Old SM lenses

N

Nikon Bob

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This is my first post and hope I am in the right forum. I have just started to play with older SM Leica lenses and was surprised at how well they still perform. The one I was not expecting much from, 135mm F4.5 Hektor, surprised me the most. I have tried to attach a photo taken with it, hope it works. Anyone else use this lens and/or likes the results they are getting from this lens?
 
welcome to the forum bob!

sorry the pic seems to have lost it's way in cyber space.

i have never used a hektor but i have read that some believe them to be very under rated afa performance goes.

what camera are you putting your screw mounts on?
joe
 
I see the photo did not upload so I'll try again here. I decided to delete the photo and repost it in my gallery.
 
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Hi Joe

The photo disappeared because I messed up loading it. I am using a IIf now but have to send out my IIIf to get the rangefinder resilvered to put it back to use. Not much fun when there is no focussing aid! Thanx for the compliment on the photo. Like I said it surprised me.
 
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I have a silver Hektor 135 f 4.5 that I find quite nice. It is much lighter in weight than my sweet Canon LTM lenses. Slightly courser image - but still very nice.

There was no 100mm Hektor that I know of, but you can sometimes find a 90mm Elmar for not a lot of money. But they're collector pieces, so sometimes they go sky-high for reasons only Leica-heads understand. It was made exactly three times six to the 8th power from the day Oskar Barnack had his first diaper changed, or something like that. Don't ask me, those guys are weird.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
no 100 hektor, too bad, thought it might go cheap.

when the camera gods are ready, there will be a 100/3.5 canon lens in my future, i feel it!
i have the 50/1.8 now, only 2 more to go and i'll have the set.

joe
 
backalley photo said:
no 100 hektor, too bad, thought it might go cheap.

when the camera gods are ready, there will be a 100/3.5 canon lens in my future, i feel it!
i have the 50/1.8 now, only 2 more to go and i'll have the set.

joe
Click to expand...

I don't have that Canon 100 yet either - they tend to go for a bunch of money! But if you're into collecting the whole range of Canon RF lenses, well, there are a whole lot of them to choose from!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Nikon Bob, welcome! And that's a lovely photo with the 135 Hektor; I'll bet you're delighted.

My longest RF lens is a 100mm f/4.5, but that's for a Bronica RF645. :)

Joe, I'm impressed at your rigid self-control! Such discipline in the face of compelling temptation... <g>
 
Hi Brian

Got the name by being another Nikon Nut and now that I have discovered rangefinders I had to get an S2 to stay legal. From my limited experience I would say you are right about the 135mm family even in the Nikon line. Glad to see someone else using it.
 
How is the Nikon 135 F3.5 compared to the Hektor? Sorry for the loaded question but I see one on the horizon for me.
 
Brian, Thanx for posting those shots. The rose was terrific. Decisions, decisions, what next!
 
How about this one (taken with a 3.5 cm f 3.5 Summaron in LTM, circa 1953, Kodak C41 B & W @ ASA 400)?

(Spring thaw . . .)
 
Hi l.mar -- Your Summaron is doing very well, has a nice look. And, separately I like your reflection photo too. It looks like it was made on a cloudy day, and I think the clouds add interest and "texture" to the reflection.

If I might offer a suggestion, take a look at the Levels histogram for the photo and note that there is no data recorded for the darkest tones (at the left side of the histogram). In other words, your darkest tone is a medium-dark grey, not black.

Moving the black pointer to the right, to the point the curve meets the baseline, will shift your dark grey down to black, stretching the whole curve proportionately... and slightly increasing contrast. I hope you'll find it useful (and not offensive) for me to show what the results would look like...
 
Doug:

Thanks very much for your comments--I really appreciate the advice. I am still getting used to the art of scanning/posting, and so I this forum is very educational for me -- bringing me into 21st century photography, so to speak.
 
Here's another shot taken with a Nikkor 13.5 cm f 3.5, this one in LTM on an M3 --- wide open to f 3.5.
 
brian, do you know if there is much difference between the chrome and black versions of the 135/3.5 canon ltm's?
there is a black one on ebay now that i'm looking at.

joe
 
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