dkCambridgeshire Posted December 15, 2006 Share #1 Posted December 15, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) Ref my Leica 1 Model C thread and acquisition of suitable period lens ... If an originally non-coated lens eg a prewar 5cm Elmar has been subsequently factory coated presumably postwar ... would the factory dismantle and coat all accessible lens surfaces? Or would the coating only be applied to say the front element? This is something I've never been sure about ... has anyone on the forum ever seen such a lens dismantled and examined such recoated elements? The reason I ask is that I have seen for sale some prewar lenses which appear to be coated postwar and they would be preferable to a postwar lens. Thanks Dunk Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 15, 2006 Posted December 15, 2006 Hi dkCambridgeshire, Take a look here Prewar lenses sent for coating .... I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
wizard Posted December 15, 2006 Share #2 Posted December 15, 2006 Duncan, Leica offered this post coating service for many years after the war, well into the Fifties or even Sixties. When Leica post coated lenses, they were dismantled and every lens element was coated, it was not just the front element or the outer lens surfaces. At the time, this service was not cheap at all, but certainly cheaper than a new lens. There are quite a few post coated Summars around, also Elmars 50 and 35. Regards, Andy Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted December 15, 2006 Author Share #3 Posted December 15, 2006 Thanks Andy. Dunk Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdai Posted December 15, 2006 Share #4 Posted December 15, 2006 Duncan, Leica offered this post coating service for many years after the war, well into the Fifties or even Sixties. Are they still doing this, Andy? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted December 16, 2006 Share #5 Posted December 16, 2006 Coating was/is also carried out by independents, so you won't know for sure if its a Leica coated lens or not. If functionality is your main concern, rather than period authenticity, I'd look for a Red Scale Elmar or a factory coated Black Scale. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizard Posted December 16, 2006 Share #6 Posted December 16, 2006 Are they still doing this, Andy? They stopped doing that many, many years ago. However, when talking to the head of their customer service recently, he indicated that they would be able to recoat a lens element if needed. It won't be cheap though, and thus I don't know if applying coating to an entire uncoated lens is really feasible. Andy Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted February 10, 2007 Author Share #7 Posted February 10, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Have now ordered a nickel 50mm Elmar which has been coated ... this being the first reasonably priced 50mm Elmar seen of any vintage within my budget .. but just so happens the vintage suits my Leica 1 Model C. Somewhere I have a Leitz lens hood with an integral diaphragm adjusting ring ... but it is not really contemporary with a prewar lens. Looking forward to using the camera and lens soon. Dunk Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbazz Posted February 15, 2007 Share #8 Posted February 15, 2007 It is possible to have old lenses multicoated but at a very high price. As far as I know, the only affordable solution if you have a lens with a scratched front element or with "cleaning marks" is to send the front element in a padded envelope to Araxfoto in Ukraine to have it polished and multicoated. It will cost you $15 per lens surface, i.e. $30 for the front element. The only problem is that you'll have to unmount the lens element yourself, because Araxfoto will only accept bare single optical elements (no cemented elements, no mounting flange or retaining ring). Cheers, Abbazz Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
masjah Posted February 15, 2007 Share #9 Posted February 15, 2007 I thought I read in one of Malcolm Taylor's small adverts in AP that he had some vacuum coating facilities available. It might be worth asking him. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyoung Posted February 15, 2007 Share #10 Posted February 15, 2007 I thought I read in one of Malcolm Taylor's small adverts in AP that he had some vacuum coating facilities available. It might be worth asking him. He certainly has, but when I had my 3.5/5cm Elmar overhauled by him last year I chose not to have it coated, so that I could see how a good condition uncoated lens would compare to a more modern lens (Ihave a 2.8 Elmar as well) Gerry Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flatfour Posted February 16, 2007 Share #11 Posted February 16, 2007 I have a virtually unused Nickel f3.5 Elmar and unused f3.5 Chrome Elmar. They are almost unused because the IIIs owners, one a famous medical a laboratory and the other an engineer, both bought Summars and the standard lens was stored away. I then asked a Leica expert about coating and he said "don't or you will lose the special feel of the pre-war lens" .I use both the Elmars and wouldn't know if there was any difference but I have not had any trouble with flare by being a bit careful with contre jour shots. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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