35 summicron identification?

[thinkfloyd]

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After years of shooting with Voigtlander and Canon lenses, i figure it's time to get myself a 35 summicron v4 and appease my lust for this lens... however, I have no idea how to tell the v4 apart from the others. I'd be buying from Keh and they have several 35 summicrons for sale. How do I know which is the v4 one? Thanks!

[adan]

Distinctive features of the 35 v.4

 

1. The aperture ring is a fairly distinct crescent shape that stands out away from the barrel. V. 1 & 3 have more flush aperture rings like the ASPH, and v. 2 has a little tab sticking out to set aperture.

 

2. The v4 was made with two type of focusing tabs, concave (notched for a fingertip like most other Leica wides) and for a brief time convex (outwardly rounded). If you see a convex rounded focus tab, it is definitely v.4

 

3. There is a trapezoidal notch surrounding the aperture index mark, to match up with a tab on the plastic rectangular lens shade and lock it in alignment so it doesn't vignette corners. Not found on v. 1-3 'crons since they took round shades. (The ASPH also has the cutout, but will clearly say "ASPH" on the front engraving)

 

4. If it has a big yellow "35" beside the DoF scale (and is not an ASPH) it is a version 4. Leica didn't put the big yellow labels on M lenses before 1980.

 

As of right now, 07:02 Friday 2/11 by the LUF clock, KEH does NOT have any v4 35s showing. Just a couple of v2's (with the little aperture tabs), a couple of v3s (flush aperture rings) and a chrome v.1

 

This flickr shot shows a 35 'cron v.4. Note that the knurling on the aperture ring is discontinuous across the top to allow for the aperture numbers - that's what creates the "crescent shape." Click through to the big version of the image to see the cutout for the lens shade tab just in front of "4" and "5.6" on the aperture ring.

 

Leica M6 + 35mm Summicron v4 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Edited February 12, 2010 by adan

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[lars_bergquist]

It's even simpler than that: If the serial number is below 2,974,251, then it is a v.3 or something even more archaic.

 

Good luck. It is an interesting lens and performs very well, when identified by coding or menu (on the M9).

 

The old man from the Age of the 3.5cm Elmar

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[thinkfloyd]

Thanks! Looks like I'll have to wait longer till a v4 shows up with a reasonable price tag. I was comparing and looking at the pictures and it seems the v4 slopes where the name and other info (front ring?plate?) is, whereas others are as normal. I've been tempted by other 35's (the nikkor 35/2.5 for its size, the VC ones for the price, etc), but I resist knowing full well that I will always yearn for the v4!

[microview]

One ergonomic reservation: you ought to try turning the aperture ring with the hood in place, and using the rangefinder, as it abuts the back of the hood and I find it slightly awkward with fingers hitting either of the two hood-release tabs. If you are setting the exposure to a given f number then it's simpler because you can first move the camera down to see which stop number you want and then rotate the shutter dial to get the correct exposure.