dblrifle Posted December 9, 2013 Share #1 Posted December 9, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) I recently bought a super nice 50mm Summitar. It came with a single screw in filter. The only marking on the filter is the letter 'H'. The filter is optically perfect but I have no idea WHAT it is. Does any one know what the 'H' signifies? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 9, 2013 Posted December 9, 2013 Hi dblrifle, Take a look here Filter designator. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
dblrifle Posted December 10, 2013 Author Share #2 Posted December 10, 2013 I thought of all places here someone would know what the letter designators mean. It seems to be a clear filter and I will assume it's a UV and shoot some with it and see what happens. I know from Ebay they had a 4 filter set of 3 colored and one clear with the letter 'H' on the clear rim as mine does. I guess I could write Leitz but it's not that big a deal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted December 10, 2013 Share #3 Posted December 10, 2013 H as in German for 'sky' himmel? So its a skylight filter? Just a guess. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
UliWer Posted December 10, 2013 Share #4 Posted December 10, 2013 The original Leitz-filters were marked with different letters for their sizes. You find a list here: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-collectors-historica/174850-yellow-no-2-filter-authentic-figam.html#post1662546 Though from this list, it is not quite sure, which size "H" stood for. If you use it on a Summitar, it should be the Summitar size... , which was a special one, not used for other lenses. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
UliWer Posted December 10, 2013 Share #5 Posted December 10, 2013 I found out that the letter "H" did not stand for the Summitar-size but for the screw-in filters for the 5cm Summar, the 9cm Elmar and the Hektors with 2.8 and 13.5cm. So if your "H"-filter is an original Leitz one, it should not fit the Summitar. Summitar filters were classified by an "L" - though on none of my Summitar-filters - old ones in black and newer ones in chrome- I find the letter engraved. Only the usual engravings for colours. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblrifle Posted December 10, 2013 Author Share #6 Posted December 10, 2013 Thanks to everybody for their 'opinions'. The filter I have is definitely for a 50mm Summitar at least it fits the recessed threads perfectly. The Summitar is definitely marked 'Summitar f=5cm 1:2 No624003 Ernest Leitz Wetzlar'. The filter is what appears to be clear glass (definitely not a color) and has a knurled chrome mount. The knurled rim has a blank space with the letter 'H" and the tapered part immediately below the 'H' and before the threaded portion there appears 'E. Leitz New York'. It appears that to obtain an answer I really will have to contact Leitz Germany. Does anyone have an Email address that would elicit the information that I could use. The diameter and everything fits the Summitar perfectly. The Summitar appears to be very little used ,no haze,no dust,no oil,the front element even appears to have no coating loss from cleaning, the barrel has very few scratches from collapsing , all this leading me to believe this filter has probably been on this lense from new. There is some chrome loss on the filter knurling of the ring with brass showing but very,very little spots. I am remarkably impressed with lense condition. ONLY thing apparent is that the lense contains a few bubbles which is not unusual to me in older lenses and comes from the casting process and so the lense passed original quality control. I am just curious about the 'H' and whatever it signifies. I'm hoping it's a UV filter or a Skylight. Just would like to know.Since it has absolutely no color I'm pretty sure it's not some sort of compensating filter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
UliWer Posted December 11, 2013 Share #7 Posted December 11, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) Perhaps the easiest way to get some more information about your filter would be to show a photo of it here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomB_tx Posted December 11, 2013 Share #8 Posted December 11, 2013 Sounds like the filter was a product of USA Leitz N.Y. who sourced accessories and even lenses from US companies - especially around the war years when supply from Germany was a problem. If so our European experts may not have information about it. Since the Summitar was introduced in 1939 Leitz NY may have needed local accessories for a while. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblrifle Posted December 11, 2013 Author Share #9 Posted December 11, 2013 Thanks all for your interest and help. I have no idea how to post pictures here of the filter but I can assure you it looks like every other filter of that type I see pictures of . In point of fact there is a set of 4 on ebay presently that shows the exact same filter with the 'H' designation showing quite prominently. I realize the filter was US produced but it certainly seems to Leitz/Leica standards to obviously fit the Summitar. You can see by the Summitars serial number it was a last series production of the collapsible version. I would imagine the filter was purchased with the lense and with a US manufacture I would surmise they were purchased in the US. I just assumed that Leica standards applied everywhere they were produced and sold and there was some sort of standard designation system but that is obviously not the case here. When I find an Email address I shall contact Leica and ask them directly. Again thanks all for your courteous assistance in this search . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
