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Summar 5cm Tropen


greyelm

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I am awaiting the arrival of a IIIa with a Summar attached that I got for a lowish price on eBay. While looking at the photos I noticed that the lens was different to my other Summar. After searching on the web I think this may be a rare Tropen (tropical) variant with an extra element. Does anyone know anything about these? I notice on the photos of mine that the serial number is 2257xx which is lower than the examples on line which are 4xxxxx. If mine is in fact a Tropen it could be worth a couple of thousand dollars. I'll post some pictures when it arrives.

Edited by greyelm
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The serial number difference did puzzle me so I'm looking forward to receiving the lens so I can have a closer look. It certainly matches the pictures of an authentic Tropen but we all know how many modified Leica lenses there are about.

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The main external distinguishing feature of the Tropen Summar is a thin groove running along the barrel similar to that on the barrel of the later Summitar. If a Summar with this feature emerges with a 'too early' serial number, there are a number of possibilities such as change of front ring or, if it is possible, the substitution of a Summitar barrel. Please post photos when you receive the lens but be aware that alterations could have been made at some stage. For example, I have seven collapsible Summars (mainly different variants) and one of them appears to be the mount of one variant matched together with the lens head of another variant. I believe that this was done by a repair technician at some stage.

 

A 'Tropen' with the 'wrong serial number' would need careful examination before any conclusions are made.

 

William

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The camera and lens have arrived and as expected the Summar doesn't appear to be a Tropen due to the lack of groove on the barrel and the lower serial number. The aperture ring is different to my only other Summar so I am curious about this. Here a couple of quick pictures that shows the main features.

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Not sure how rare this variation is - it appears identical to the 1934 Summar I got with a model III:

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Hello Everyone,

 

Does anyone have  an optical diagram of the lens with the extra element? 

 

A side by side pair of drawings, regular & extra, would be helpful.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

Marco Cavina has everything :)

 

Summar std.

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Summar Tropen (around 100 made)

 

... from which Berek finally derived the Summitar...

 

... and then Summitar* ... and then Summicron... :)...other designers on Berek's legacy

Edited by luigi bertolotti
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Not sure how rare this variation is - it appears identical to the 1934 Summar I got with a model III:

attachicon.gif1934 Summar.jpg

 

I have a few variants shown here in the front row:

 

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The variations here include black top, nickel and meters and feet variations. In addition the first four from the left have the f2.9 mark for use with the short-lived Agfa filters. The first 3 from the left have the slot feature below the aperture ring. The last 3 from the centre to the right have an infra-red mark. The item at the back, modelling the SOOMP hood, is actually the head of one of these variations with the mount of another; probably done by a repair man many years ago. In addition to these, I have an early nickel rigid model and a coated version of the last lens on the right here. I can post photos of these if anyone is interested.

 

William

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  • 5 months later...

I recently acquired the aluminum can, shown in the pictures below.  This would appear to be an original can for the Summar Tropen lens which is further discussed in the threads of this forum.  Summarizing, Leitz would appear to have produced 80-100 of these lenses during 1937, which makes them quite rare.  In none of the pictures I've found of these lenses is the can pictured, which leads me to believe that of the few produced, fewer still have survived.  The aluminum in these is very thin -- even thinner than the aluminum used to hold the film cans (FILCA).  These cans appear to be more rare than the Summar lenses they held!

 

Can anyone provide more information about this? 

 

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It seems ti me that those alu cans were made for most of the lenses of the '30s... I Remember to have seen One for the hektor 28... As you say they are very thin and probably that's the reason why they are so scarce... The not so many sold probably became very worn in usage... They are very interesting accessories.

 

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  • 1 month later...

I like this lens 

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It seems ti me that those alu cans were made for most of the lenses of the '30s... I Remember to have seen One for the hektor 28... As you say they are very thin and probably that's the reason why they are so scarce... The not so many sold probably became very worn in usage... They are very interesting accessories.

 

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I had at least one alu case - they were called "tropical cases" in ex-Belgian Congo - for 5cm Elmar.

 

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The aperture ring has the mark at f 2,9... the aperture to be used with the well known Agfacolor filter : it's an interesting variant, probably rather uncommon.

I also had a "2.9 mark" Summar in my Fontenelle collection : here is an image. Note that it also has a "lever-actuated" diaphragm and an infra-red mark.

 

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