35mm Summaron

[Indeepthought]

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Treated myself to this lovely little lens. Aperture and focus are smoooth as silk. Glass is crystal clear. Using it on my Digital CL ..

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[a.noctilux]

😄3.5cm !

very good lens indeed.

[TomB_tx]

Yes, a nice tiny lens. I carried one on my IIIf while in the army in 1970. Still performs nice,

[willeica]

Yes, it is a great lens. I took this image with my example of the lens on an M9 about 13 years ago. 

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William 

[RexGig0]

A most like-able lens! Enjoy!

It took some time for me learn to appreciate mine, my second rangefinder-coupled Leica lens, as its rendering was so very different from my first Leica rangefinder lens, a Summilux-M 50mm ASPH, which I had researched extensively, and then test-shot before buying. At first, I simply wanted a very compact 35mm lens, to complement my relatively large 50mm lens. I could not find many Summaron 3.5cm f/3.5 images or reviews posted on-line. A Summilux being “fast,” it seemed OK for my 35 to have a modest maximum aperture. I ordered my quite clean, well-preserved Summaron from an e-Bay seller based in California, who had plenty of positive feedback from buyers, and was rewarded with a positive experience.

Price was a factor, too. Having started the Leica M experience with a pre-owned Summilux 50 and a new M10, it was going to be some time before a Summicron or another Summilux would be an attainable goal. 

Edited March 19, 2024 by RexGig0

[Indeepthought]

Thank you all for your comments. Could someone tell me who designed this beautiful lens?  We have a few nice summery days ahead. I’m looking forward to using my new purchase. 🍻

[luigi bertolotti]

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I have always loved Summarons... 😉 and of course noticed that your item, though being a little younger than a very similar of mine, still has the writing without "Gmbh" as in the oldest ones (which have the s/n reversed)... Summaron has really lot of small variants... ☺️

 

I don't know who was the designer... Max Berek passed away just the year in which the mass production of Summaron started (1949) but this lens (the first new lens after WWII) was conceived in 1946 and maybe Berek was still active.

 

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Edited March 19, 2024 by luigi bertolotti

[Indeepthought]

2 from today… all at f5.6.. Some PP iMac Photos.

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Edited March 19, 2024 by Indeepthought

[Indeepthought]

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[romualdo]

My even younger (1955) 3.5 Summaron with its bakelite case

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[luigi bertolotti]

..and even younger ones... 😉

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(with writings slightly different 😉

[stray cat]

I have two - a 1955 M2 version (s/n 1289100) which came with an M2 I bought from a member here, and a 1958 M3 version (s/n 1638785). The M3 (goggled) version has the benefit of focussing down to around .7m (2'4") whereas the M2 version is the stealth king.

I have had them both CLAd by Youxin Ye and they sparkle, much like Luigi's above. Tiny, jewel-like and so beautifully built. The f2.8 Summaron seems to have a cult-like aura about it, but I seriously doubt that the f3.5s are inferior in any way (apart from the half-stop).

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[bdolzani]

Congrats to us all, this is my favorite B&W film setup (M2) - I believe my Summaron is 1951. Had mine cleaned by YYE as well, I love this lens. 

 

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Edited May 1, 2024 by bdolzani

[a.noctilux]

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Lucky number 888858.

30 numbering more, this Summaron would never quit a "chinese" safe 👌.

It would be a pity indeed as this nice lens was made for taking nice pictures.

[UliWer]

There were 5 variants of the 1:3.5/35mm Summaron - the optics was unchanged as far as I now:

1. the original 1:3.5/3.5cm in screw mount with A36 filters

2. screw-mount with E-39 filters (introduced later than the first M-mount variant)

3. the first M-mount variant without goggles for the M3 which triggered the 50mm frames and had to be used with the SBLOO viewfinder

4. the M-mount variant with goggles for the M3

5. finally the M-mount variant for the M2 which triggered the 35mm framelines.

Here you see variants 2. and 5:

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The lens had an important impact on usage of wide angle lenses and therefore on photography in general. Of course there had been the 1:3.5/3.5cm Elmar 20 years before the Summaron was introduced. Though the Elmar was "weaker" than its 5cm cousin and remained an outlier in the lineup of lenses for the Leica. And there was the famous 1.2.8/3.5cm Biogon for the Zeiss Ikon Contax originally introduced in 1936 and again after the war in 1950. But this lens was extremely expensive at its time (in 1936 230,-RM whilst the Elmar came at 83,-RM; 460,-DM in 1954 whilst the Summaron came at 220,-DM). So the Biogon was a great achievement for optics though it had no chance to become popular. Zeiss even introduced a 3.5/35mm Planar for the Contax (still more expensive than the Summaron), but this lens came late when the Contax was already at its decline. There was also a postwar 1:2.8/3.5 Biometar for the Contax (or Kiev) from Zeiss Jena, surprisingly good, not worse than the Biogon and better than the Summaron, but this lens remained a rarity. It was the precedessor of the 35mm Flektogon for the Exakta and M42-cameras from East Germany. The 1:2.8/35mm Heligon by Rodenstock - smaller in spite of its larger opening than the Summaron - also did not sell in large quanities. It is still a sort of "mystery lens" as one does not find much information about the years it was sold and at what price. Of course there were also the "Canon Serenar" or "Canon Lens" starting with f/3.2 and then f/2.8, though they remained almost unnoticed on the European market. So the Summaron was the lens which brought 35mm to a wider public in the (European) rangefinder realm while the Flektogon did the same for SLR-cameras.

