Extremely rare DR / Rigid Summicron?

[Moriturii]

Here's the deal, I've been asking around, and talking to several people, some of which are very known, knowledgeable and know their facts here on RFF, and no one has seen this before.

I recently came over a DR / Rigid Sumimcron optical piece (no focusing unit, will probably buy RIGID kind). The thing is though, it has a serial number of 2.5million.

Now, by all accounts that I can find, they stopped making these at 2.3 million, Tom A mentioned that he has seen that they've made a special batch of a few hundred to the army that has a serial of 2.4 million, but 2.5? Never.

Trying to source more info on the open forums, anyone seen this ever before? It's in mint condition by the way, completely un-used, basically new-old stock. It was a reserve lens for a newspaper company in sweden that used these as a macro lens but this one was never used.

Rare?

Pictures;

http://imgur.com/a/Xg3dT#0

 

[hans voralberg]

Beautiful lens if anything, don't know much about serial numbers I afraid. So i guess you have one of the last DR ever produced?

 

[Moriturii]

Sorry for the crappy cellphone pics by the way, only digital I own or can get my hands on.

 

[rodinal]

Mr. Putts lists this s/n as belonging to a batch of 100 Summicron (50) lenses made in 1972. There is no indication about what kind of Summicron.

How can you identify a DR when the focusing unit is missing ?

 

[Moriturii]

Good question, I thought they were same 🙂 Aren't they? It does say 19N on the side though, might be what they normally write 51.9 on the DRs?

 

[Matus]

I am NO expert on Leica lenses, but the DR Summicron should be easy to identify even of the googles are missing - there is a mounting point on the lens for it. And the cfocusing scale goes to 0.478m (according to KR at least): LINK

 

[Moriturii]

Mine has no focusing mount at all. Going to get one shortly, probably tomorrow. Probably Rigid kind.

So many questions, so few answers 🙁

By the way, does anyone know if any later DR / Rigid summicrons as this exist? Or is this like someone said, one of the last ones produced?

 

[rodinal]

OK, after searching through the Hove's "Leica pocket book", Sartorius' "Identiffying Leica lenses", Puts' "Leica lens compendium" and "Leica lists", van Hasbroeck's "Leica" and Lager's "Leica", here is what I found.

Only Lager mentions that the DR Summicron was listed as late as March '73 by Leitz Rockleigh. In early 1969, the new six elements Summicron (11817) was announced by Leitz Wetzlar, so that also was the announcement of the death of the rigid, seven elements, Summicron (DR included).

Mr. Puts' lists mention a batch of just 100 Summicrons produced in 1972 that contains your serial number. There is no clue about what version it was. There were two other batches of Summicron 50 that year. The first, before your batch, was 2,000 units. The last, after yours, was 2,400 units. So, the batch that contains your lens was pretty singular.

But... in 1973 there was another abnormally small batch of just 50 units of the Summicron 50. And yet another small batch of 100 units in 1974. The list does not mention version.

Possibly your lens is one of the latest DR produced. I think only the close-up capabilities of the DR (48 cm) did justify the production of the old design three years after the new lens appeared (with a 70 cm close focusing capability). So, get a DR focusing unit.

It's better that you ask a real expert about this lens, certainly it's not a common lens and it may be valuable... or not.

MP