Leica LTM 1942 Coated Summitar Info help

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
I have just stumbled upon and purchased a similarly numbered kit consisting of a IIIc stepper, 588 Summitar, and the original case. I have only performed a quick look over, so will post a bit more later when I have time.
 
LeicaTom said:
Naturally ALL the exported lenses (after 1946) were coated, the postwar Leitz coating has a totally different look from WW2 coatings, the early stuff was a creamy light purple/lavender, (very odd looking) and it's easy to tell that it's a WW2 lens, because the colors are so strange, (in all my years collecting I've seen less than 30 lenses that were original Leitz pre May 1945 coated style) ~ these lenses were mostly made for the German Navy and Air Force and were normally marked so, they are also marked in the original Leitz dockets as well.
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It may be that the coating started a bit earlier, or that some lenses were recoated during the war years. I have Summitar 526607, which conventional wisdom places as 1939 production, and it has a strange light blue coating rather than the darker purple coating I have seen on later lenses. The lens has the older F-stop sequence, and a distance scale calibrated in feet. Would this have been coated after the war, but with a different material than usual?

Cheers,
Dez
 
LeicaTom said:
Yeah, I've been looking for a REAL 1942/43 coated Summitar for a long time myself........right now a US Army one would be ok.
Serial #583xxx or #584xxx (both July/August 1945) and *uncoated*.

Tom
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Tom a very interesting topic, and my 1st post. If I remember reading one of Jim's book's "correctly" were he stated that from around serial # 546,000 up they were all coated?
 
I was wondering if anyone could help me with dating my Summitar? From everything I could find on the web, the Summitar SN's are from 487XXX to 993XXX. My lens has a WAY lower SN #246783.

It's definitely a Summitar. The front ring reads : Ernst Leitz Wetzlar / Summitar f = 5 cm 1:2 Nr. 246783
 
I was wondering if anyone could help me with dating my Summitar? From everything I could find on the web, the Summitar SN's are from 487XXX to 993XXX. My lens has a WAY lower SN #246783.

It's definitely a Summitar. The front ring reads : Ernst Leitz Wetzlar / Summitar f = 5 cm 1:2 Nr. 246783
 
The serial number puts it at 1935, but the Summitar didn't come out until 1939, so something doesn't line up.

Got a photo?
 
rivercityrocker said:
I was wondering if anyone could help me with dating my Summitar? From everything I could find on the web, the Summitar SN's are from 487XXX to 993XXX. My lens has a WAY lower SN #246783.

It's definitely a Summitar. The front ring reads : Ernst Leitz Wetzlar / Summitar f = 5 cm 1:2 Nr. 246783
Click to expand...

Looking forward to a pic ... Sounds like it may be a Summar, not Summitar?
 
My Summar is 247897 -- don't know how large of a serial number 'range' they devoted to a specific model of lens, but yes, it sounds more like a Summar.

But if you say it's a Summitar, then I dunno.
 
Well, I reviewed mine. Your example is physically similar to a true Summitar as you and the lens clearly state. The trim ring on a Summar is much flatter. Your text is more pronounced and has Nr. VS No. compared to my 588. Your serial number squarely falls in the Summar production range, circa 1935.

I wonder if it is possible that this was a Summar that may have been factory reworked later in life, and had the original serial placed on a replacement trim ring? (The lens base is Summitar, not Summar as well). It is tough to tell in your image -is there any semblance of a coating?
 
burancap said:
Well, I reviewed mine. Your example is physically similar to a true Summitar as you and the lens clearly state. The trim ring on a Summar is much flatter. Your text is more pronounced and has Nr. VS No. compared to my 588. Your serial number, though, squarely falls in the Summar production range, circa 1935.

I wonder if it is possible that this was a Summar that may have been factory reworked later in life, and had the original serial placed on a replacement trim ring? (The lens base is Summitar, not Summar as well). It is tough to tell in your image -is there any semblance of a coating?
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Well, it appears to have a very faint light blue coating on the front element. The rear element is definitely not coated. The glass is in very good condition. Much better than my '56 Summicron.
 
Taking a closer look, the distance scales are old style. f/stops numbered f/2-12.5 and the aperture ring is standard, f/2-16. The aperture ring numbers are on the bottom.

Also on the inside there are some very crude etchings that say 59x





Obviously the lens has been frankensteined together. The glass is very clean, but I could not fix the focus, which was off by at least a meter and a half. I have the whole thing in pieces right now.

I'd like to find an old copy with a bad front element that I can replace with mine, but without being able to definitively identify a date I don't want to to go around buying anymore broken lenses and run the risk of the front not being compatible.
 
Uncoated Summitar

Uncoated Summitar

I purchased a Summitar in nice shape the other day, slight haze which seems to be able to be cleaned but no cleaning marks. Anyway, I assumed it was from '42 with a serial number of #586667 and going off of what I thought was accurate numbers on the internet. However, last night I stumbled upon this thread. The lens seems to be uncoated I don't see a tint of any sort of color on any of the glass. When would this lens have been made? late '45? early '46? also when you state "American PX" what does that indicate? I would love to know a general history behind this guy.

Thanks so much!
 
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