Here you have a selection of 35mm lenses: clockwise from top Zeiss Jena Biometar, Carl Zeiss Biogon, Canon, Rodenstock Heligon, Elmar and Carl Zeiss Planar with Summaron in the middle:

 

 

 

 

[UliWer]

I didn't find any information about who designed the Summaron. 

Perhaps the story of the introduction of the Summaron is also interesting:

It was announced  in No. 1 of the magazine "Leica Fotografie" in August/September 1949. Though In "Informationen für den Photofachhandel" (a newsletter for Leica retailers) No. 1 from Nov. 1949 it was stated that the demand for this lens was high but it would only be delivered in Germany in early 1950 as the first series was reserved for export. In February 1950 they wrote that their hope to be able to deliver the lens didn't fulfill, so that only small quantities were for sale. It was only in February 1952 ("Informationen für den Photofachhandel" No. 6/1952) that they announced an increase in production so that the Summaron was generally available (same for a the 9cm Elmar which though being a "household" lens for the Leica had not been generally available before after the end of WW II). 

So it's reasonable to assume that most Summarons were not produced before 1952 even if the serial numbers indicate an earlier date. 

[spydrxx]

I used the 2.8 version as my first Leica lens for over 30 years, sold it during a personal economic crisis. When things settled down I looked to rebuy it, having tried out the 35/2.5 Color Skopar, it had appreciated too much in price, so I sought a 35/3.5 which I could use on my LTM bodies. Found a nice clean one and love using it. It has been surprisingly good on my Sony A7rii as well.

[Mute-on]

I was very fortunate to have purchased my two 35/2.8 M2 Summarons in the early 2000s, both for mere hundreds each. I had them overhauled at Kanto Camera in late 2019, the cost of which far exceeded original purchase price.

Since I have no other M mount 35mm lenses, they are all I know. Beautiful on both film and digital in my relatively limited experience. 

[pippy]

On 5/18/2024 at 10:03 PM, UliWer said:

There were 5 variants of the 1:3.5/35mm Summaron - the optics was unchanged as far as I know:

......3. the first M-mount variant without goggles for the M3 which triggered the 50mm frames and had to be used with the SBLOO viewfinder......

......And there was the famous 1.2.8/3.5cm Biogon for the Zeiss Ikon Contax......But this lens was extremely expensive at its time......So the Biogon was a great achievement for optics though it had no chance to become popular......

When, as an impoverished student, I bought my M2 back in 1980 the only lenses I could afford to pair with it were a 35mm f3.5 Summaron and a 50mm f2.8 Elmar. I still have both although nowadays they don't tend to get very much 'playtime' although, co-incidentally, I was looking at the 35mm just a few hours ago. Spooky! Perhaps I should take it out today?...

The Monochrom with Summaron - a 'v3' variant dating to early 1954 as described by Uli in post #15 - snapped just after the lens came home from a CLA back in 2020. It really is a sparkling little performer;

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On the subject of the 35mm f2.8 Biogon;

After the Soviets had removed all of the Plant and Spare Parts - and numerous key employees(!) - from the Zeiss / Contax factory and shipped them out to the Arsenal works in Kiev they set about making copies of the Contax II and Contax III cameras as well as many of the pre-WWII Zeiss lenses. Here is a pic showing a 1955 KNEB II (Contax II replica) fitted with a 1958 Jupiter-12 which is a clone of the 35mm f2.8 Biogon;

The J-12, like the Summaron, is a stellar performer. So much so that I use, almost exclusively, a later (1978 in Black-Paint finish) LTM example with my 1930 Leica 1.

Philip.

Edited May 21, 2024 by pippy

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[luigi bertolotti]

On 5/18/2024 at 11:03 PM, UliWer said:

There were 5 variants of the 1:3.5/35mm Summaron - the optics was unchanged as far as I now:

1. the original 1:3.5/3.5cm in screw mount with A36 filters

2. screw-mount with E-39 filters (introduced later than the first M-mount variant)

3. the first M-mount variant without goggles for the M3 which triggered the 50mm frames and had to be used with the SBLOO viewfinder

4. the M-mount variant with goggles for the M3

5. finally the M-mount variant for the M2 which triggered the 35mm framelines.

 

... And several variations inside 😉 :

1.  s/n unpainted , s/n upside down, s/n white painted, . Also front writing without and (later) with Gmbh (apparently all Gmbh with s/n painted, but not 100% sure)

2. "Summaron..." and "Ernst Leitz..." writings with same and different orientations

3.  two slightly different engravings at the base (DOF indexes)

4. Goggles black painted (relatively scarce), goggles in matte black crackle finish : this one, also with differently oriented front writings like in 2.

5. (afaik, the only with no variations)

Also, the "postkamera" version did exist, as well as some odd/experimental items (for instance some version .1 with E39 filter mount)