Miles.
Beamsplitter
The 24th Simlar 5cm f1.5 sold today on eBay for about $1,300 USD. It needed a full restoration. Did anyone here buy it?
This is the earliest known example I've seen.
This is the earliest known example I've seen.
Uncommon, Rare, and Collector's Delights.
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David Murphy
Veteran
Simlar 50/1.5. Speaking as a former owner of one, I can't understand the high price this lens is commanding. My example was pretty ordinary actually.
Miles.
Beamsplitter
I’ve really only been using and collecting odd and rare LTM lenses since 2016, but if I’ve learned anything in the past 8 years, it’s that this little corner of Leica and Leica adjacent collecting is completely detached from reality. I’m still having fun, though.
That's more than double what I paid for the 74th made with a Leotax D-IV 4-digit SN on it, MIOJ. There is an internal "10" scribed on mine. Mine stops down to F16 and uses 39mm filters.
Mine also required a complete CLA- including 4 days soaking in alcohol to free up the helical. The screws of the mount had to be screwed back in the same hole they came out of. A real proto-type quality to it.
I've also done a CLA on a later one for an RFF member, several years ago.
It is a unique 1-3-2-1 double-Gauss, using a triplet for the second group to reduce air/glass interfaces.
It's a collectible lens. Better for B&W than for color.
Wide-Open.
Mine also required a complete CLA- including 4 days soaking in alcohol to free up the helical. The screws of the mount had to be screwed back in the same hole they came out of. A real proto-type quality to it.
I've also done a CLA on a later one for an RFF member, several years ago.
It is a unique 1-3-2-1 double-Gauss, using a triplet for the second group to reduce air/glass interfaces.
It's a collectible lens. Better for B&W than for color.
Wide-Open.
wlewisiii
Just another hotel clerk
Interesting but I think I like my less rare but more usable lenses better 😀
I've been just a happy little clam doing B&W with the 1937 f2 Sonnar & Color with the early 50s Exacta f3.5 Tessar.
But that doesn't make it any less fun to read threads like this one 👍
I've been just a happy little clam doing B&W with the 1937 f2 Sonnar & Color with the early 50s Exacta f3.5 Tessar.
But that doesn't make it any less fun to read threads like this one 👍
Sonnar, Simlar, Summarit.
I read the description of the lens that sold: sounds identical to mine with the frozen focus, was the grease used- gets like cement. 4 days soaking in alcohol, trying to move it twice a day did the trick. "Simlar 5cm F1.5 Disassemble", lets see if the buyer uses google for instructions.
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dexdog
Veteran
I was tempted, but I already have way too many 50mm lenses that I rarely use, being more of a 35mm guy.
Nikon Nikkor SC 5cm f1.4 Rangefinder Lens AS-IS | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Nikon Nikkor SC 5cm f1.4 Rangefinder Lens AS-IS at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
Well, for $68 I bought this NKT 5cm F1.4 Nikkor-SC, "for parts" lens. The Nikkor-SC with SN up to ~ 330xxx uses a different optical prescription from the later lenses. I can use my Radius Gage to measure the differences. I know the diameter of the front element is ~1mm less than the later version.
wlewisiii
Just another hotel clerk
Makes me feel the urge to pop my Nikkor SC 5cm f1.4 on for a while... 🙂
The $68 Nikkor arrived. Light coating marks, no fungus, cleaned a spot off the edge.
With the $60 cheap Chinese LTM adapter that I polished the RF cam down before.
With the $60 cheap Chinese LTM adapter that I polished the RF cam down before.
wlewisiii
Just another hotel clerk
Beautiful!
wlewisiii
Just another hotel clerk
Gotta add - #4 is one I'd try to shoot. Love that image. The sun, the flare, the standing trunks... was that wide open?
All were shot wide-open. "Just a test"...
wlewisiii
Just another hotel clerk
😀 Presumed as much but figured I should ask just in case you needed to test the aperture blades 😉
Kai-san
Filmwaster
I know this is a con job, but it might be good to know in case you should stumble across one of these. The Industar 26M was never produced in Contax mount, but there is a small number of these floating around outside the former USSR. It's very nicely done, hard to see that it is hacked. The serial number is quite early, around 1957-59. The 26M is nothing special, but it produces quite nice images.
hilltime
Well-known
Miles.
Beamsplitter
RARE Steinheil München Quinon 50mm f/2 LTM Leica Screw Mount Lens w/ Close Focus | eBay
This is fully rangefinder coupled for use with LTM or M mount lenses. It is by far one of the coolest lenses I’ve used. This lens has a legendary status, both rare and equally great performance. There is also very minimal dust and air bubbles in the glass.
www.ebay.com
Would someone here be willing to purchase this lens, in the name of science, and report their findings and results here? It's an uncommon lens with a Sonnar formula, I believe, and I'm not quite intrigued enough to give it a go myself.
I converted one for Raid a long time ago to Leica Thread Mount using a J-3 focus mount. The lens is a Sonnar. The original mount is not for Leica.
TenEleven
Well-known
I have one. Repaired it and shot a couple of rolls of film through mine. The mechanical construction is deeply strange. The entire lens rotates to focus but the name ring and only the name ring does not - it has its own secondary helical for ... reasons. There is no "translating RF helical" meaning the lens focal length is 51.6mm actual. Internal construction is aluminum which makes the helical vulnerable to chips and dents. Focus feel is OK.RARE Steinheil München Quinon 50mm f/2 LTM Leica Screw Mount Lens w/ Close Focus | eBay
This is fully rangefinder coupled for use with LTM or M mount lenses. It is by far one of the coolest lenses I’ve used. This lens has a legendary status, both rare and equally great performance. There is also very minimal dust and air bubbles in the glass.www.ebay.com
Would someone here be willing to purchase this lens, in the name of science, and report their findings and results here? It's an uncommon lens with a Sonnar formula, I believe, and I'm not quite intrigued enough to give it a go myself.
Speaking of that, the quinon has a close focus mechanism akin to the Nikkor 50/2 including the bump as a warning when rangefinder coupling disengages.
The coatings are very soft and in terrible shape on a lot of copies - they are still good on mine.
It's rendering is pretty much what you'd expect from a f2 Sonnar lens, there is more emphasis put on on central sharpness from wide open. Color rendering is on the cold side and muted. It looks more pre war than post war in that respect.
Strangely, there is almost no spherical aberration common to Sonnars at full aperture. However to pull this off, they apparently paid the price in distortion. It's the only Sonnar lens I have ever seen with visible barrel distortion. And the only German made Sonnar that I have seen with any visible distortion at all. It seems to vary with focal distance, but I'm not 100% sure on that, yet.
Edit: I'd attach some pictures but I am currently at work, alas.