Giuliobigazzi Posted July 3, 2015 Share #1 Posted July 3, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hello all, I have come into possession of a very peculiar elmar.. Looks like a 1930 version in nickel, it is a close focus variant in feet, it has no serial number, or camera number, or '0'. And to top it off it has a blue coating. Any thoughts?anyone seen anything similar? G Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 3, 2015 Posted July 3, 2015 Hi Giuliobigazzi, Take a look here Rare Elmar 35mm?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Giuliobigazzi Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share #2 Posted July 3, 2015 Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! this is her Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! this is her ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/247282-rare-elmar-35mm/?do=findComment&comment=2847086'>More sharing options...
sabears Posted July 3, 2015 Share #3 Posted July 3, 2015 Hello, it was for sure reworked in later times, see lens coating. As for the version: please post a photo of the rear, may be it's an heavy cam, rarer than usual version.cheers Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lleo Posted July 3, 2015 Share #4 Posted July 3, 2015 I'm not an expert as many in here, but those Elmars weren't millimeters but centimeters? In other words, 3,5cm and not 35mm Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted July 3, 2015 Share #5 Posted July 3, 2015 (edited) 35mm instead of 3,5 cm is normal for first generation lenses (same applies to Elmar 50) : the coating, as said above, is surely a later rework, but if it is a "short focus" version it's anyway a not common item : Leitz did a special version of the external rangefinder just for those versions : the short focus Elmar 50 is more common, but the short focus Hektor 50 and Elmar 35 are indeed rather rare, even if, afaik, the exact number is unknown. More pictures are welcome... Edited July 3, 2015 by luigi bertolotti Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giuliobigazzi Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share #6 Posted July 3, 2015 Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ok guys this is the rear of the lens.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ok guys this is the rear of the lens.. ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/247282-rare-elmar-35mm/?do=findComment&comment=2847160'>More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted July 3, 2015 Share #7 Posted July 3, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Can you post a pic of the lens fully extended at minimum focus distance ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giuliobigazzi Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share #8 Posted July 3, 2015 Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/247282-rare-elmar-35mm/?do=findComment&comment=2847168'>More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted July 4, 2015 Share #9 Posted July 4, 2015 (edited) Thanks Giulio ! (from UK, I see...but I have the feeling you aren't 100% British... ) The intriguing feature of this Elmar is that it is clearly scaled in feet, whilst the short focus versions of the Elmars (50 and 35) are reported to have been made in meters only... what is the shortest distance engraved on the barrel ? From your picture looks to be "2" (to say, 61 cm around) so I suppose that fully extended the focus mark will stay somewhere before the "2" marking (the short focus Elmars go to 50 cm - 1,65 ft) . Also the special version of the long base FOFER rangefinder, with additional lens and knob/ index for short distances, seems to exist in meters only (Van Hasbroek) Edited July 4, 2015 by luigi bertolotti Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giuliobigazzi Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share #10 Posted July 4, 2015 On the camera the shortest marked distance is 2ft, but I believe it focussed down to 1.5ft. I have found only one other similar lens here: http://m.ebay.com/itm/141350290373?nav=SEARCH Interestingly, this one is also coated..the only difference is the focussing tab which is the old kind on mine. Si, sono in UK, ma sono mezzo livornese.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giuliobigazzi Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share #11 Posted July 4, 2015 Sorry wrong link! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giuliobigazzi Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share #12 Posted July 4, 2015 You're right, there doesn't seem to be any close focus elmar a in feet out there..the one in the link is normal focus.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giuliobigazzi Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share #13 Posted July 4, 2015 https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/21226970_elmar-3535cm-nickel This is the same apart from coating 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giuliobigazzi Posted August 17, 2015 Author Share #14 Posted August 17, 2015 Hello all, just developed a test roll. This lens is clearly uncoupled, however seems to corrispond correctly when scale focusing. Is there any way of knowing for sure if it's a standard or non standard based on the lack of '0' and 3 digit serial? