Leica LTM Differentiating Summitars?

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
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ra1nforest

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Hello friends,

I recently tried out a Summitar 50/2 and instantly fell in love with it seeing the darkroom prints taken with the lens. I've decided in getting a copy, but am unsure of the different version/s of this lens.

From what I've read, there are pre-war and post-war versions, translating itself to uncoated and coated versions. Correct me if I am wrong, but I was just wondering if there was a good way to differentiate between these lenses either through physical attributes, serial numbers etc? Any help and advice is much appreciated :)

Thank you very much.
 
There are also two different types of iris / aperture.
One (later??) is quite round, while the other have what is called dog legs aperture blades and a hexagonal shape aperture (was it hexagonal?) with a different bokeh.
 
The later (higher serial number) coated one that I have has hexagonal iris blades. The earlier one is rounded but uncoated.
 
Don't think it's as clear as this - I have a coated version from 1946 ( I believe all post war ones were coated) and it has the multi-bladed "round" iris
 
dont mean to muddle things, but I was under the impression that the round iris followed the hex. I have one of each, the round iris certainly seems to be built a little better. I prefer the look of the hex though, the bok is definitely a tad different between the two. Probably not too much to get all bent and concerned about, but if you wanted to nit pick, there's enough of a difference to be cerebral about it if you wanted to. Whats probably more important is finding a clean one, Ive had a few over the past while and they all improved dramatically after a cla. I dont know if its my bad luck or if these are prone to haze but I would definitely look into that when you purchase so you can factor the cost of a cleaning if you need it.
 
For whatever it is worth, Hexagon or Hexagonal means "of six" or "with six corners" - from the Greek "hexi" (number 6) and "gonia" corner. Consider Pentagon, Polygon Trigonometry etc
 
One of the easier ways I believe to tell the two apart, is the numbers on the aperture ring. If they are 2, 2.2, 3.2, etc. I think it would be the older model and possibly uncoated. The second version would have the more modern numbers 2, 2.8, 4, etc. Also, the second series will have a slight groove in the barrel which I think can be used for attaching a hood. The first link shows early uncoated: http://www.ritzcam.com/catalog/images/LS_5275.jpg and the second link a later coated: http://www.amaprophoto.com/532 Leitz L summitar 5f2 enke_1.jpg.
Also my Summitar, from 1939, has the circular blades but I have no idea when they were made round or hexagonal.
 
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Summitars started being coated around 589xxx, which is war-time production.

Condition is all-important on Summitars. Super-soft coating, super-soft front glass (flint, lead crystal). Differences in condition would be more important than the different versions.
 
John Shriver said:
Summitars started being coated around 589xxx, which is war-time production.

Condition is all-important on Summitars. Super-soft coating, super-soft front glass (flint, lead crystal). Differences in condition would be more important than the different versions.
Click to expand...

For some reasons, the three or four Summitars I have handled in my life had clean front elements while the coll summicrons, all of them had more or less signs on their front elements.
 
whoa... some confusion going on in this thread. ;)

The round aperture was employed BEFORE the hexagonal dog-legged type.

From sampling done in a previous thread, we determined that the switch occurred between serial numbers 792XXX and 7978XX (ca.1950).

Please go to the original thread for the discussion:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54605

Please note John Shrivers post (#18) regarding the start of coating (during WWII).

Thanks!

rt :cool:
 
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My Summitar has the older aperture designation [2.2, 3.2 etc], has round aperture blades and a 561xxx serial number [1940?]. It also appears to be coated.

So I assume that's an after-sale factory coating of the lens as with that serial number I assume it wasn't coated originally.
 
I spoke with Sherry Krauter the other day and she recommended that the flat bladed lenses if you shoot a lot of back lit scenes. It is her opinion that they render the out of focus areas in a slightly more pleasing way than do the domed bladed lenses. Other than that (if I understood her properly) there is not much difference in the signiture of the difference versions. She then added her own Summitar is a domed version! She did say that the 50 Summitar is one of her favorite lens.

Paul
 
I spoke with Sherry Krauter the other day and she recommended considering the flat bladed lenses if you shoot a lot of back lit scenes. It is her opinion that they render the out of focus areas in a slightly more pleasing way than do the domed bladed lenses. Other than that (if I understood her properly) there is not much difference in the signature of the difference versions. She then added her own Summitar is a domed version! She did say that the 50 Summitar is one of her favorite lens.

Paul
 
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