early? LTM Diopter

[romualdo]

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The seller is calling this a +2 LTM Diopter (no further details) - a bit tricky to read the box information - is it a +2?

Would this have been a rangefinder window diopter that could be used on the pre III LTMs ie II (Model D) & earlier (external rangefinder)

BTW could this have been also used in the earlier III rangefinder windows (III & IIIa) - over the eyesight correction lever?

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[new2leica]

It looks like a number 2 close up that is meant to screw on a lens' filter threads. In doing so you'd be changing the focusing distances the lens could cover, the (loosely) definition of a diopter.  

The close up lenses are fairly common; if the box were in better shape it might have been worth more to a collector than the lens itself.  

 

 

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[UliWer]

new2leica is right: it is the „Vorsatzlinse Nr.2“ (Elpik), which enabled closer distances up to a ratio of 1:6 with the 5cm Elmar. Better known and still used today was the name Elpro, which originally  was only used for „Vorsatzlinse Nr. 1“ with a ratio of 1:9. 

Edited November 12, 2018 by UliWer

[romualdo]

Thanks all - I was totally off beam there - limited info from the seller & when diopter +2 was mentioned I presumed it was an eyepiece diopter

[willeica]

Here is the full set, ELPRO, ELPIK and ELPET and an indication of how they are used. There is a table at page 405 of Laney's book giving the reduction obtainable and distance at which the various supplementary lenses can be used. Early Elmars had a fine filter thread, which was more coarse in later Elmars, after about camera SN 9500. The close up lenses for the later ones should be marked with an asterisk. Some of these terms, such as ELPRO, were used for much later products.

William

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[UliWer]

What surprises me is the plural in „Vorsatzlinsen“ (lenses, not lens).

Did the Elpros, Elpiks etc consist of more than one lenses? I always thought they were single lenses, and only later designs like the new ELPRO 52 consisted of more complicated lens systems.

 

[willeica]

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4 hours ago, UliWer said:

What surprises me is the plural in „Vorsatzlinsen“ (lenses, not lens).

Did the Elpros, Elpiks etc consist of more than one lenses? I always thought they were single lenses, and only later designs like the new ELPRO 52 consisted of more complicated lens systems.

 

They are single lenses, with one per box. Two of the 'croc boxes' (attractive boxes with a 'leather look' used for early Leica lens accessories) have almost 90 year old tissue paper to wrap the lenses. I don't know whether any of the lenses are of compound construction. They certainly do not join together and I have found no reference to this in any of the available literature.

William