Here are a couple of lenses I have and all the information I have for them. Any additional help would be much obliged.

ELW Hektor f=13,5cm 1:4,5 No. 196528 -fairly clear and clean. nice working order

ELW Thambar f=9cm 1:2,2 No.311449 -I'm told this is a pretty explensive one.

ELW Elmar f=9cm 1:4 No.411515

ELW Hektor f=7,3 1:1,9 No.129524

Leitz Elmar f=3,5cm 1:3,5 -this is very small

ELW Xenon f=5cm 1:1,5 No.288154 D.R.P.a. Taylor-Hobson US Pat. 2019985

Does the comma in these dimensions denote a decimal? What is the significance, if any, to the names Hektor, Elmar, ...?

Thanks so much.

-- Race Cannon (racecannon@yahoo.com), April 18, 2002

Answers

Race:

In Europe the comma and decimal have opposite functions when used in numberical convention. Yes, the Thambar is a quite a collectible. If you are looking for values on these, check E-bay for recent sales. I believe it was 1959 Leitz switched from cm to mm on their lens sizes.

13.5cm Hektor, 1934 manufacture date, very common.

9cm Thambar, 1936.

9cm Elmar, 1937.

I will let others weigh in on Elmar, Hektor, Thambar etc.

7.3cm Hektor, prior to 1933.

5cm Xenon, 1936?.

-- Mark A. Johnson (logical1@catholic.org), April 18, 2002.

RE names: ELmar comes from (E. L)eitz. Originally it was an Elmax - supposedly named for the optical designer - Max Berek. Hektor was supposedly Max's dog. Thambar comes from a Greek word meaning "astonishing' or thereabouts (or is it 'dreamy'? - anyway, referring to the soft-focus look of this portrait lens). Xenon is actually a Schneider (Lens Co.) trademark, licenced to Leica and Taylor-Hobson who used the Schneider lens design - later the same Leica lens became the Summarit(?).

This counts as my final exam in Leica history - I'll see how Eliot grades me.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), April 18, 2002.

Andy, I think Elmar may be a person's name in german. I assume a masculine name, because my neighbor's mother was named "Elma."

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), April 18, 2002.

Bob: you could be right - but it ALSO plays off the initials of the E. Leitz company - just as Ektachrome comes from (E)astman (K)odak's name.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), April 18, 2002.

ELMAR is in fact a german name, as HEKTOR is also an ancient greek name (remember the story of Troia ?). I would not name my children SUMMICRON, though ;-)

-- Kai Blanke (kai.blanke@iname.com), April 19, 2002.

When Leitz introduced the model A Leica, the first lens was the 50/3.5 ANASTIGMAT ("without astigmatism", a somewhat optimistic name), the second lens was the Elmax. EL stood for Ernst Leitz and MAX stood for the first name of Leitz' chief lens designer, Professor Max Berek. When the third 50/3.5 lens was introduced, Leitz wanted a more euphonic sounding name, so they changed the name from ELMAX to ELMAR. That's the historical explanation: ie., Elmar rolls off the lips more easily than Elmax.

-- Eliot (erosen@lij.edu), April 19, 2002.

There was some discussion about the lens names slightly over a year ago.

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=003DWS

-- LA Minaai (minaaila@ilhawaii.net), April 19, 2002.