I have a wonderful Elmar 50mm f/3.5 in LTM that I plan to use with an M6 via adapter.

I was looking at it carefully today. It seems to be coated. But, it has the old aperatures such as 12.5. The serial number is 604116*, with a star after the number.

Doesn't a * mean a rebuilt or reissued number. And were old lenses with the f/9, 12.6 stops coated. Do I have a lens which was rebuilt by the factory and coated or something else weird?

Any comments?

-- Thomas Herbert (therbert@miami.edu), November 04, 2001

Answers

I found a post on this forum which indicates that S/N 604116 was made in 1946. But, what about the star after the S/N? Maybe all 50 Elmar screwmounts have a *.

-- Thomas Herbert (therbert@miami.edu), November 04, 2001.

It indicates it is a duplicate number. It could have been a damaged lens that required extensive repairs or a replacement for a destroyed lens. It was also used for a short run of Summitars that were prototypes for the Summicron.

Cheers,

-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), November 04, 2001.