Leica LTM Summar of Love (Leitz Summar Sample Pics)

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
Leica IIIc, Summar 50mm f/2, Tmax400.

Erik.

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Got one a month ago on a lightly-used IIIa. Sent both off for CLA. Shot a test roll and got two pictures I like - a fire police officer resting on the back step of a pumper and our mostly black cat. The low contrast worked well for both, and they were sharp enough to suit me. A lens with an undeserved poor reputation.
 
I picked up a very tired example of a Summar a few weeks ago - everything stiff, finish worn, front glass nearly opaque with scratches, and the rest of the glass covered in haze. I disassembled it, cleaned and lubed as appropriate, repainted the flaking black paint on interior surfaces, and spent many hours hand-polishing the front element with cerium oxide (it had been coated, but obviously that's now gone). It's not perfect, and probably never will be, but it was good enough to warrant testing, so I reassembled and mounted it on my X-E1. These are two from earlier today, both straight from the camera JPGs shot wide open (no hood).

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All things considered, I'm pretty pleased, as the lens was completely unusable when I got it. The front element could probably be improved a bit more with continued polishing, but I'm going to shoot a few rolls of film first to see how it does before I make that decision.
 
02Pilot said:
Leica IIIa, 1937 Summar (uncoated), HP5+ in Caffenol C-H(RS):
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Great images! I presume you've removed only the coating from the front and rear elements and that the coating on the inner elements is still there. The coating on the inside seems to be more important than the coating on the outside.

Coated Summars are little jewels.

Erik.
 
Erik van Straten said:
Great images! I presume you've removed only the coating from the front and rear elements and that the coating on the inner elements is still there. The coating on the inside seems to be more important than the coating on the outside.

Coated Summars are little jewels.

Erik.
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Thanks. As far as I could tell, only the front element (both sides) was coated. The coating on the front surface was 98% gone due to the scratching, while the coating on the inner surface was partially gone - no idea why, but it was. I determined it was better to remove it, and the level of cleaning required would probably have done so anyway. There was no evidence of any coating on any of the other elements.
 
02Pilot said:
As far as I could tell, only the front element (both sides) was coated. The coating on the front surface was 98% gone due to the scratching, while the coating on the inner surface was partially gone - no idea why, but it was. I determined it was better to remove it, and the level of cleaning required would probably have done so anyway. There was no evidence of any coating on any of the other elements.
Click to expand...

You've got quite some contrast out of it, the pictures look great. That's what it is all about.

Erik.
 
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