UV Filter for Summilux 35mm 1.4 pre-asph' VII........What size please and where to find one?

[Smudgerer]

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If it checks out ok I hope to be picking up a Summilux 35mm 1.4 pre-asph' VII, ( a late German made copy ), sometime this coming week and I am wondering where I can find a UV filter for the lens. Also I know the filter mount is in the lens hood, ( series 7 ?? ), and I don't believe the lens itself has a filter thread but I am wondering if there's a way around this that anyone has found that doesn't involve black camera tape so I can have a UV filter as front element protection when not using the hood?....................Thanks!

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[Anbaric]

I guess a 'late' lens doesn't have the 41mm filter thread? - the serial number cutoff for the two versions is in this thread, together with the usual solution of using a Series VII or 49mm filter in the hood with the later version:

For the series VII version, @McLeica experimented with adapters in this thread, and ended up using a push-on adapter, a step-up ring, and a 49mm filter:

[ramarren]

I don't use a UV or "protection" filter as a general rule. For my Summilux 35mm f/1.4 v2 (approx circa 1972), I just keep the lens hood (#12504) on it all the time, and fit a Series VII orange or green filter when desired. To protect the lens when not in use, I bought a small "hood hat" that goes over the lens hood.

It's not as convenient as a screw in filter, but it's far more convenient and less likely to damage the lens than a slip-on filter would be. 

G

[lct]

Just the 12504 hood, or a more affordable replica, with no filter at all. For my M8.2, i used to drop Series 7 or 49mm IR-cut filters between the two halves of the hood.

[pippy]

As you probably already know the only pre-asph 35mm Summilux to have a filter thread was the original 1960 - 1966 'Steel Rim' which took 41mm filters.

The dedicated 12504 hood takes drop-in Series 7 filters (there is no 'mount' as such). If you don't wish to use a hood but do wish to use a filter you will have to find a system which works for you. There IS a space on the front of the rim of the lens which, one would think, would NORMALLY be threaded (why wasn't it???) and, therefore, there IS room enough to drop a regular 39mm filter into the inside of the rim but how you will keep it there is up to you. Proprietary re-useable putty-like stuff such as Blu-Tack might be one idea. Personally I'd never even consider such an action.

Why not avoid all the unneccessary hassle of trying to come up with a half-baked solution (and the possibility of losing a filter) and simply use the 12504 as was intended? There are a few useful aspects about using a 12504 and when using either colour contrast filters or a Circ. Pola (for example) it is a more convenient hood than the ubiquitous 12585.

Philip.

[Ecar]

+1 for sticking with the 12504 + Series VII filters. Cheaper 12504 replica hoods are well made but luck-of-the-draw items: some sit tight, others are prone to spinning.

Or, for the modest sum of $300 😮, you could buy a replacement front "steel rim" from a couple of Thai sellers on eBay. Seems to be designed to allow screw-in filters to be used on the v2. I have no direct experience with them, though.

[lct]

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49 minutes ago, pippy said:

[...] There IS a space on the front of the rim of the lens which, one would think, would NORMALLY be threaded (why wasn't it???)[...]

To avoid something like that? 😉

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[pippy]

2 hours ago, lct said:

To avoid something like that? 😉...

But surely that is the sort of artistic rendering which attracts photographers to the old 35mm Summilux in the first place?......😺......

Philip.

[farnz]

3 hours ago, lct said:

To avoid something like that? 😉

Come on, confess, LCT, you were shooting through a buttonhole in your coat weren't you? 😄

Pete.

[f8low]

4 hours ago, pippy said:

there IS room enough to drop a regular 39mm filter into the inside of the rim

Good advice! But are you sure it‘s 39mm? I am fairly sure it’s 49mm… 🙂

[lct]

17 minutes ago, f8low said:

Good advice! But are you sure it‘s 39mm? I am fairly sure it’s 49mm… 🙂

Do not use a 39mm filter if you don't like my pic above that was really shot with such a filter. 49mm is a filter to drop in the 12504 or similar hood, instead of a Series 7 which is the regular solution.

[pippy]

1 hour ago, f8low said:

Good advice! But are you sure it‘s 39mm? I am fairly sure it’s 49mm… 🙂

Ah! Perhaps I didn't explain myself very clearly, f8low, as I was talking about the physical possibility (but certainly not the wisdom) of being able to drop a 39mm filter within the inner-circumference of the front edge of the barrel of a 35mm Summilux v2 (i.e. where a filter would normally be screwed); not an alternative to using a Series VII with the 12504 hood.

40 minutes ago, lct said:

Do not use a 39mm filter if you don't like my pic above that was really shot with such a filter. 49mm is a filter to drop in the 12504 or similar hood, instead of a Series 7 which is the regular solution.

Absolutely. In fact I've tried to use one or two 49mm filters in the 12504 but they all seemed to have a problem with the rim-depth of the filters being too thick to sit inside the hood. Perhaps some manufacturers use filter-rings with smaller / narrower dimensions?

Anyhow...

As I hoped to have been made clear my advice was always intended to be;

6 hours ago, pippy said:

...There IS room enough to drop a regular 39mm filter into the inside of the rim but......Personally I'd never even consider such an action.

Why not avoid all the unneccessary hassle......and simply use the 12504 as was intended?

Philip.

Edited April 14, 2024 by pippy

[lct]

Yes regular filters were E41 up to serial # 2166700 and Series 7 from 2166701 and above for Summilux 35/1.4 v1 & v2 (code # 11870). E39 filters have never been made for either version due to vignetting issues if i recall correctly but i may be wrong.