Old Delft Minor 35mm thread

[Al Brown]

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This little gem of Dutch craftmanship and precision deserves its own thread and it's a first!

Some short history first.
Optische Industrie De Oude Delft was an optical and precision mechanical factory in the Netherlands founded in 1939 under the name "Van Leers Optische Industrie". Not much is known outside Holland about the company that also made lenses for Alpa, Contax, Exakta and LTM/M39 (the latter were Delfar 90mm, Alfinon 50mm, Minor 35mm, mirror lenses like Fototel 450mm etc.) in the 40's and 50's. The lenses were respected but not very known. The firm became "Oldelft Group" in the eighties and merged with Enraf Nonius in 1990 to form Delft Instruments. Some interesting info on Old Delft coating is written here and the forum thread hosts more intel on the old company & its CEOs. The Oldelft Wiki entry (in Dutch) is here.

The Old Delft Minor 35mm f/3.5 (cca. 1948-1950) is a solid and heavy-for-its-size but still ultra light at 134g brass lens that perfectly ticks the Leica philosophy of size and portability. Wide open it has a stunningly sharp center of the image that gradually (but not disturbingly) progresses towards somewhat more softer edges. The lens renders best at f/6.3 (the actual f-stops settings are 3.5/4.5/6.3/9/12.5/18). Field curvature is present and adds to the cinematic feel of this low contrast lens. All in all it is a gem to have and use, with buttery smooth helicoid and diaphragm dial, rangefinder coupling, about 90cm minimum focus distance and the lovely tiny handle to help focusing. It has this true "old school" rendering that is much sought after today and is IMHO one of the most cinematic lenses out there coupled for Leica M cameras.

 

 

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Edited September 7, 2022 by Al Brown

[Al Brown]

A SOOC image with Old Delft Minor 35mm f/3.5 wide open from Leica M10-R. The lens is slightly hazy, age appropriate.

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Edited September 7, 2022 by Al Brown

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[Pyrogallol]

I just bought one in Contax/Nikon Mount, which I will try out on my Nikon S or S2.

This copy is fungussy but was cheap compared to the prices asked for Contax versions on websites. 

The diaphragm is marked f3.5, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16 no clickstops.

I only learned about these lenses from postings on this forum.

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[Al Brown]

Here is a super valuable resource (in Korean) for dismantling and repair of the Minor in LTM mount.
https://gigantoptik.com/1656

[Al Brown]

Just a petite backstory on how it all started:
This summer I was doing some work in Holland and then extended my stay for August holidays. I fell in love with historic Gouda back when I first visited so I decided to further explore the charms of other gorgeous little Dutch towns the likes of Amersfoort and Delft. It was while waking the streets of Old Delft, crossing one of the many ancient bridges just behind the City Hall on Neiuwstraat that I had an epiphany. A divine, chromatic-aberration-free light shone down from the sunny skies and showed me the way to the spot where the old HQ of "N.V. Optische Industrie De Oude Delft" was located. It was there that I realized the force majeure's message was crystal clear - get one of their Delft-made 75 years old brass gems for the Leica M. So I did, straight from Holland.
(The Old Delft panorma below was shot on M10-R and 35mm lux.)

 

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Edited September 8, 2022 by Al Brown

[darylgo]

3 hours ago, Al Brown said:

A divine, chromatic-aberration-free light shone down from the sunny skies and showed me the way to the spot where the old HQ of "N.V. Optische Industrie De Oude Delft" was located.

Al, this is a great story.  

Am I reading this correctly, they are no longer in business?

Where did you buy the lens?

[Al Brown]

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2 hours ago, darylgo said:

Al, this is a great story.  

Am I reading this correctly, they are no longer in business?

Where did you buy the lens?

Thanks.
They stopped making the Minor 35mm around 1950 or so.
I purchased the lens from a store in Holland.
There is one Minor 35mm in LTM available at the moment from another reputable dealer Mint and Rare (located in Austria).

[darylgo]

Thanks Al, it makes me realize there are many great camera/optic companies that have shut their doors in our lifetimes and how fortunate we are with Leica's survival despite the onslaught of SLRs and digital.  Have fun with your new lens.  

[Al Brown]

Ttere is no filter thread on the 35mm Minor LTM/M39, but the lens' largest front diameter is about 36mm measured with my caliper so the ol' chrome Leica E36 lens cap fits...

