VXZOO?

[M9reno]

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The current (13 June 2015 end) Westlicht auction has the following description for catalogue number 238, "OOBAZ Focusing Stage Outfit":

 

 

 OOBAZ Focusing Stage outfit late focusing stage for screw mount cameras in green crinkle finish, inclusive Leica Ig no.924984 in very good working condition, Elmar 3.5/5cm no.253059, VXZOO helical focusing mount, VALOO aperture setting ring and rare AQOOT winding knob extension, ex Bawendi collection
 

 

Now, VXZOO appears in Laney's Leica Accessory Guide (p. 60) and Collector's Guide (pp. 420-21) as the helical focusing mount for the 50mm f/2.8 Elmar.

 

The VXZOO in the Westlicht outfit is really a VXZOO (it's name is partly legible in one of the photos). 

 

So how is it that the VXZOO is here being matched with a 1930's 50mm f/3.5 Elmar (so naturally using aperture setting ring VALOO, instead of the 50mm f/2.8's VTOOX)?

 

Is the outfit an error or mis-match?  Or can one actually use the early Elmar 50's on the VXZOO?

[luigi bertolotti]

I think (but not 100% sure) that VXZOO could be adapted to use the Elmar 3,5 .... I mean you could probably dismount the back ring which engages the blades of the Elmar's tube and "transform" it to act as a VXOOT (its equivalent, "native" for the Elmar 3,5. I seem to remember to have read somewhere (don't remember where...  ) about VXZOO has having something "interchangable"... I hope someone can be more precise... anyway, the Westlicht item has surely indeed an Elmar 3,5... and the writing, though partially visible, I think cannot be any else than "VXZOO"

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[M9reno]

Thank you, Luigi. 

[zeitz]

It would not be the first time that sets at the Westlicht Auction were not matched.  It seems odd someone would buy 1958 equipment and then use a 1935 lens, one needing modification to fit; but it could well be possible.

 

Concerning mismatches, in the Nikon RF section (Lot 321), a Type I reflex housing has the ultra-rare 90 degree finder for the Type II reflex housing.  The write up implies there is a mismatch.  A stop-pin on the Type I bayonet must be removed to get the finder to fit.  This "set" first appeared on an E-bay auction in June 2013 from an E-bay store near Philadelphia.  The seller stiffed the buyer by not delivering it.  Then it appeared and sold at a Tamarin Auction (I don't remember which one) for a slightly higher price.  Then Leica Shop listed it on E-bay for quite a while for a substantially higher price before it went to this auction and sold for a huge price.  To me it is the set is an ultra-rare 90 degree finder and a non-factory modified Type I reflex housing that is missing the correct vertical finder.

 

I have written Peter Coeln about other mismatches over the years, with the response "thank your for your interest".  Sometimes I think his experts are expert in name only.  That said, I usually buy something at every Westlicht auction.  It is a great auction.

[M9reno]

Another rather remarkable thing about this lot is (was) the Ig, which is a rare type missing it's slow-speed dial and having a plugged flash outlet.  I have read about only very few of this type being made as Repro Ig (and I never understood why slow speeds would not be useful in Repro - it seems the opposite to me!). 

 

Anyway, strangely the Ig information was not mentioned in the lot description.