Elmarit-r 35mm 2.8 Blue inner ring?

[Fredishly]

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Hi, does anybody have any idea why my elmarit-r 35mm 2.8 has a blue inner ring? i can't find any others like it on the internet and i am wondering if it has been customized in its past?

Thanks, Fred

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[adan]

Do you have any idea of its history? Where it might have travelled in the world?

That ring looks like the back rim of the front element, where it seats into the metal barrel. I'm wondering if someone needed a "field repair" somewhere along the line, and an unofficial tech used a blue cement in reassembling the lens.

It's a version 1, dating from 1966-67 (Leica's serial number blocks sometimes spread over a couple of years of production). Historical note: first ever retrofocus lens design by Leica, to allow a 35mm lens to work on an SLR body with an ~40mm flange-to-film distance. As with many such early 35mm retrofocus designs for SLRs (Zeiss, Nikon, Canon), the front element is essentially a "wide-converter" added onto a longer focal-length core to get the distance needed. A.k.a "inverted telephoto." So there is that first element, and then a gap all the way down that corrugated funnel to the rest of the elements.

You can find a cross-section diagram showing that construction here  http://www.marcocavina.com/articoli_fotografici/Leitz_35mm_R_first_series/00_pag.htm

- and if you or someone else can read Italian, maybe a hint about any retrofit that might have been done officially by Leica (I can't find any reference that would suggest the blue, otherwise). As a first attempt concurrent with the intro of the Leicaflex, the design did undergo some mechanical and minor optical "revisons" during its design life (1964-73).

Alternatively, it is Leica's own 50-year-old cement, turning blue with age, or separating slightly and forming a microscopically-thin air gap that reflects only blue because of wavelength interference (like the rainbows in molecule-thick oil slicks on wet pavement).

Someone else may know more....

 

Edited January 7, 2019 by adan

[Fredishly]

2 hours ago, adan said:

Do you have any idea of its history? Where it might have travelled in the world?

That ring looks like the back rim of the front element, where it seats into the metal barrel. I'm wondering if someone needed a "field repair" somewhere along the line, and an unofficial tech used a blue cement in reassembling the lens.

It's a version 1, dating from 1966-67 (Leica's serial number blocks sometimes spread over a couple of years of production). Historical note: first ever retrofocus lens design by Leica, to allow a 35mm lens to work on an SLR body with an ~40mm flange-to-film distance. As with many such early 35mm retrofocus designs for SLRs (Zeiss, Nikon, Canon), the front element is essentially a "wide-converter" added onto a longer focal-length core to get the distance needed. A.k.a "inverted telephoto." So there is that first element, and then a gap all the way down that corrugated funnel to the rest of the elements.

You can find a cross-section diagram showing that construction here  http://www.marcocavina.com/articoli_fotografici/Leitz_35mm_R_first_series/00_pag.htm

- and if you or someone else can read Italian, maybe a hint about any retrofit that might have been done officially by Leica (I can't find any reference that would suggest the blue, otherwise). As a first attempt concurrent with the intro of the Leicaflex, the design did undergo some mechanical and minor optical "revisons" during its design life (1964-73).

Alternatively, it is Leica's own 50-year-old cement, turning blue with age, or separating slightly and forming a microscopically-thin air gap that reflects only blue because of wavelength interference (like the rainbows in molecule-thick oil slicks on wet pavement).

Someone else may know more....

 

Thanks for the great info Adan! I too did think maybe it had turned blue with age but if it had i would assume others of the same era might also.

As far as the history, It came in a bundle i fairly recently acquired. The bundle included a Rolleiflex with the name 'Carl C Miller' scratched into the leather case, It came from the Florida area but that is as much as i know. Maybe it was painted by a comical repair technician in a state of amusement.

It came attached to a leicaflex ---

[Fredishly]

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