Silver chrome version of the “thin” 90 tele elmarit m

[Jodad]

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Is there a version of the often Canadian made (occasionally german) 90mm tele elmarit m in silver chrome as opposed to the usual black? I’m talking about the slimmer lens that came after the so called “fat” version.  

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[lct]

Heard of an early chrome model but i have never seen one in person or in photo so i will believe it when i see one. You may wish to ask on the Collectors & Historica forum though.

[TomB_tx]

While the earlier “fat” version was available in silver chrome (I borrowed one to try in 1967), I’ve seen no reference of the thin version in chrome, and have only seen one part number referenced. (Chrome would have had its own part number.)

This makes sense, as chrome was out of fashion in the 1970s, and was more expensive at a time Leitz was having to cut costs.

[adan]

In fact, except for special editions (which sometimes came with "normal" lenses (50 or 35mm) in silver, platinum, or gold), Leitz/Leica did not make any M lens in silver chome* between about 1970 and the late 1990s. At which point the success of such commemoratives as the 1994 M6J "40 Years Leica M" kits persuaded Leica that there might be a "silver mine" in making silver optional again.**

https://www.cameraquest.com/leicam6j.htm

That covered the entire production life of the thin 90TE (1974-1989).

And until the mid-2000s, when Leica introduced a light-weight silver 28 Summicron, the silver-plated lenses were always much heavier than the black-anodized/painted lenses, since the outer barrel aluminium had to be replaced with denser brass to be plated. The extra weight would have defeated a key feature of the tiny, light thin 90 - its 225g weight.
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*with the possible exception of some holdover silver 90 Summicron v.1 "stovepipes."

** The M6J also revealed a strong desire for the revived 50 f/2.8 collapsible lens, and the 0.85 high-mag finder - at least for a decade or so.
 

Edited May 30, 2020 by adan

[luigi bertolotti]

I am sure to have never seen a Tele Elmarit M in silver , neither as a "special edition" (the not rare "1913-1983" is std. black and afaik is the only special)... maybe the item lct says to have heard of was a Canadian prototype ? The previous "fat" (supernice lens imho) was standard listed in silver... and was also a Canada item... it could have happeed that some prototype in siver were built...

Edited May 30, 2020 by luigi bertolotti

[lct]

All i can say is i got my first copy new in 1981 but i had never heard of a silver version then. It is later on that i heard of it but i don't recall when. Interesting testimony isn't it . I have found a review referring to it though: https://antiflux.org/~miles/Tele-Elmarit_Thin.pdf

 

[Jodad]

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Thanks for the feedback guys. That’s a pity I suppose. I know that it’s a brilliant lens and I’ll probably still get one in black but would have been nice in chrome on my m3.

[lct]

Just history i guess. All M (and R) lenses were black then if memory serves. 

[luigi bertolotti]

On 5/30/2020 at 7:44 PM, lct said:

All i can say is i got my first copy new in 1981 but i had never heard of a silver version then. It is later on that i heard of it but i don't recall when. Interesting testimony isn't it . I have found a review referring to it though: https://antiflux.org/~miles/Tele-Elmarit_Thin.pdf

 

I have often surfed Cameraquest' site... but I admit to have never spotted their sentence on the TE 90M (probably, the source for the Author) :

"The rarest and most expensive thin Tele-Elmarit is the chrome version, produced in very limited quantities before being discontinued in favor of black only."

(https://cameraquest.com/mlenses.htm)

 

[pippy]

46 minutes ago, luigi bertolotti said:

I have often surfed Cameraquest' site...

That site is new to me, Luigi, and seems to be both informative and entertainingly written. I particularly liked this passage;

"...Most of the immortal photographs by such legends as Eugene Smith, Cartier-Bresson and Eisenstadt were taken with lenses no better than the first series of chrome M lenses from the 50's.   Yet today, the average rank immature will turn their noses up on those same lenses as not being good enough for their all important and very forgettable snapshots.   It will be a cold day in hell before any of us are likely to get anyone to forget the likes of Smith, CB, or Eisenstadt, yet we like to feed our egos by imagining  we need better lenses than they had to get OUR great artistic statement.  Yeah, right.  Most of us are lucky to recognize the artistic statement from buying tickets at the local art museum..."

