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Leica Summicron 50mm Rigid (Type 2) question


egrossman

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I just received a 1958 Summicron 50mm Rigid (Type 2) from an ebay seller today. I'm having some difficulty mounting it on my Monochrom and on closer inspection notice that the light baffle protrudes deeper into the camera than modern lenses that I have (this is my first older lens). Does this lens need to be sent back to NJ for modification?

 

Thanks!

 

Erik

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I believe that I've found the answer to my own question. This lens isn't the Type 2 but the DR. It wasn't described accurately. The Type 2 I understand is compatible but the DR needs to be modified and you loose the close focusing ability.

 

Back to the seller it goes. Unless I'm mistaken...

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  • 2 months later...
I believe that I've found the answer to my own question. This lens isn't the Type 2 but the DR. It wasn't described accurately.

 

Not so fast, my friend... :) To my best knowledge the "type" designations have never been in official use by Leica and there is no common agreement regarding their definition.

Some people like Stephen Gandy refer to the Rigid as type 2 and the DR as type 3 (like you do), but others like E. Puts use the type 2 designation for both the Rigid and the DR as they share the same optical cell. For Puts, a type 3 (or version iii) Summicron is the six element version introduced in 1969. I would even dare to say that his definition is the more common one. So stating that the lens wasn't accurately described is not fair IMO. I would rather say if anyone is at fault at all here, than it would be rather you because you were not very well informed as a buyer: The DR and Rigid look so different that it is almost impossible to mistake one for the other. As long as there were any photographs at all in the listing, you could or should have easily identified the version by just looking at the pictures ...

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Sorry Joe but I disagree. At the very least it should have been specified as a Dual Range and it was not.

 

The point is moot anyway. The seller accepted the lens back and I have my Rigid that I obtained from the Leica Shop in Austria.

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Hello Everybody,

 

What is pictured is a first version 50mm Dual Range Summicon. There were 2 major variants of the 50mm Dual Range Summicron.

 

Either variant without its occulars in place is similar in appearance to the first rigid version of the 50mm Summicron which focusses to 1 meter.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

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Sorry Joe but I disagree. At the very least it should have been specified as a Dual Range and it was not.

 

The point is moot anyway. The seller accepted the lens back and I have my Rigid that I obtained from the Leica Shop in Austria.

 

Glad to hear you could return the lens. It is a fact that their is no common denominator what a "type (or version) 2 Summicron" actually refers to. So I agree it was not very wise by the seller to not specify his lens as a DR.You have the same when looking at the latest (1995) version of the Summicron 50 with the built in hood. Some group it together with its optically identical predecessor (1979) and call both "type/version 4", others call it "type 5" (because they differentiate from the 1979 version), while again others call it "version 6", because they count the Rigid and DR as two different types, which makes the 1969 design ("version/type 3" for everyone else) already "type/version 4".

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Either variant without its occulars in place is similar in appearance to the first rigid version of the 50mm Summicron which focusses to 1 meter.

 

Well, I don't find the DR and the Rigid to be similar (maybe apart from the chrome finish and the red dot), as I see a different base, a different focusing ring and other distinctive features (infinity lock on the Rigid) that make them easily distinguishable...

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Hello joeswe,

 

Thank you for the very nice photo.

 

They look similar to me.

 

Especially when compared to all of the other 50mm Summicrons (minor variants excepted).

 

Then again, If 5 reasonable people sit in the same chair & look at the same apple they often see 5 or more very different things.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael.

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The main reason I had to return the DR was that it's cam sits too deep into digital Leica's (M9 in my case) and you can't use it without filing the cam down so that it doesn't interfere with the rangefinder roller. This defeats the whole purpose of having the DR as you can't use it in Macro mode after this surgery.

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