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Elmar 5cm f3.5 early variations


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59 minutes ago, willeica said:

I have several of those early Goerz glass  lenses on cameras. The only things that I have noted about them are their early features which are set out in von Einem’s book. There is no market here in Europe for ‘old Elmars’, but there are markets for 3 and 4 digit I Model As which attract a premium not because of their Goerz glass, but because of their early and rare status.

William 

Yeah that seems to be the difference btw European markets VS Japan. Not sure why but similar things have happened with other lenses. eg. summilux 35 infinity lock brass & chrome used to be same price here but now that it's understood brass has dif. glass the price is double of the chrome version. This acknowledgement happened later in Japan VS other markets. Same story with nocti e58. 

The 'old' elmar as we call it here is double the price in JP so if you ever wanna make a profit bring a few in a future visit :)

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40 minutes ago, shirubadanieru said:

Yeah that seems to be the difference btw European markets VS Japan. Not sure why but similar things have happened with other lenses. eg. summilux 35 infinity lock brass & chrome used to be same price here but now that it's understood brass has dif. glass the price is double of the chrome version. This acknowledgement happened later in Japan VS other markets. Same story with nocti e58. 

The 'old' elmar as we call it here is double the price in JP so if you ever wanna make a profit bring a few in a future visit :)

Sounds like a a ‘collector’ thing. My earlier comment about Japan being the home of many collectors as well as lens experts was meant to be interpreted in that light. Collector markets can evolve, but they can also be created. 

William 

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  • 2 months later...
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On 5/9/2023 at 11:03 AM, DoK said:

This is a variation of the Elmar which was used with Compur shutters which sat between the front and back elements. The Leica Compur B was made in house, but the lenses were also sent for a short period to other manufacturers such as Nagel and Welta, to be fitted on Compur shutters. Leitz never fully embraced that market and soon dropped out of it. Other German manufacturers such as Zeiss, Meyer and Schneider also supplied the same market. Zeiss was the 'top of the hill ' back then and Leitz was a comparative newcomer in the camera lens market. Wisely, Leitz decided to concentrate on its own focal plane shutter Leica cameras. In a way this strategy ensured the long term survival of the Leica cameras, particularly when interchangeable lenses became the norm. I did a Zoom presentation on this topic for the Photographic Collectors Club of Great Britain about a year ago, but this did not appear on the club's YouTube channel. If I can find the time, I  may do a full write up on this someday, as there is very little on this specific topic in English. Most of the books and articles on the use of such shutters and lenses to create a German camera industry, particularly around Dresden, are in German.

William 

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  • 8 months later...

From a user stand point, I wouldnt take notice to these Japanese niche. In my experience the Japanese (or more broadly east asian, which I myself am) have insane atavistic preferences, older things are just generally better to them and they mythiticize them from unimaginable perspectives. Lenses, cameras, recordings, musical interpretations, cars, art etc. They really like stories and pedigree, I haven't notice anything so great about what they consider legendary or unsurpassable, from lenses to Furtwangler to car engines. I digress hehe.

Edited by myeung16
mistake
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