50mm Brightline Query

[uptong]

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I have just acquired a 50mm Brightline finder the front of which is marked Ernest Leitz Wetzlar Germany 50mm with all lettering in capitals and all the same font size.

Looking round on various websites all the versions I am seeing appear to be marked Ernest Leitz GMBH Wetzlar Germany in lower case lettering and with the Germany in a smaller font.

Look as I may I cannot find reference to a version the way my one is marked.

I have no good reason to suspect it is not a genuine Leitz finer, the build quality (all metal silver) and optical quality are simply superb as one would expect.

Perhaps someone with more knowledge on these could offer a clue as to possibly why mine is marked slightly differently, were there different models over time for instance.

Any info appreciated

[luigi bertolotti]

I suppose You speak of this, the well known SBOOI aka 12015 .. it is not rare in both styles of engravings, I think, even if the more "modern" version, with capital letters, can indeed be a bit more scarce, for it dates to times when Leicas with NO embedded viewfinder (like the old Leica Standard, Ic, If etc...) were uncommon.

[ATTACH]167333[/ATTACH]

 

There are other minor variants in finish-engraving ... James Lager (great expert in the field) declares to have identified SIX different SBOOI...

[uptong]

Thanks for response, yes that is exactly the style. I did not expect it to be rare or of any value it is just the versions I have seen elsewhere had the different lettering.

Is there any way to date these, for interest sake.

[luigi bertolotti]

Thanks for response, yes that is exactly the style. I did not expect it to be rare or of any value it is just the versions I have seen elsewhere had the different lettering.

Is there any way to date these, for interest sake.

 

Well... that's not so easy... but there are collectors VERY specialized on Viewfinders... it's no difficult to find collections of ,say, 70-80 VFs all different one from each other: for what I know, SBOII was made available in 1951, and Leitz started a "general switch" from lower case to capital around 1957-58 : this was made for all the devices (lenses included) , but if for lenses the date of switch is rather easy to identify, thanks to serial numbering, for VF is surely more difficult... by the way, I do not know when the SBOOI was discontinued.

[Rona!d]

I´d say that every "Ernest Leitz Wetzlar Germany 50mm" finder is a rare thing, never seen. The ones i know (and own) are signed with "Ernst Leitz Wetzlar Germany 50mm" or "ERNST LEITZ WETZLAR GERMANY 50mm".

[luigi bertolotti]

I´d say that every "Ernest Leitz Wetzlar Germany 50mm" finder is a rare thing, never seen. The ones i know (and own) are signed with "Ernst Leitz Wetzlar Germany 50mm" or "ERNST LEITZ WETZLAR GERMANY 50mm".

 

... Uptong's Country is unspecified... but many Anglo-saxons have clear in mind the "Importance of being Earnest"... and one correction is sufficient...