Leica LTM £832 for a nickle Elmar!

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
Something about the lettering / f-stop numbers doesn't look quite right to me...

Will have to dig-out my 1933 Nickel Elmar when I get home tonight...
 
My unnumbered nickle Elmar is marked f=5cm 1:3,5 like the chrome (left) example in the photo the vendor posted not f=50mm as on his.
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It could be a "remake" by someone. I don't know this fact, but it could be. If it is an older model Elmar with the older f stops, why is it labeled as a 50mm lens and not 5cm lens as older lenses used to be labeled?
 
My pre-1933 nickel elmar has 50mm on it. Looks like the one on the right, but same font as one on left. Older f-stop numbers on one side, Leitz Elmar 1:3.5 F=50mm on the other.
 
wjlapier said:
My pre-1933 nickel elmar has 50mm on it. Looks like the one on the right, but same font as one on left. Older f-stop numbers on one side, Leitz Elmar 1:3.5 F=50mm on the other.
Click to expand...

My nickel elmar (#1597xx) has 50mm and the same font as the one on the left of the picture.
 
I don't know what kind of Elmar is on my IIIc. How can you tell whether it's nickel or chrome?

The face on mine resembles the one on the left in Simon's picture, but the aperture scale only goes from f/3,5 to f/18, and it says "mtr" on the base plate instead of Germany. Looks more like chrome to me. I suppose mine is a common one.
 
I have seen some early nickle Elmars marked 50mm but as far as I recall they were from the earlier fixed lens model the iA. My bet is this is a lens that was converted by Leica for an owner who wanted to upgrade his 1A to a II. But it still doesn't explain the extraordinary price it sold for.
 
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I think it's a later lens...

My Nickle Elmar is serial 999xx, from 1932, with the "11 o'clock" Infinity lock.

The scale on my lens is in meters and close-focuses to 1 meter. There is just one stop-screw, of the "pillar" variety.

As for the font on the front mount, the "tail" on the letter "t" in Leitz curls around more , and the slashes for decimal point in the stop numbers (eg: 3,5-4,5-6,3-12,5 ) are longer on my lens. Also, the focal length is expressed as " 1:3,5 F=50mm ".

The e-bay lens has the "7 o'clock Infinity Lock" and later style release button, with the concentric ridges, and the focal length is expressed as " 1: 3.5 ", not "3,5"...

My guess is that it is a mid-1930's nickel lens, after the revised Infinity lock. If Leitz rebuilt an earlier lens, they re-used only the glass... the construction of the barrel on the e-bay example is a bit different in several details.

I have no explanation for the lack of a serial number.... mine is plainly stamped in the ring around the front element.

:confused:
 
Here is another Elmar with no serial number for comparison.

Bob
 

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Mine is stamped into the blackened ( but usually brassed) ring just outside the front element ( just inside of where the aperture tab rotates).

Some have it scratched into the backside of the focusing mount or written in the focusing mount, or written on the black insides in pencil, I think ?


Will post pics this evening.
 
To be sure not all Elmar 3.5 lenses have serial numbers. This may help clear up the mm vs cm thing. I have a reference book Leica by Paul-Henry Van Hasbroeck and in it on page 192 you will find that the author says basically that Leica used mm from 1925 to 1928, cm from 1928 to 1970 and reverted back to mm from 1971 onwards.

Bob
 
I never noticed that S/N before on my Elmar. It's 599490. Is there some reference that would help me identify when it was made?

Why is it that people xx the last two or three digits in serial number?
 
Nikon Bob said:
To be sure not all Elmar 3.5 lenses have serial numbers. This may help clear up the mm vs cm thing. I have a reference book Leica by Paul-Henry Van Hasbroeck and in it on page 192 you will find that the author says basically that Leica used mm from 1925 to 1928, cm from 1928 to 1970 and reverted back to mm from 1971 onwards.

Bob
Click to expand...

Now I know better! Thanks Bob.
 
loquax ludens said:
I never noticed that S/N before on my Elmar. It's 599490. Is there some reference that would help me identify when it was made?

Why is it that people xx the last two or three digits in serial number?
Click to expand...

Not sure myself, but I see it frequently on discussions regarding serialized equipment on other forums- talking machines, antique automobiles, etc.
 
The XX is to stop people ripping off an authentic serial number and using it to create a counterfeit replica... unnecessary in most cases but essential in some, such as Rolex watches.
What Nikon Bob says suggests my theory about the upgraded lens is correct. But no one has yet commented on the silly money this one (supposedly) sold for. Is this a new price point for nickle Elmars?
 
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