Canadian made vs. German made.

[HenrikP]

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Hi all,

 

What is the difference between the 35mm Summilux made in Canada and German?

 

Regards Henrik

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[LucisPictor]

The price for a used copy.

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[@McLeica]

Nothing as far as I'm aware. 

[jdlaing]

5,608 kilometers.

[jdlaing]

Oh, and one other slight difference. One speaks German and the other one can't make up its mind whether it wants to speak French or English.

 

[the warrior]

Once I was told a story, someone who knew a lot about optics and other issues told me that the atmospheric pressure Canada is much better for cooling the lens there and that the result is better than in Germany.

Mandler decided to stay in Canada for some obscure reason, or maybe knew this ... ??.

[lct]

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Last time i compared my German made 35/1.4 v2 from 1989 had less flare than a Canadian made v2 from the seventies. Nothing to do with origin but rather different coatings on later lenses i suspect but i'm not sure of that at all. 

Edited April 24, 2016 by lct

[Geoffrey James]

The only difference is in the engraving.  Everyone else is superstition. 

[adan]

The only thing that affects air pressure consistently is elevation above sea level. Solms is 154 meters high, Midland, Ontario is 236 meters. Not really enough to make much difference. It's not like the Leica factory was in the Rocky Mountains or anything.

 

The main reason for the Canadian (and Portugese) factories was the Cold War. Leitz needed fallback locations in case the Soviets came over the border into West Germany. Especially since some of their business was military in nature (ELCAN cameras and lenses, but also rifle scopes and optics for heat-seeking missiles and such).

 

Personally, I own Canadian lenses whenever possible, because there is no difference, and they are, or were, sometimes a bit cheaper. And I like knowing they were produced directly under the management (if not the actual hands) of Dr. Mandler. I look for those serial numbers 3000000 to 3350000.

[pico]

I have a 35mm Summilux with an infinity lock but the serial number is off-the-books. I get more flare if shooting towards East, but pointing it North is perfectly good.  If I hold it up to my ear I hear the Twilight Zone theme music. Will trade for one with Deutschlandlied.

[the warrior]

     you must be careful with that lux, it may be produced on Mars !!! extraterrestrial.

[david strachan]

Once I was told a story, someone who knew a lot about optics and other issues told me that the atmospheric pressure Canada is much better for cooling the lens there and that the result is better than in Germany.

 

Mandler decided to stay in Canada for some obscure reason, or maybe knew this ... ??.

Oh pleeeze, I would have expected more from you warrior.

[Ernstk]

Personally, I own Canadian lenses whenever possible, because there is no difference, and they are, or were, sometimes a bit cheaper. And I like knowing they were produced directly under the management (if not the actual hands) of Dr. Mandler. I look for those serial numbers 3000000 to 3350000.

Out of interest, why that particular range of serial numbers?

[the warrior]

I feel my mistranslation and perhaps the error in my commentary friend David Strachan, I thought of a joke, sorry.

[adan]

Out of interest, why that particular range of serial numbers?

 

That's the range that covers the "high point" of the Canadian/Mandler lens production. The last, most modern designs that were still made in Canada, created in a flurry of activity between 1979 and 1985, more or less.

 

21 Elmarit v.1, 28 Elmarit v.3, 35 Summicron v.4, 50 Summicron non-APO (not sure of the version, but the one still made/sold today, minus the built-in hood), 75 Summilux v.1, 90 Summicron E55 - all introduced in that time frame, after Leitz Canada rescued the whole M system from extinction, by proposing and then producing the M4-2 and later M4-P.

 

Also the (IMHO) "best" Canadian 90 Tele-Elmarit-M's - not optically different, but less prone to the "rear-element disease" that has something to do with coating or cement problems in the early runs. And most of the Canadian 50mm f/1 Noctilux run (actually introduced 1976 - s/n probably about 27-something).

 

Coincidentally, also the time when Leitz added the large yellow focal-length engravings on the M lens mounts.

 

....or in other words, most of what the "well-dressed" Leica user would have seen and bought, new, from the M4-2/M4-P brochures of that era.

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ILN78htHEJk/VEqxte9XpyI/AAAAAAAAKbc/wuD9ovw-Edg/s1600/13.jpg

 

http://www.theonlinedarkroom.com/2014/10/leica-m4-p-brochure.html#more

 

and last but not least, pretty much the earliest M lenses that Leica supports for factory digital 6-bit coding.

Edited April 25, 2016 by adan

[Bill Livingston]

Informative post... thank you...

[pippy]

Whilst it plainly doesn't refer to the 35mm Summilux the following link to everyone's favourite reviewer touches on the Canada/Germany question and is rather interesting;

 

http://www.kenrockwell.com/leica/90mm-f28-tele.htm

 

The only difference I've noticed is that the font/typeface used varies very slightly from the one to the other, most obviously on the infinity symbol on the focussing barrel.

 

FWIW I have Canada versions of the 50mm Summicron and the 90mm Tele-Elmarit and they are both astonishingly sharp bits of kit.

 

Pip.

[Abram]

I've had equipment from both places, and I haven't seen anything that told me one was somehow inferior to the other. They're all fairly well made products.

[asiafish]

No quality difference whatsoever.  

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[IWC Doppel]

Wasn't there some differences between Canada and German production of mandlers V4 35mm summicron ? The German being better.