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted August 18, 2015 Share #15 Posted August 18, 2015 (edited) I'd bet is and has always been a standard lens... as you say, a non standard ought to have the 3 digits, and, also, I think they didn't make non standard Elmars with short focus feature; even in case of a significant lab rework (see the coating) it seems very unprobable, to me, that should it had been an originally nonstandard lens, they had made the complex work of standardizing it and "deleting" the (engraved) 3 digits... it would have been easier to change the mount with a coupled one... Edited August 18, 2015 by luigi bertolotti Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giuliobigazzi Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share #16 Posted August 18, 2015 What you say makes sense, maybe the close focussing ones never had the 0 engraved.. If you read this post http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1210596?TopicID=1210596 It would seem that the lens in question has no 0 either, and albeit in meters, it is the same lens as mine. It seems that 1931 would be the year of production in that case Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pecole Posted April 12, 2016 Share #17 Posted April 12, 2016 Hello all, I have come into possession of a very peculiar elmar.. Looks like a 1930 version in nickel, it is a close focus variant in feet, it has no serial number, or camera number, or '0'. And to top it off it has a blue coating. Any thoughts?anyone seen anything similar? G Hello, Giulio. I re-discovered your thread by chance, and just wish to add two photos from pieces in my former Fontenelle Collection that illustrate the various comments. The first one is of a non-standardized Elmar 35mm with the engraving 043, three last digits of the serial nº 53043 of the Leica I, the same digits being engraved on the two other Elmars (50 and 135mm). It also confirms that the focal length is engraved in mm, not cm. And by the way, there has never been a close-focus Elmar 35mm. The second image illustrates the fully extended Elmar 50mm of the close-focus Leica I nº 25782 : one will notice the "long" blocking of the focusing lever. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/247282-rare-elmar-35mm/?do=findComment&comment=3025217'>More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted April 12, 2016 Share #18 Posted April 12, 2016 (edited) Hello, Giulio. I re-discovered your thread by chance, and just wish to add two photos from pieces in my former Fontenelle Collection that illustrate the various comments. The first one is of a non-standardized Elmar 35mm with the engraving 043, three last digits of the serial nº 53043 of the Leica I, the same digits being engraved on the two other Elmars (50 and 135mm). It also confirms that the focal length is engraved in mm, not cm. And by the way, there has never been a close-focus Elmar 35mm... Sorry, Pierre, I disagree on your last sentence : the Elmar 35mm with focus to 0,5 meters, uncoupled, unstandard, is a not common but well known variant of the first Elmar 35 : Lager displays #585, Rahn auctioned #022, WestLicht #139 (marked 3,5 cm) ...Others can be retrieved by sure... btw, I discoverd that WestLicht auctioned a lens like the one which originated this thread : unnumbered, uncoupled, short focus IN FEET (1,5) and standard mount (November 2013, item #102) Edited April 12, 2016 by luigi bertolotti 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pecole Posted April 13, 2016 Share #19 Posted April 13, 2016 Sorry, Pierre, I disagree on your last sentence : the Elmar 35mm with focus to 0,5 meters, uncoupled, unstandard, is a not common but well known variant of the first Elmar 35 : Lager displays #585, Rahn auctioned #022, WestLicht #139 (marked 3,5 cm) ...Others can be retrieved by sure... btw, I discoverd that WestLicht auctioned a lens like the one which originated this thread : unnumbered, uncoupled, short focus IN FEET (1,5) and standard mount (November 2013, item #102) OK, Luigi : of course you are right...and I will think twice before making statements based on notes dating at least 25 years (before Rahn or Westlicht existed). And thank you for your information. Friendly and Leically yours Pierre 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Spark Posted March 17, 2018 Share #20 Posted March 17, 2018 Hi everyone! First of all, I'm from Hungary, but there is no option to choose this country in the ragistration form. So I made a little research, because I'm lucky to have (it was simply given to as a gift, a dutch photojournalist had used it) a Leica I modded to Leica II. as I figured out. But: I have an Elmar '35' close focus down to 0,5 mtr, that I can't really use below 1 mtr. So I checked many sites, and forums, and if I didn't get wrong informations, this lens is one of the 2703 pieces that were built for the first changeable lens - Leicas (I), whiches were not standardized (if it's true, this Elmar works perfectly only with the body it was built for). I just want to be sure, if I'm right or not, and if I am, to know if there is any chance to find the Leica I body matching this lens? I took 3 photos from different parts of the Elmar 35mm, maybe these signs can give the answeres. There is no "0" sign on the mount of the lens. Best regards, Jeremy Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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