Andysnap Posted January 21, 2013 Share #1 Posted January 21, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi all, I recently bought a Leica II which, after posting on here, was determined to have been a 1931 Leica I upgraded to a II in 1934. It came with a 50mm Elmar f3.5 which I am struggling to date. It appears that it is an un-numbered lens and as you can see from the images it has a small 0 above the small screw opposite to the focus lever. I am a little confused as there does not seem to be anything I can see which would give a definite date, I am hoping that it is the lens which came with the camera originally. Another question is that I see references to the '11 o'clock infinity lock' can anyone tell me what this means please? Elmar3 by andysnapper1, on Flickr Elmar1 by andysnapper1, on Flickr So far (after the camera and lens had a full service) I have only run 1 cheap colour film through the camera just to make sure it all worked and to get a feel for the ergonomics and I was very pleased with the results even though the lens has some cleaning marks on the front element. I am now in the process of shooting a roll of good b&w so I should have some results worth showing (fingers crossed) next week. Thanks in advance for any help you can give. Andy G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 21, 2013 Posted January 21, 2013 Hi Andysnap, Take a look here Some Help & Advice Please - 50mm Elmar f3.5. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
luigi bertolotti Posted January 21, 2013 Share #2 Posted January 21, 2013 It has 3 distinctive elements : 1) It is marked "50mm", not "5cm", which dates to the first '30s 2) It is unnumbered, which dates it before 1932 about 3) It has the "o" which means it's a standard lens : to say, one which matches any standard flange-to-film distance body (the first Leica Is had not this standardized distance, and the lenses were matched to a specific body - the lens had the last 3 digits of the body' s/n) ; this dates it , reasonably, to 1931 or after. So , the most probable conclusion is that it was the Elmar which originally equipped your Leica I, which later was upgraded to Leica II, with, at the same time, the modification of the Elmar to have rangefinder coupling. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivier57f Posted January 21, 2013 Share #3 Posted January 21, 2013 Hi The number is on the front ring. I think than it is numbered 156584 Bye Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted January 21, 2013 Share #4 Posted January 21, 2013 I forgot your question about "11 o'clock" : it means that when the Elmar is focused at infinty the focus knob, looking from front of the camera, is positioned at "11 hours"... so one typically has to move it using his right hand (unless one makes a sort of gymnick with left hand to reach it).... not so quick given that usually you have to use your right hand (finger) to operate the shutter button... first Elmars are all "11 o'clock"... later on (1933 about) they were modified, and at infinity the knob is positioned at "7 o'clock" making at all natural to use left hand to set focus. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted January 21, 2013 Share #5 Posted January 21, 2013 HiThe number is on the front ring. I think than it is numbered 156584 Bye RIGHT.... too busy to make my deep explanations and didn't even notice it... ... ought to be a number of 1933 (batch of 500 156501 to 157000) , which can modify my conclusion... it's uneven it was originally mounted on a body of 1931... and probably it was coupled from its birth... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andysnap Posted January 21, 2013 Author Share #6 Posted January 21, 2013 HiThe number is on the front ring. I think than it is numbered 156584 Bye How did I miss that' thanks and well spotted, and thank you Luigi for your kind explanation. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philipus Posted January 21, 2013 Share #7 Posted January 21, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) This Elmar (I) goes to f18 and as I understand the Wiki such Elmars also exist with minimum f16 minimum aperture. Did the minimum aperture vary over time, were nickel with one and chrome with another min. aperture or is there some other logic? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted January 21, 2013 Share #8 Posted January 21, 2013 This Elmar (I) goes to f18 and as I understand the Wiki such Elmars also exist with minimum f16 minimum aperture. Did the minimum aperture vary over time, were nickel with one and chrome with another min. aperture or is there some other logic? Yes... but they arrived years later : it was after World War II that Leitz decided to use the "International" scale (1,4 -2 - 2,8 - 4 - 5,6 - 8 - 11 - 16...) instead of the old "European" scale (1,6 - 2,2 - 3,2 - 4,5 - 6,3 - 9 - 12,5 - 18...)- The "Post WWII" Elmars were scaled to f16, and to f22 after 1950 around - and were anyway chromed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philipus Posted January 22, 2013 Share #9 Posted January 22, 2013 Thank you Luigi. I feel somewhat foolish, not having seen that this is simply a result of using different numbering conventions. Lack of sleep... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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