Recently I have started using an old M3 of my father with a 1:1.5 Summarit lens. I would like to get some information about this lens. Is this an earlier version of the Summilux? When was it produced? Thanks by now. Carlos R.

-- Carlos R. D. (crdad@uol.com.br), March 13, 2002

Answers

from Steve Gandys wonderful site: 50/1.5 Leitz Xenon (1936-1950) and Summarit (1949-1960): Leica's first super speed 50, chrome rigid lenses. Pre-war Xenons left the factory uncoated, though they may have been coated by sending them back to the factory. The Summarit is said to be the same optical formula, just coated. Not a great reputation on sharpness, but many users really like this lens. Watch out for fogging and cleaning scratches.

his site is: http://www.cameraquest.com/ltmlens.htm

-- mike (thearea19@aol.com), March 13, 2002.

Carlos:

The serial number can be used to determine the year better. The 50 1.5 Summarit was made from 1949 to 1960 according to Hove 6th Pocket Edition. Yes, it was the predecessor to the Summilux. The lens is a seven element symmetrical derivative. The lens uses 41mm screw in filters, which are not very common as I recall. If the equipment has not been used in a while, you might want to take some frames to check the rangefinder accuracy before you have to depend on it.

Enjoy your new tools.

-- Mark A. Johnson (logical1@catholic.org), March 13, 2002.

The Summarit optical formular is different from that of the Xenon. It is not simply a "coated Xenon", but rather an improved version. This is not a high performance lens by modern standards, but reasonably good for its day. The Summarit was replaced by the Summilux (introduced in 1959), which had significantly improved optics.

But the 50/1.5 Summarit, which is a beautifully designed and finished lens, remains popular today, and there are quite a few in use. It is relatively soft wide open and more prone to flare than the Summilux.

-- Eliot (erosen@lij.edu), March 13, 2002.

The Summarit was designed by Taylor, Taylor and Hobson, in England. Some of them are so marked, on the barrel.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), March 13, 2002.

Bob. The Summarit was designed by Leitz, not TTH. It was similar to an old Schneider design (like the earlier Xenon, which had a similar but not identical optical layout). Thus, Leitz had to acknowledge the previous patent holder, until the patent expired. That's why all Xenons but only the earliest Summarits ('1949-'50) are engraved with TTH. The TTH engraved Summarits are relatively few in number. These lenses gave a slightly different engraving style like the Xenon, a very bluish coating (like most early postwar lenses), and are considered as a "transitional" lens.

-- Eliot (erosen@lij.edu), March 13, 2002.

Somewhat off-topic, but a few days ago I met an older lady who had been quite interested in photography for a long time. Seeing my M6, she got out an old Leica case and showed me her IIc and some lenses. The Summarit was astonishingly heavy and solid-feeling. She also had a 28mm f6.3 lens that was as small as any optic I have ever seen.

The feel of that Summarit has gotten me thinking of buying one, since they are relatively inexpensive.

-- Douglas Kinnear (douglas.kinnear@colostate.edu), March 14, 2002.

This is also off topic, but I've long wondered if the 75mm Rolleiflex lenses, the Xenotar and the Planar (both f/3.5) might just be the same lens, made by two different mfgrs (Schneider & Zeiss)?

-- Frank Horn (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), March 14, 2002.