Leitz Thambar earliest production run

[goldian]

Hi all

I have just managed to buy a Leitz Thambar at a reasonable (i hope) price, but interestingly it is serial no 226352 which would suggest I believe a 1934 production year. However the good old Denis Laney book suggests first production was not till 1935.

Can anyone shed any light on this discrepancy - presumably just that some were made in 1934 i suppose ?

Many thanks in advance for any views
Ian

 

[LeicaTom]

Not all printed Leica serial numbers posted in books or online are accurate - Sorry but Laney's book has tons of BAD information in it, that is wrong and misleading.

I'll talk to James Lager and see what he says about your lens, ok and congratulations, is it complete with the silver dot filter, and hood caps etc.?

Tom

 

[x-ray]

Thambars are very interesting lenses. I had a friend back in the 70's that had one. He had owned it for years and was kind enough to allow me to shoot with it. With the spot. Filter side open it was quite lovely.

Another friend had a 125 Hektor that he glued a similar disk to the center of a filter and produced some very nice images with it.

 

[goldian]

Thanks Tom - would be interested in any views from James
Happily spot filter and hood included
Thanks again
Ian

 

[Ronald M]

Thambars are very interesting lenses. I had a friend back in the 70's that had one. He had owned it for years and was kind enough to allow me to shoot with it. With the spot. Filter side open it was quite lovely.

Another friend had a 125 Hektor that he glued a similar disk to the center of a filter and produced some very nice images with it.

Going to have to try this.

Been using a German soft lens with the three disk set. Rodenstock Imagon, 125mm. Good luck finding one. It is T mount, originally Leica, now Nikon.
The images are very similar to the 300 mm I used on 4x5.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Wright & Glanfield (1976) quote the introduction date as 1935 (LNT 135/5) though the lenses were made from 1934 (226xxx). Neill Wright and Colin Glanfield were (and in Neill's case still are -- Colin died a long time ago) quite careful researchers.

What's the aperture scale? Single, red (presumably earliest); repeated red; or red and white separate (with & without disc, presumably latest)? Mine's a late one, probably 1938. For my taste, it's far too soft with the diffusion disk in. I like it at around f/6.3, no disk.

What's a Thambar worth nowadays? I've been thinking of selling mine to fund a Royal Enfield Bullet 350.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Dralowid]

If buying a Bullet remember to keep your legs wrapped up in bin bags to prevent oily trousers...dunno if the same applies to the Indian variant.

 

[Roger Hicks]

If buying a Bullet remember to keep your legs wrapped up in bin bags to prevent oily trousers...dunno if the same applies to the Indian variant.

Well, I've done maybe 9,000 to 10,000 km on 'em since 1990, and the oil mostly drops out of the bottom. But Indian ones are (believe it or not) a good deal more oil-tight, and have been for decades. To quote the production manager in 1990 or so, "It can no longer be said that the Enfield leaves its mark."

Cheers,

R.