Edited September 10, 2022 by Al Brown

[ph.]

for those who wish to use Oude Delft lenses on other cameras, there are Alpa mount versions. Not just of the widish one described above, but also 135 and 180mm versions. Some made in Holland others made in Switzerland.

NO, not by Pignons the maker of Alpa bodies until they collapsed, but by Spectros.

The Swiss  made lenses carry an inscription referring to Old Delft. Not very common and probably correspondingly priced. Even the reliable "collectiblend,com" which usually have a broad spectrum of lens and camera prices do not mention Spectros.

p.

[Al Brown]

5 hours ago, ph. said:

for those who wish to use Oude Delft lenses on other cameras, there are Alpa mount versions. Not just of the widish one described above, but also 135 and 180mm versions. Some made in Holland others made in Switzerland.

NO, not by Pignons the maker of Alpa bodies until they collapsed, but by Spectros.

The Swiss  made lenses carry an inscription referring to Old Delft. Not very common and probably correspondingly priced. Even the reliable "collectiblend,com" which usually have a broad spectrum of lens and camera prices do not mention Spectros.

p.

Yes, as I described in post #1, De Oude Delft made lenses for Alpa, Contax, Exakta, M39 etc. in many focal lenghts including mirror lenses, but also lenses for industrial use like the much popularized by the hipster community Rayxar 50mm f/0.75... Plenty of options to choose from, someone even said they were the "Tamron" of their time lol. There were several lenses for Alpa - Algular 135/3.2, Alfinon 50/2.8, Alefar 180/4.5, Alfinar 38/3.5...  Spectros lenses had the inscription "SYSTEM OLD DELFT".

The De Oude Delft Optical Industries' factory was located in Delft's old town, on the corner of Oude Delft #36 and Nickersteeg (see google map image I attached) in a house from 1630's (see the date on the facade of the adjacent building to the left). All the owners of the building from the year it was built until 1975 can be traced from the Delft Municipal Archives here. NV Optische Industrie ‘Oude Delft’ was the owner from 1960-1977. The original archival black and white image from post #5 of the Factory's entrance corresponds to the image from Google maps below.

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Edited September 11, 2022 by Al Brown

[luigi bertolotti]

On 9/8/2022 at 8:02 PM, darylgo said:

Al, this is a great story.  

Am I reading this correctly, they are no longer in business?

 

A complex history... but some companies active in the imaging technologies do still exist, with their roots in the Oude Delft Optische Industrie....

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldelft  (only Dutch WIkipedia... but translation looks rather clear)

 

[Al Brown]

1 hour ago, luigi bertolotti said:

A complex history... but some companies active in the imaging technologies do still exist, with their roots in the Oude Delft Optische Industrie....

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldelft  (only Dutch WIkipedia... but translation looks rather clear)

 

Yes, I have linked this in post #1. Sadly many documents about the factory and their scope of lenses are not available online.

[luigi bertolotti]

Some years ago I was tempted by this item... https://www.leicashop.com/classic/Leica-Old-Delft-45cm-5-6-Fototel/32052-4  (not the linked one..  was offered by a Dutch seller, less complete but in apparently good conditions and at a reasonable price--- a bit less than 1K Euro, iirc) : I thought about too long and it went away,,, 🤒 ... I had never had a mirror lens and displeased by the "loss" of the Delft one, at the end got a "trivial" Telyt-R Minolta 500... trivial choice but indeed a good lens. 

 

Edited September 12, 2022 by luigi bertolotti

[Al Brown]

Old Delft Minor 35mm f/3.5 wide open at closest focusing distance, M10-R BP.
Straight out of the camera. Field curvature is visible in the lower corners.
So tender, gentle, cinematic...

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Edited September 12, 2022 by Al Brown

[Al Brown]

More wide open samples. From the Radisson Blu hotel and surroundings. Same settings as above. All SOOC.

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Edited September 12, 2022 by Al Brown

[Al Brown]

A few more Old Delft Minor 35mm f/3.5 LTM samples wide open from the M10-R in different shooting scenarios - close, far, daylight, indoors, nighttime.

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Edited September 17, 2022 by Al Brown

[UliWer]

Can anybody tell something about the Minor's optical design? I guess it was a triplet with two cemented lenses like the 35mm Elmar, or did they use a Double-Gauss design like the Summaron?

[Al Brown]

Old Delft Minor 35/3.5 on M10-R. Best for gloomy, moody places.

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[Al Brown]

The A36mm lens cap is a perfect fit for the Minor 35mm/3.5

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Edited September 29, 2022 by Al Brown