75mm Summilux version question

[NigelG]

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I have finally taken the plunge and purchased a 75 Summilux and have a question regarding the versions/serial numbers.

 

I bought the lens from a Leica dealer in Germany and the lens came in a Leica box with a "11810" model code and "Lens made in Germany" label. The barcode label also has "Verk.Nr. 11810" and then the correct serial number.

 

The lens, however, says "Made in Canada" on the barrel (No E60 marking) and would appear to not be a 11810 lens - It weighs 600g not 560g and leica-wiki shows the serial number to be from 1990.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Why would the Leica barcode show a different model than the lens (i.e. it's not just in the wrong box)?

Was it originally sold as a 11810 German lens when it's actually a 11815 Canadian one?

 

 

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[otto.f]

Yes, strange. 3509262 is from 1990, thus should be 11815, but 11810 is from 1998-2004. But the sticker with both 11810 and 3509262 on it looks authentic. So this doesn’t look like putting an older lens in a new box either. The optics did not change between Midland and Wetzlar, that is quite sure. Perhaps when Midland closed they packed the remaing stock in Wetzlar? I think the only relevant issue here is financial: did they offer you the lens as young or “wow Wetzlar!” and therefore for more than say €3500?

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[NigelG]

Hi Otto.

It is indeed strange. The barcode is definitely authentic. I was thinking they maybe repackaged unsold Midland stock in Wetzlar but it seems very odd that the factory barcode lenscode is “wrong” and that the box claims the lens is Made in Germany which I would have thought brought up all sorts of Trade Descriptions legal stuff etc.

Unfortunately I can’t find the screen grab from purchase and it obviously disappeared from the website so I can’t remember how it was described in the sales spec......

[UliWer]

The number for the lens model should be engraved anywhere on the lens - probably below the hood, so you see it only when the hood is protracted. So you could verify whether it originally was numbered as a 11810 or 11815.    

[otto.f]

If it was a sort of re-assembled in Wetzlar it would be a reasonable sticker with 11810 and 3509262 together. In that case 11815 should be marked at the spot where Uliwer says.

 

But you know what you paid for it, no?

Edited August 22, 2018 by otto.f

[Ecar]

It seems like the transition between Canada and Germany produced a few of these odd mismatches...

 

I started a similar thread a few months back in another sub-forum:

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/282075-summilux-35mm-pre-asph-lensbox-mismatch/

[UliWer]

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I think my assumption about the model number engraved on the item was wrong. on my only Canadian lens, an 1:3,4/180mm Apo-Telyt-R, I cannot find the number. Only when there is an engraving „Lens made in Germany“ I find the number next to this engraving.

[adan]

The 75 Summilux was a very low-volume-sales lens: expensive, large-and-heavy for the Leica M "ethos," and at the time (before "bokeh" entered the Western lexicon) a lens for one specific need - photojournalism in dim light.

 

It is quite probable that if a batch of parts for 2000 lenses was made in Canada in 1985, it might take many years for them all to finally be assembled and sold. And the "Made in...." engraving is done when the part is machined, not when the lens is actually assembled.

 

The glass elements for the 75mm f/1.4 continued to be made in ELCAN (Ernst Leitz Canada), even after assembly moved back to Germany, and the factory had been sold to Hughes Aerospace. The facility is still called ELCAN by Raytheon, even today. https://www.raytheon.com/contact/elcan

 

Anyway - no. Leica would not get special sticky-labels made up for the handful of "Canadian parts" lenses later assembled in Germany. "Made in Germany" has always meant "Final assembly in Germany" - from parts made perhaps in Portugal, Canada, Switzerland (M10 sensor), Japan (some R lens elements), etc. etc.

 

At the time the lens was boxed, "a 75 Summilux f/1.4" was catalog #11810 - the only way for a dealer to order such a lens. As to the 40g difference in weight - the lens caps of the 75 Summilux weigh 26g, just by themselves.

[ckuwajima]

My 75 Summilux has a serial 3509142, and has same inscriptions: "LEICA SUMMILUX-M 1:1.4/75 E60" in front and "LENS MADE IN CANADA" on the barrel.

[NigelG]

Adan

Thanks for your comprehensive reply - it makes sense, I was heading that way but was mindful of the implied 8 year gap from the serial number (according to the wiki) to the change of model number. I guess my question now is - was the lens actually assembled and sold post 1998? (And I’m thinking it must have been at least SOLD after that changeover otherwise the packaging codes would not make sense....)

[mmradman]

I have finally taken the plunge and purchased a 75 Summilux and have a question regarding the versions/serial numbers.

 

I bought the lens from a Leica dealer in Germany and the lens came in a Leica box with a "11810" model code and "Lens made in Germany" label. The barcode label also has "Verk.Nr. 11810" and then the correct serial number.

 

The lens, however, says "Made in Canada" on the barrel (No E60 marking) and would appear to not be a 11810 lens - It weighs 600g not 560g and leica-wiki shows the serial number to be from 1990.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Why would the Leica barcode show a different model than the lens (i.e. it's not just in the wrong box)?

Was it originally sold as a 11810 German lens when it's actually a 11815 Canadian one?

 

 

Interestingly enough my copy has newer serial number, 3614*** with some variation on the box.

Box and paperwork share same serial number, it looks like older style box, without graduated grey strip. Model number stated as 11815 and being Made in Canada.  Model & S/N is also repeated on Guaranty Card.

