Hi, everybody!

It would be very interesting to identify my LTM Summicron 35mm F2.0, # 1631461. I am a shooter, not a collector and do not have a good reference book except Hove pocket book. Some years ago I purchased this lens in Germany in ex+ condition. I use it on MP4 and IIIf and get razor-sharp pictures. This lens has screw-mount & bayonet-mount facilities. The bayonet-adapter is fixed to screw-mount with a tiny screw. As Hove says, LTM Summicron was produced from 1958 in a quantity of 577 units. In 1958 only one LTM 35mm Summicron was produced. I referenced the number of my cron (1631461) exactly to 1958. Pardon my language. Any comments would be appreciated.

-- Victor Randin (www.ved@enran.com.ua), September 26, 2000

Answers

Production started at about 1640xxx. It sounds like you have one of the very first production or more probably pre-production lenses. If it is in good shape, I would sell it to a collector and purchase a newer lens which will perform much better wide open and leave you with cash to spare. The last LTM 35/2 I saw was going for about $2200US.

-- John Collier (jbcollier@home.com), September 26, 2000.

Victor,

I have several collector's books and looked up your lens. I found a couple of things. First, the TRUE screw mount 35mm Summicron is in fact rare, thus valuable to collectors. Secondly, many people out to make money have falsely offered for sale the type lens you have... with the set screw locked M mount removed. One book I have "Leica Collector's Guide" by Dennis Laney tells the potential buyer to examine the lens for the obvious missing set screw... in effect exposing a fraudulently represented lens.

Regarding the low quantity, (only one lens in 1958), the book says that the numbers come from Leitz in Germany and may be ignoring production in Canada. I know that my first Summicron 90mm lens had the same serial number range and was produced in Canada... So that point may be valid.

Anyhow, it is up to you as to whether the lens is a "user" or "collectable". Recently discontinued Pre-Aspheric 35mm Summicrons are readily available on the used market for round 600 US Dollars. They are very fine lenses, openly praised until the introduction of the Aspheric lens. Many users like the out of focus rendition of the non aspheric, and after f2.8 or f4.0, the lenses are suppose to be comparable. If your lens is pristine, you might want to get a user model to retain value.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), September 26, 2000.

Thank you, John and Al. Al you are right. Darryl from DSCamera (L.A) old me that I have the M2 version of this lens and the lens is not a TRUE screw mount lens. It may have been converted in the past, but it started out as a bayonet lens. The main difference is that my lens has focus from 0.7 meter, but true lens has focus from 1 meter.

Regards,

Victor

-- Victor Randin (www.ved@enran.com.ua), September 28, 2000.