Leica LTM Pre-war Leica glass, show your photos

[Erik van Straten]

I have shot some at Infinity focus, and yet they are all OOF. Am I doing something wrong, or am I expecting too much of the Summar?

Could it be the lens reacting to the Delta's and DDX?

Do you lock your lens when you pull it out?

Is there any haze visible in your lens when you look trough it against a strong light?

Do you use a shade?

The Summar, especially a coated Summar, is stopped down capable of the finest results.

For fine grain high contrast results, the Tmax400 film is the best you can get, but I don't think your Summar is reacting in a bad way to Ilford films.

Erik.

 

[benji77]

Do you lock your lens when you pull it out?

Is there any haze visible in your lens when you look trough it against a strong light?

Do you use a shade?

The Summar, especially a coated Summar, is stopped down capable of the finest results.

For fine grain high contrast results, the Tmax400 film is the best you can get, but I don't think your Summar is reacting in a bad way to Ilford films.

Erik.

Hi Erik
Yes I lock it, no shade used though. I have not noticed any haze too.

I did a simple test for the contrast/film/grain. I shot the Summar with TriX@1600, and switched lens to a VC 35mm 1.4. The VC gave much higher contrast, while the Summar retained it low contrast, flat grey tone images. This simple test ruled out film/Developer issues😀

I am wondering if my copy needs a CLA, to ensure that its 'aligned' for focusing. Would this help?

 

[helen.HH]

1937 uncoated summar ...IIIa
"

 

[Erik van Straten]

I am wondering if my copy needs a CLA, to ensure that its 'aligned' for focusing. Would this help?

In any case a Summar needs a shade. The FLQOO and FOOKH are the best. The SOOMP and the FIKUS fall off all the time.

Of course in comparison a Summar, a lens of seventy years old, will have lower contrast than a modern VC lens, even when coated.

Make some shots from a tripod with precise focussing. When the pictures are unsharp, you'll need a repair.

Good luck,

Erik.

 

[Mark Schretlen]

"Aging Gracefully #2" using a 1938 Summar on a pre-historic M8

 

[johannielscom]

I went to Rock Werchter festival in Belgium last weekend and managed to smuggle the M2 + wartime Biogon 35/2.8 in on both visiting days. Sadly the shots are waaay out of line in this thread, but I will launch another thread with them soon.

@Mark: that portrait of a classic car would make the designer and manufacturing team all choke up, it's really something! That vineyard would probably love a large print on their office wall!? Lots of traditional skill and purity in that shot, if I were running that vineyard I'd jump on getting this shot for an advertisement etc!

 

[Mark Schretlen]

Thank you, Johan. I am often pleasantly surprised with the Summar & M8 combination. They are 70 years apart in technology, but sometimes they seem like they were made for each other. Here is another pedestrian M8 shot that 1938 Summar seems to bring to life ...

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Summar on a IIIc

 

[johannielscom]

I (still) love the way the 73mm Hektor renders. It's the sort of 'drop' from foreground to background rendering that amazes me. Sometimes, the foreground is a picture, the background is a classicist painting!

 

[john neal]

I found an undeveloped roll from last November in Rajasthan- 1932 Leica II with 1938 uncoated Summar, shot on Plus-X.

I have a thing about doorways / entrances.....

 

[jcrutcher]

1951 IIF with 1934 Hektor 28mm non-coated. Portra 160 film PP in Lightroom 3

 

[jcrutcher]

Nickel Prewar uncoated 50mm Elmar. Shot with a M9. 80 years apart technology. Long live Leica!

 

[Mr_Flibble]

IIIa + 90mm f/4 Elmar (1937)

 

[johannielscom]

Nice, Rick! This thread started with a 90mm Elmar shot and those are sooo impressing!

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Thanks Johan, Wollukstock offered some great shots.

One more from "Izzid?!". She contacted me recently complementing me on the photos of her band.

Same 90mm lens as above. Film is Ilford XP2 Super, exposed at 300 ISO

 

[john neal]

Rick - I would be careful, she looks like she fights her weight (IYSWIM) 😉

 

[Mr_Flibble]

She's got a voice to match, John.

 

[jcrutcher]

Both shot with a 1934 Leica standard (I), 1935 Hektor Portra 160 film

 

[Erik van Straten]

Great lens that 2.8 cm Hektor, jcrutcher!

Erik.

 

[johannielscom]

In a way I was the least likely candidate to start this thread, since the post I started it with contained the first and only decent shot from an uncoated lens I had to show for me.

However, I love my pre-war Leitz Elmar 90/4.0 uncoated lens (issued 3 days before WWII!) and have jumped at the occasion when an uncoated Elmar 50/3.5 presented itself.

So, pretty soon I hope to contribute to this thread more!


Opinion asked: Do you guys feel that the uncoated lenses have the more distinctive rendering when they are used with film?