UliWer Posted December 11, 2013 Share #10 Posted December 11, 2013 Here is a photo of a Leitz-NYC Summitar-filter which I found via ebay. This one has the letter "A" engraved - which leaves me at a loss. DSCN0123.jpg I have never seen this engraving nor do I know what it means. Obviously it is not the same classification of filters by letters shown in the list which I mentioned in my former posting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblrifle Posted December 11, 2013 Author Share #11 Posted December 11, 2013 That is the exact same style filter. It appears that the one with the 'A' is a yellow filter. Don't know what the significance is. Seems ,maybe the US made ones had a separate designator system than the Wetzler ones. I have absolutely no idea. I have emailed Leica in New York and maybe they can come up with an answer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblrifle Posted December 15, 2013 Author Share #12 Posted December 15, 2013 I didn't realize how difficult such a simple question was going to be to get answered. I have posted on 2 Rangefinder forums and have queried both Leica New York and Leica Solms with no definitive answers to the question. I , at least ,got responses on the Forums and that is much appreciated but other than a confirmation from NY that they had received my email nothing from Leica. Makes one wonder some. How do they respond if you have a REAL problem. Again thanks to all who helped with suggestions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted December 15, 2013 Share #13 Posted December 15, 2013 How do they respond if you have a REAL problem. It should be pretty clear by now that your filter is something that Leica NY had contracted out. So your clear disdain for forum members suggestions and the fact that Leica themselves can't come up with an answer is way over the top in saying Leica can't be bothered . To be honest with your attitude for wanting people to respond to the click of your fingers on a complicated historical question I think you would be advised to let the question soak in. Then when people have time to do the research for you, you may get an answer. I mean, what did your last slave die from? Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblrifle Posted December 15, 2013 Author Share #14 Posted December 15, 2013 Sorry you think my attitude is at fault ,it probably is,but the question is a rather simple one. These filters show up regularly on Ebay and I would imagine in dealers. I'm sure both Solms and New York have advertising literature from the period the filters were produced so it would seem a simple matter to simple me to find the answer. Incidentally my last slave served me well and I granted him his freedom. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted December 15, 2013 Share #15 Posted December 15, 2013 Sorry you think my attitude is at fault ,it probably is,but the question is a rather simple one. But if the question is simple, why should you think anybody is keeping the simple answer back? It isn't a secret what you asked, but nobody has yet has come up with something that suits you. It isn't time to start blaming anybody on the forum, or Leica (and the snide innuendo about customer care) over an obscure filter, especially as the actual use of it appears clear! Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblrifle Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share #16 Posted December 16, 2013 After re-reading all the posts I see where I thanked the forum participants a couple of times for their assistance and as to my 'snide innuendo' about customer care I don't think it to be snide at all as I was very plain about it, I DO wonder how they would respond to something of significance and as to being clear glass I have no idea what that means , many lenses are 'clear' glass. As I said New York customer service did acknowledge receipt of my email but Solms was completely quiet. I assume they received it as I got no mail delivery message. I'm sorry my request has upset you and you have wasted time researching the question . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblrifle Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share #17 Posted December 16, 2013 I did today receive a response from Leica New York. The party who wrote said he could not find an answer but thought possibly the 'H' stood for 'haze' which was once used for UV filters designation. Makes sense but then another identical type found by a forum member is marked with an 'A' and it is yellow, so it seems to just be any ones guess. Not as simple a question as I had supposed and for this I apologize to all who have spent any time on it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebidwell Posted December 16, 2013 Share #18 Posted December 16, 2013 Hi there, quite frankly I don't think you need to apologise!! you asked what you thought was a perfectly simple question and hoped for a simple answer. Well sometimes we find that there is no simple answer and you just let it go. You never know thouigh because there are a lot of members who frequent this forum who are extremely knowledgable on Leica History and would probably see this as a challenge. So in time you might get your answer. Best wishes Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted December 16, 2013 Share #19 Posted December 16, 2013 Makes sense but then another identical type found by a forum member is marked with an 'A' and it is yellow, so it seems to just be any ones guess. 'Haze' is a good guess. Type A is a colour correction filter for outdoor use of colour film that is made for using under photoflood lights, and similarly there was a type F for using colour film corrected for flash bulbs outdoors. So the yellow A would be to warm up a colour film biased towards blue. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alandash Posted January 28, 2014 Share #20 Posted January 28, 2014 I recently bought a super nice 50mm Summitar. It came with a single screw in filter. The only marking on the filter is the letter 'H'. The filter is optically perfect but I have no idea WHAT it is. Does any one know what the 'H' signifies? The 50mm Summitar filters are definitely different from the later ones (E39) used on the 50mm Summicron, etc. However, there are lots of low price simple converter rings to allow you to use the current E39 filters on the Summitar lens. I tend to think that the "H" stands for "Haze" filter, which is now usually called "UV". Some filter companies differentiate between a slightly darker "Haze" filter, as opposed to an absolutely clear "UV" filter, claiming that the darker one reduces the ultraviolet a bit better. My eyes cannot see any difference between the two. Many years ago it was common for most filters to have alphabetic IDs, such as "Y" for yellow, "G" for green, "PL" for polarizer, etc. Color correction filters for white balance had "81B", "81C", etc. Hope this helps. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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