Philip.

[luigi bertolotti]

3 hours ago, pippy said:

That site is new to me, Luigi, and seems to be both informative and entertainingly written. I particularly liked this passage;

"...Most of the immortal photographs by such legends as Eugene Smith, Cartier-Bresson and Eisenstadt were taken with lenses no better than the first series of chrome M lenses from the 50's.   Yet today, the average rank immature will turn their noses up on those same lenses as not being good enough for their all important and very forgettable snapshots.   It will be a cold day in hell before any of us are likely to get anyone to forget the likes of Smith, CB, or Eisenstadt, yet we like to feed our egos by imagining  we need better lenses than they had to get OUR great artistic statement.  Yeah, right.  Most of us are lucky to recognize the artistic statement from buying tickets at the local art museum..."

Philip.

Eh well... 🙄... I satisfy myself thinking that some of my best photos have been indeed taken with lenses of the 50/60s...  but  some taken with much newer ones too... anyway, I admit that when looking at a print that I evaluate as very good (I'm a lot critical with myself) taken with, say, the Summicron 35 asph, I have never thought ("ah.. it should be much worse should I have used the Summaron... 🙄) 

[SonomaBear]

On 5/29/2020 at 3:45 PM, Jodad said:

Is there a version of the often Canadian made (occasionally german) 90mm tele elmarit m in silver chrome as opposed to the usual black? I’m talking about the slimmer lens that came after the so called “fat” version.  

I own a chrome "thin" Tele-Elmarit 90 and love it.  Only issue is the size of my hands and the focus ring.  I prefer my Mandler era Summicron 90 for most usage.

I'll bring it into my office tomorrow and post an image of it and answer any PMs.  I replaced the flange with a 6 bit version and it is coded Tele-Elmarit!

[SonomaBear]

11 hours ago, SonomaBear said:

I own a chrome "thin" Tele-Elmarit 90 and love it.  Only issue is the size of my hands and the focus ring.  I prefer my Mandler era Summicron 90 for most usage.

I'll bring it into my office tomorrow and post an image of it and answer any PMs.  I replaced the flange with a 6 bit version and it is coded Tele-Elmarit!

I sincerely apologize... my Tele-Elmarit is black, not chrome.  I hadn't used it recently, preferring the 90 'Cron (Chrome) or for birds, the Hector 135 (Chrome)

[Pyrogallol]

12 minutes ago, SonomaBear said:

I sincerely apologize... my Tele-Elmarit is black, not chrome.  I hadn't used it recently, preferring the 90 'Cron (Chrome) or for birds, the Hector 135 (Chrome)

Thanks for looking. That proves the chrome version is really rare ! Have anyone seen one?

[luigi bertolotti]

2 hours ago, Pyrogallol said:

Thanks for looking. That proves the chrome version is really rare ! Have anyone seen one?

The fact thet do exist :

- Elmarit 90 2,8 in chrome

- Tele Elmarit 90 2,8 in chrome

Doesn't help for deep searches on the Net... 🙄 ... I suspect it does not exist... but Cameraquest is rather trustable, in general... and the Ontario factory , during a certain timeframe, made indeed some "odd-not official items" (like the chrome M4-2s) ... I'm curios to see if someone has ever seen one (as a passionate of chrome lenses, I'm really intrigued bu this question... 😎)

 

   

Edited June 2, 2020 by luigi bertolotti

[Jodad]

On 6/2/2020 at 6:33 PM, SonomaBear said:

I sincerely apologize... my Tele-Elmarit is black, not chrome.  I hadn't used it recently, preferring the 90 'Cron (Chrome) or for birds, the Hector 135 (Chrome)

Aaah I got really excited there And also to see the photo. Lol. I suppose it wasn’t meant to be  thanks for confirming.

[Jodad]

On 6/2/2020 at 9:32 PM, luigi bertolotti said:

(as a passionate of chrome lenses, I'm really intrigued bu this question... 😎

 

 

 

   

ditto!