What's so special about this lens?

[ChrisN]

What have I missed here?

"It is not often that we get a lens as rare as this one in to sell on consignment. Research shows that there are possibly fewer than 50 on the loose in the world.

Mechanically and cosmetically it is perfect. Optically clean and unmarked. We have to give it a 9 out of 10."


It's a chrome Summicron, isn't it?

 

[Pherdinand]

in general i'd love to know, what's so damn special about 50/2 (and 35/2) summicrons that they fetch above thousand bucks on the second hand market (some versions,at least)?
It's a moderately fast, normal lens, for god's sake, which is supposed to be the easiest to make and the most available too...

 

[errorlogin]

Nothing special.

If it had a thread mount, it would be pretty rare. But with m-mount, it's not.

 

[Ljós]

Correction: make this Summicron, not Summaron. See posts below.

I think I can help here - looks to me like this is one of those Summarons which are screwmount, but came with a M-adapter affixed. By loosening one screw and taking the adapter off, this Summaron can be used as Screwmount. Prices are higher than either plain Screwmount or plain M-mount. There is a thread here somewhere on RFF with comparison pictures on how to identify the mount versions.

Not 100% sure on this one, but I think that is the answer.

Greetings, Ljós

 

[Roger Hicks]

The clue may be in the way the lens is photographed, so that the word 'Germany' appears. If most of these lenses were made in Canada, with only a few German ones, it would explain the price.

You'd need to be a rich Leica collector to care, and as I gave up collecting 30 years ago and have never been rich, I can't be arsed to check.

Of course, it could be even more arcane, such as it's a chrome-finished German lens (if all the other German ones are black), or that it has some peculiarity about the focusing scale, but I suspect that the first explanation suffices. Or Ljos's. Strange are the ways of Leica collectors...

Cheers,

R.

 

[errorlogin]

I have a summicron and summaron 35mm, both are "Germany", so are they that rare? I doubt...

Maybe it's true, it is a scew mount with m adaptor. Only 577 screw mount summicrons were made.
But more than 5000 summarons, if this is a summaron.

 

[TennesseJones]

I have ther version of the summaron that is adaptable, m/ltm, but I don't think it's that. Looking at mine now it goes to 22

 

[Ljós]

I have ther version of the summaron that is adaptable, m/ltm, but I don't think it's that. Looking at mine now it goes to 22

TennesseJones, you are right - my Summaron goes to 22, too. So this ought to be a Summicron, first version. Helps explain the price, of course.

 

[Sparrow]

TennesseJones, you are right - my Summaron goes to 22, too. So this ought to be a Summicron, first version. Helps explain the price, of course.

It's not like mine either, the later one with the fixed "adaptor"

 

[ChrisN]

I think the serial number is 1631793, 1958 production.

 

[errorlogin]

TennesseJones, you are right - my Summaron goes to 22, too. So this ought to be a Summicron, first version. Helps explain the price, of course.

What was the price actually?

 

[Peter_Jones]

Hmm, I have a Wetzlar 35/2 summicron V1 - does this mean with this super-rare lens, I can plan my retirement ? Lol.

 

[ChrisN]

Depends on how long, and how, you want to live in retirement!

 

[Peter_Jones]

I wonder how many RFFers own an example of this "fewer than 50 on the loose" lens ?