arcimboldo Posted February 14, 2016 Share #1 Posted February 14, 2016 Advertisement (gone after registration) hello, i consider buying a 50 summicron via ebay and was wondering because the serial 3655430 refers to a silver summicron from 1994 3654716 3655715 Summicron-M f= 5 cm 1:2 (M-silver) 1994 1000 the summicron for sale is black, what does this mean? kind regards, i. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 14, 2016 Posted February 14, 2016 Hi arcimboldo, Take a look here Short help with summicron serial. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
adan Posted February 14, 2016 Share #2 Posted February 14, 2016 Leica serial numbers are not perfectly definitive. For a long time they were pre-assigned - before manufacture - in blocks. They may still be. As in your example, 1000 sequential numbers were assigned to be used on silver 50 Summicrons. Once manufacturing begins, there may be a mismatch in supply and demand - more black lenses needed, and less demand for silver than anticipated. So some of the 1000 lenses are made in black. Additionally, it may take 18 months to make and sell 1000 50 Summicrons - so while the numbers were assigned in 1994, any actual lens may have been made in 1995. Less so for a popular lens like the 50 Summicron. But an exotic lens like a Noctilux or 75 Summilux may take 10 years to "use up" 1000 serial numbers. Serial numbers, for Leica, are just a way of keeping track of any one specific lens or camera (When did it leave the factory? Which country/dealer/consumer did it go to? Has it ever been back in for servicing?). They don't care if it confuses collectors and aficianados when things don't always match the records. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcimboldo Posted February 14, 2016 Author Share #3 Posted February 14, 2016 thank you adan! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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