arfbark123 Posted June 17, 2013 Share #1 Posted June 17, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) Not a Leica accessory, but maybe part of Leica history, this interesting brass E. Leitz 120mm f.4 Sumar lens is unusual because "Sumar" is spelled with a single "m", with a straight line above it. I've been told this was the way, in old German, to denote double "m". I can find no other on the web, and I've contacted several very good sources: nobody has ever seen one, nor can they tell me anything about it. Might it be a prototype or a very early example of one of the first in the "Summar" line? (Also, I'd be interested to find out what "Summar" means, and where the term comes from). Thanks for any info! Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/207068-interesting-old-summar-lens/?do=findComment&comment=2351805'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 Hi arfbark123, Take a look here Interesting old Summar lens. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
UliWer Posted June 17, 2013 Share #2 Posted June 17, 2013 Leitz made lenses for large format cameras long before the times of the Leica. There was a 1:4/250mm lens from 1905 for a 18x24cm (not mm!) camera - quite impressive, the 1:3.5/50 Elmar had about 1/10 of this Summar's volume. Other early Summars had f:5 or f:6 - so they were somewhere in the X-Vario league... They were listed in early catalogues by Leitz - as it seems always as "Summar" with two m. One page of such a catalogue from 1905 is shown in the book "Max Berek- Schöpfer der ersten Leica Ojektive, Pionier der Mikroskopie" edited by Knut Kühn-Leitz, 2009, p. 75. "Sumar" was used later as a 5-letter-abbreviation for the first rigid version of the f:2/50mm Summar, while "Sumus" was the collapsible version. Though maybe that they weren't always consistent in their namegiving and used Sumar with one m at the very beginning long before the Leica came. There are more examples for namechanging: Leca, Elmax, Summikron during the Leica-Times. Obviously the name originally was a "marketing" name: Zeiss was famous for the Tessar, so Leitz pretended to be better - Summar gave an association to the Latin word "summus" which lives on until today in Summilux etc. Perhaps the story is quite simple: the engraver made a mistake, forgetting the second m and corrected it by the line above the single m. In van Hasbroeck's book "Das große Leica-Buch" 2nd. edit, 1988, p. 31 you find a picture of your 1:4,5/120mm Summar - with two mm. There is also a reproduction of the oldest known design for the lens from 1902 - also with two m. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
satijntje Posted June 18, 2013 Share #3 Posted June 18, 2013 This would be an interesting item to put it up for the westlight auction. Maybe it will bring a fortune:D:D Good luck! John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted June 18, 2013 Share #4 Posted June 18, 2013 It's the so called Macron <Wikipedia> A macron, from the Greek μακρόν (makrón), meaning "long", is a diacritic placed above a vowel (and, more rarely, under or above a consonant) In the GermanKurrent handwriting, a macron is used on some consonants, especially n and m, as a shortform for a double consonant (for example, n̄ instead of nn). <end> ..so, clearly a sophisticated allusion to Summar as a Macro(n) lens for Aristophot... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc_braconi Posted June 19, 2013 Share #5 Posted June 19, 2013 ..so, clearly a sophisticated allusion to Summar as a Macro(n) lens for Aristophot... . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfbark123 Posted June 22, 2013 Author Share #6 Posted June 22, 2013 Thank you for taking the time to look at the lens, your several replies, and the interesting information. The reply about a "sophisticated allusion to Summar as a Macro(n) lens for Aristophot" was very insightful, and one I doubt I could have made even if I were familiar with German. Thanks again! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.