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35mm Summaron 3.5 (a36) with M-Mount - Questions

tangfj

By tangfj
in Leica M Lenses

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tangfj

tangfj

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I found a 35mm Summaron 3.5 in the a36 version but I see that it has a M-Mount on it instead of the normal screw mount threads... Can anyone tell me if this lens was modified and if it would work ok on a M10 with the correct framelines/etc?

 

Here is a link to the exact lens I'm thinking of getting...  any help would be appreciated!

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/391739936780?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

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luigi bertolotti

luigi bertolotti

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If it is the A36 version it must be in screw Mount : probably, the item you have found (sorry, but the ebay link doesn't redirect correctly... can you give the item number ?) has an adapter onto... many are sold like this. If the M adapter is the correct one the lens shows up the correct 35mm fram on any Leica, including digital Ms, but... there can be the issue of impossible coding : the adapters for such lenses (that have the old style focusing knob with infinity lock) have a cutout along the external diameter (see picture), to allow release of the knob, and this cutout Leaves uncovered the code reading LEDs : you must set camera on lens recognition off.

If glass is good, it's still a usable 35mm, with typical fingerprint of the era, that can be appealing

 

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UliWer

UliWer

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Unfortunately the link doesn't work.

 

The first  35 Summarons with M-mount - and without goggles - still had  A 36 filter mounts.

 

Lager, "An Illustrated Leica History" vol. II, Lenses, p.20, writes that the A36 - version was used up to serial number 1423140 in 1956. The first with M-mount have numbers from the sequence 1.106..001 - 1.110.000.

 

Edit:

 

I do not know whether the assertion about M-mount examples with A 36-filter are right. 

 

Here you see an example with M-mount and without googles from 1953: http://www.leicashop.com/vintage_de/leica/leica-m-lenses/summaron-3-5-35mm/leica-summaron-3-5-3-5cm-sku24517-37.html with serial No. 1107972.

 

According to Thiele"Kleines Fabrikationshandbuch Leica Objektive" 3. ed. 2007 it belongs to the first lot with M-mount - and A36 filters - but it evidently has an E 39 filter thread.

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luigi bertolotti

luigi bertolotti

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Sorry UliWer, but this isn't correct : Lager does refer to the screw Mount version, which indeed was made in A36 Mount for some years after the bayonet Mount intro... but the Bayonet Mount version of the Summaron 3,5 was made from the start with the "new" E39 Mount ... see hereunder my M Mount item, at right, which is one of the first made, compared with a Screw Mount version of about the same age :

 

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Edit : OK :)... I posted before your re-edit...

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luigi bertolotti

luigi bertolotti

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Yes, it is clearly an LTM lenses with the Leitz M adapter attached.

I confirm : clearly there is an adapter, of the kind with the cutout I quoted in my previous post ; it's a rather old item, having the front writing "Ernst Leitz Wetzlar" without the "Gmbh" which is typical of later items (see my above picture),s/n isn't unclear (ends with 60134 ?) :those items had the s/n not White Painted (*)... in the ebay item it can be spotted in one of the front pictures, but is not readable, or maybe partially obliterated... it must have 6 digits) : anyway cosmetics looks very good and it is complete with hood - caps - adapter (probably original, looking at the red dot and at the finishing of the back surface) : if glass is good, not a bad price imo.

 

(*) and, often, also upside-down in respect of the White number of my depicted 1.004.991... sorry for my pedantry... Summaron f3,5 is a lens that I love... and have 6 of them... all different one from the other... :) )

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luigi bertolotti

luigi bertolotti

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Anyway, to reassure the OP about the presence of adapter, took a quick picture of one of my Summaron A36 with original adapter: the look is virtually identical to one of the pics of the ebay item :

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luigi bertolotti

luigi bertolotti

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Just to investigate (shadow of Holmes... :) )... the s/n could end with 50134... and considering the orientation and the published batches of Summarons... it could be 750134 (same batch of my 750961... same orientation of the s/n "black on black") : very clean considering its probable age.

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tobey bilek

tobey bilek

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Really nice lens if clean inside.  DAG cleaned mine and a few years later it was fogged again.  It was never heated or stored poorly, intact I used it but once or twice.  

 

I am adding it to my collection of paperweights.  Lesson learned along with other examples,  stay away from old Leica stuff.

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UliWer

UliWer

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The collapsible Summicron has the shortest tube of all old collapsible lenses (before the Makro-Elmar) and the tube's end is not broadened at the position it enters - if you try it with a film M back-door and shutter opened you'll see that it will not hit the little wheel to activate the rangefinder - which is the "biggest" risk when you collapse lenses. (My two Summitars constantly hit this wheel.) Just mount and unmount it extended, and there won't be any problems. 

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UliWer

UliWer

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Really nice lens if clean inside.  DAG cleaned mine and a few years later it was fogged again.  It was never heated or stored poorly, intact I used it but once or twice.  

 

I am adding it to my collection of paperweights.  Lesson learned along with other examples,  stay away from old Leica stuff.

The "fogging" of the rear elements is a constant "disease" of many Summarons (3.5, 2.8/35 as well as 5.6/28). Interesting to learn that it came back after cleaning. It must have been the sort of glass they used. Even if my two 35mm Summarons look awful when I regard the rear elements, this does not make much difference for the photos.

 

You cannot generalize the "Summaron disease"  for other old and very old Leica lenses. Even 80 year old glass may look pristine now - only the Summar must be tested carefully before usage, because it's glue between two lens elements often deteriorates. 

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sblutter

sblutter

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Can a 50mm summicron (collapsible, screw mount) from 1953 or 1954 be used on the MM1 without damaging the body?

 

Thanks.

Should fit.  Mine (2) don't focus very well.  Latest version of Elmar collapsible is perfect but f:2.8 - which is fine for me.  Love that little lens

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Universalb50

Universalb50

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Is it correct to assume that any collapsible lens can be used on any Leica digital M mount camera so long as it's never collapsed into the camera? I also have used a collapsible 50/2 on M9, and it also doesn't focus well, and also also, the Elmar 50/3.5 red scale is perfect! (but I'm afraid to collapse it; mixed opinions on the websites)

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