Nickel Hektor?

[Mech-Dragon]

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Hello! I think this is one of my first ever forum posts on here. I love browsing this site!

So a few years ago I had a couple who were friends of mine going through a house that they inherited, due to the guy's father passing away. They were cleaning it all up and they handed me this lens one night we were hanging out and asked me what it was. I was surprised to see it was a Leica lens, a little 13.5cm f/4.5 Hektor. They told me I could keep the lens if I did a small family photoshoot with them. I agreed, and they got some nice photos and I kept the little Hektor. I wasn't really fond of the 135mm focal length, and I saw it really needed an internal cleaning. So I stowed it away in the back of my camera cabinet, and it has sat there since then.

Since then, I've gotten far more into Leica and went form owning a IIIa, to the IIIa + black/nickel II + some M bodies and a variety of lenses. I'm a huge fan of history, and I collect cameras (more than just Leica) because they are fun to use, or are quirky and can tell a story from their time period. I am only in my 20s, so I didn't exactly grow up with any of this stuff either. I was reorganizing my little camera cabinet and found the Hektor in the back of the shelf, sitting there. I took it out and gave it a look, and for whatever reason only just now noticed it wasn't a chrome lens. I guess I didn't look at it that closely? It's definitely nickel plated. 

 

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Apparently my phone file sizes are way too big, so the rest of the pictures I dumped into a Flickr album : https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzH7kz

Sorry, they're quick snaps with my cell phone.

Anyways, the serial number for this lens is 575643. Which, according to Leica Wiki, means it was produced in 1941. It was supposedly in a batch of 'black.gray' (??) of 1,000 units. I know serial numbers can be weird, and this isn't a gray painted lens. This lens does have the focus barrel as the same as a black paint, being black and chrome. The tripod mount has nickel plated screws but looks chrome. The lens flange on the bottom looks chrome plated. There is some wear that shows straight brass underneath the nickel plating. The aperture range is older, and goes : 4.5, 6.3, 9, 12.5, 18, 25, and 36.  The lens elements are coated. The aperture ring looks like black paint and shows brassing underneath.

According to the little serial number list, there's none that show up as a whole batch of nickel plated Hektors. The year makes it a war-time production which is interesting. Maybe it was nickel plated afterwards? Maybe it was stripped down to nickel from a chrome plating? All the engravings on the lens are filled with black, and look original (or at least very well done). I'd love some input on this interesting, 'boring' lens. Please let me know if you'd like any other pictures!

Thank you!

[Pyrogallol]

Very interesting and certainly not a boring lens. Could be all sorts of stories around the chrome/black/nickel finish. The experts will hopefully have some answers. Good to know there are younger people out there interested in these things.

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[frame-it]

3 hours ago, Mech-Dragon said:

 

nice lens..

 

i like the blue Dodge Dart photo

Edited March 25, 2022 by frame-it

[Mech-Dragon]

1 hour ago, frame-it said:

nice lens..

 

i like the blue Dodge Dart photo

Thank you! That Dart is mine, first car. I've done all the work on it.

[Mech-Dragon]

4 hours ago, Pyrogallol said:

Very interesting and certainly not a boring lens. Could be all sorts of stories around the chrome/black/nickel finish. The experts will hopefully have some answers. Good to know there are younger people out there interested in these things.

This one is definitely not boring! Usually I don't see too many people getting excited about these Hektors, myself included. Not until I realized the oddity this one was.

[Mech-Dragon]

I reached out to Leica for any additional information regarding the serial number, and received this back this morning :

 

"many thanks for your request.

The serial 575643 mentioned by you was delivered at 14.08.1942

The place of delivery or recipient is not noted.

No enty in the old repair/ maintenance books for this serial." 

 

So the lens was delivered in August of 1942, not 1941 according to the serial number wiki. Although I've seen it mentioned that they reused serial numbers for later years of some went unused. A bit disappointing that there's no other info but I didn't get anything more than that when asking about my Leica II. 

[luigi bertolotti]

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There are two facts that can be deducted by the quick infos from Leitz and by lens' aspect

- 1942 -> it wasn't delivered abroad, it was sent somewhere in the Reich-controlled territories, maybe even to some government-managed entity (though - probably not military in strict sense) ; almos surely it was black paint as all the Hektors of the era.

- the finishing was , later on, reworked rather "roughly"- > not a job made from a regular authorized Leitz lab to "sell" regularly the lens

So... one of the possibilities... lens arrived in USA during the occupation period... many wartime items have a similiar story behind... it was someway taken, someway polished and coating of glass added later : is really quite difficult to draw sure conclusions on this interesting item.

- 

[d30gaijin]

I have a 1937 vintage 135 Hektor that remains in its original black paint finish but was, at some later point in time, coated (lenses).  Sorry, that adds nothing here just thought I'd throw it into the mix.  Nice oddity lens you have.  I hope you can unlock its story someday.

 

[tranquilo67]

Hi,

Welcome to the world of the reworked Hektors!! 🙂

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I've been completely unable to reach any conclusion about my sample. The serial number, if it's the original, makes from it the 248th sample. Top part of the lens head is bright chrome, when the barrel is brushed including the part where there should be the vulcanite cover. So multiple changes to this lens or a lens head sold separately and much later a barrel was made for it?

On top of that, in my experience, despite it seems that Hektor remained unchanged during its long life, there's nothing like that. Apart from the most evident changes, here you have a detail of the lens head evolution during the time. in this picture all the lens heads are different. From left to right:

- Serial 172155 (1933 Nickel). Very similar to the old Elmar 135/4.5. Long from the front to the diaphragm ring and short distance to the tube

- Serial 415320 (1937). Short distance to the diaphragm ring then a wide inset and a longer part to the tube

- Serial 558119 (1942). Sort distance to the diaphragm ring, then a less wide inset and a bit shorter to the tube

- Serial 699247 (1949 Lightweight with sharkskin). Short to the wider diaphragm ring, no inset

- Serial 1084969 (1953). Even shorter to the, a bit wider, diaphragm ring, no inset and a bit shorter to the tube

 

So, interesting enough, your reworked Hektor (as well as mine) has the head shape according to the period of the serial, despite the unusual tubes and the polished chrome areas in the lens heads.

Best wishes,

Augusto

Edited April 5, 2022 by tranquilo67