal and older rounded)

Can anyone tell me If there is any difference between these two types? Do they make a different pictures? (3D effect and bokeh...) Does anyone of you made a comparsion and which do you prefer more.

[Nikon Bob]

I have both types of Summitars and can't say I see much difference between the two in actual use. Both are coated and the glass is in excellent condition. You do need some sort of hood to get the best out of them. The Summitars are good enough that I use them with an adapter on an M4 and never really miss a more modern M mount 50.

Bob

[payasam]

Mounting and unmounting are easiest with the lens extended.