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Thambar instruction booklet.


Susie

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Hi everyone,

 

It has been quite a while since I last posted here, but I have been watching!

 

I'm not sure how useful it would be (not having seen it) but does anyone have a copy of the Thambar instruction booklet they could let me have a copy of?

 

I won't say why, except to mention that I'm now on a bread-and-water diet....;)

 

Best wishes,

 

Susie

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I think it's really rare... this is a quick description which explains the usage of double diaph scale and spot filter...

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I attach the complete instructions for the Thambar. They are reproduced from the original Leitz booklet of October 1937 by J.L. Lager _Leica Literature_ Morgan & Morgan (1980) pp. 29-36.

 

The announcement in Leica News and Technique (5, May 1935) (together with the Telyt 200 /4.5 and Hektor 28 /6.3) states: "Leitz-Thambar F/2.2, 9 cm., Soft Focus Lens. The third addition which must arouse considerable interest is a new soft-focus lens with the enormous aperture of F/2.2, constructed on entirely fresh lines. It is intended mainly for portraiture, but the artistic softness of its work will make it of interest to landscape photographers - especially when attempting difficult subjects against the light. A further point that will make the objective of special appeal to landscape workers, and will make it unnecessary for them to carry a second lens with them on field expeditions is that the Leitz-Thambar becomes a normal sharp focus lens when stopped down. The soft-focus is achieved partly by control of the normal iris diaphragm and partly by a special central diaphragm and can be varied without exaggeration at any particular setting. The Leitz-Thambar (which of course couples with the range-finder) is superior to the ordinary run of soft-focus lenses in providing control for its own peculiar quality; in its long focal-length (of particular appeal to portrait and landscape photographers) and huge aperture combined with a comparatively low price. It is a straightforward solution of the short-focus problem and immeasurably ahead of makeshift attempts such as softening a normal lens by means of an attachment or diffusing by muslin or some other such means during the actual process of making the print in the enlarger."

 

Re. "a comparatively low price" Just out of curiosity, I checked the price of the Thambar in old catalogs, and applied the numbers to some web-based inflation calculators.

 

£21 s.19 in the London catalog of August 1936 = £1,312.67 today

 

US$117 in the New York catalog of October 1938 = $1,960.86 today

Thambar.pdf

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Running a search through old issues of _Viewfinder_ today, I discovered that Issue 9.1 (Jan. - Mar. 1976) is dedicated to the lens. Several good articles, lots of information, and a list of earlier publications.

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