 

There is no model number on the barrel only engraved information are usual type, filter size, serial number and Made in Canada.

[chasdfg]

Hi all,

Have a similar question about my 75mm Summilux so decided not to start a new thread.

Basically, I have a 75lux with serial number 3797xxx with built-in hood. It has the engraving "Made in Germany" on the lens but no product number engraved. The front of the lens reads "Leica Summilux-M 1:1.4/75 E 60". It is also 6-bit coded, but this was probably done a fair bit later since the serial appears to date back to about 1997. 6-bit coding might also explain how this lens's focus is spot-on for all the Ms I have used it on, which was a pleasant surprise (I'm guessing it was calibrated when coded). I have no boxes so no clue what the product code on the box would have said. The only thing left I hadn't done (and still haven't done) on my end is to weigh the lens to see if its "600g" or "560g" which might indicate if it's a "true-er" Made in Canada or Made in Germany version.

Anyway, I contacted Leica and they told me the product number is 11814. I managed to register the lens under that product code in the Leica owner's area (or whatever the name it is called now).

I found this discovery rather odd because i'd have thought this lens with a built-in hood would fall as a 11815 or 11810. Has anyone come across a Made in Germany lens and/or lens of a relatively later serial number with the product code 11814? I scoured the internet but only found pics of the 75lux v1 with separate hood as 11814.

 

[lct]

AFAIK 11814 is the first version of the Summilux 75/1.4. Made in Canada with 0.9m MFD and 12539 separate clip-on hood. I have no experience with this version though. 

[Bo-Sixten]

1 hour ago, chasdfg said:

Hi all,

Have a similar question about my 75mm Summilux so decided not to start a new thread.

Basically, I have a 75lux with serial number 3797xxx with built-in hood. It has the engraving "Made in Germany" on the lens but no product number engraved. The front of the lens reads "Leica Summilux-M 1:1.4/75 E 60". It is also 6-bit coded, but this was probably done a fair bit later since the serial appears to date back to about 1997. 6-bit coding might also explain how this lens's focus is spot-on for all the Ms I have used it on, which was a pleasant surprise (I'm guessing it was calibrated when coded). I have no boxes so no clue what the product code on the box would have said. The only thing left I hadn't done (and still haven't done) on my end is to weigh the lens to see if its "600g" or "560g" which might indicate if it's a "true-er" Made in Canada or Made in Germany version.

Anyway, I contacted Leica and they told me the product number is 11814. I managed to register the lens under that product code in the Leica owner's area (or whatever the name it is called now).

I found this discovery rather odd because i'd have thought this lens with a built-in hood would fall as a 11815 or 11810. Has anyone come across a Made in Germany lens and/or lens of a relatively later serial number with the product code 11814? I scoured the internet but only found pics of the 75lux v1 with separate hood as 11814.

 

My 75mm Summilux with serial no. 3866xxx (1999) reads "LEICA SUMMILUX-M 1:1.4/75 E60" and has the barrel engraving " LENS MADE IN GERMANY 11810". 

[MrFriendly]

On 8/22/2018 at 9:04 AM, NigelG said:

I have finally taken the plunge and purchased a 75 Summilux and have a question regarding the versions/serial numbers.

 

I bought the lens from a Leica dealer in Germany and the lens came in a Leica box with a "11810" model code and "Lens made in Germany" label. The barcode label also has "Verk.Nr. 11810" and then the correct serial number.

 

The lens, however, says "Made in Canada" on the barrel (No E60 marking) and would appear to not be a 11810 lens - It weighs 600g not 560g and leica-wiki shows the serial number to be from 1990.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Why would the Leica barcode show a different model than the lens (i.e. it's not just in the wrong box)?

Was it originally sold as a 11810 German lens when it's actually a 11815 Canadian one?

 

Quote

75mm

1.4

11 810

1998

2007

560g

Leica Summilux-M [Lens design by Dr. Walter Mandler]
60mm filters, 560g, built-in hood. Same optics 1980-2007.
Inscription on 75mm Summilux lenses:
LEICA LENS MADE IN CANADA XXXXXXX
LEITZ SUMMILUX-M from serial no 325XXXX
LEICA SUMMILUX-M from serial no (?) (The information elsewhere that the Leica inscription begins at serial no 395XXXX is wrong, it starts earlier).

Source

[lct]

11814 (above) and 11810 (below):

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[chasdfg]

I should add that this "11814" I have focuses past 0.8m, like a "standard" built-in hood version. Probably to like 0.7m or under. 

In all respects it is a 11810 or a 11815 (I should find a kitchen scale to weigh it), except Leica themselves told me it is a 11814 and this was the product code I managed to register it under (no product found for 11815 and 11810), so for some reason, Leica's database does recognise it as a 11814.

In my email to Leica, I didn't even think 11814 was part of the equation. I asked them if it was a 11815 or 11810, so the answer they gave was even more surprising given it's serial is quite far away from the 11814s with separate hood, is Made in Germany (apparently anyway, based on the barrel) and is, in relation to the hood and MFD, a 11815/11810.

I did a bit more digging and found this: https://www.fotodotti.it/leica-11814-summilux-m-75mm-f1-4-immacolato-mint-in-box.html
-> Which is described on the box as a 11814 but with built-in hood. But the serial number is quite far apart from mine.

Either way this is a complete non-issue but just fun to find out.

Edited January 5, 2021 by chasdfg

[lct]

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Edited January 5, 2021 by lct