summicron-c 40mm actual frame?

[triplefinger]

I've been reading how the sumicron90 is really about 88mm and that many lens lengths are rounded down or up to the nearest 5mm mark.

does anyone know what the actual measurement for the summicron-c 40mm is?

I was thinking of getting mine modified to bring up the 35mm framelines, if its closer to that.

thanks, Mike

 

[ferider]

Mike,

cannt find the reference anymore, but I seem to remember that it is precisely 40mm (in contrast to the CV 40/1.4 that is just a little longer).

The frameline match depends on your camera. For example M2 and M6 have different 35mm framelines. Plus the framelines are conservative, since they also work at close distance. Best is to put the lens on the camera, and with an open back and some screen installed to check if the 35mm framelines work for you. Also depends on what you shoot. Slides are more agressively framed than negatives, for example.

It is an easy DIY job, since you can take the flange off the lens.

Roland.

 

[Graham Line]

Don't have any measurements, but there is a subtle and distinct difference between the 35 and the 40. Once you begin using it and reviewing the take, you will learn where it frames in relation to the frame lines -- even on the bodies that give you a 40. The only problem might be going between different bodies, like a CLE and M4-P, where the lens brings up different lines.

 

[Palaeoboy]

does anyone know what the actual measurement for the summicron-c 40mm is?

39.7mm .

 

[triplefinger]

I usually just use the 50mm lines and frame very tightly with them... so far so good.

Don't have any measurements, but there is a subtle and distinct difference between the 35 and the 40. Once you beginning using it and reviewing the take, you will learn where it frames in relation to the frame lines -- even on the bodies that give you a 40. The only probably might be going between different bodies, like a CLE and M4-P, where the lens brings up different lines.

 

[rxmd]

Palaeoboy: at infinity or at 1m?

Philipp

 

[triplefinger]

all the time

 

[enochRoot]

i prefer 35mm framelines for that lens (the newer, smaller 35mm framelines...ie: M6 and forward).

 

[vrgard]

i prefer 35mm framelines for that lens (the newer, smaller 35mm framelines...ie: M6 and forward).

Me too. Which is why I bought a Rokkor 40mm that had been modified to bring up the 35mm framelines.

 

[VictorM.]

This is a dart board I shot with Summicron-C on an M4-2 at minimum focusing distance. The dart board was framed to just touch the 35mm framelines at the top and bottom. This is the maximum difference between what shows in viewfinder & what gets on the film; at infinity the difference will be less. I rarely notice a problem in framing using the 35mm lines until I'm less than 7 or 8 feet away.

 

[FrankS]

And that's with an M4-2 with the tighter framelines, Victor? (compared to M2.3.4)

 

[VictorM.]

And that's with an M4-2 with the tighter framelines, Victor? (compared to M2.3.4)

I'm not sure-the 40 has only been on the M4-2.

 

[FrankS]

Apparantly with the M4-2 or P, Leica made the framelines smaller in order to accommodate the 28mm framelines in the viewfinder without decreasing the mag. of the VF. This again is only stuff I've read.

 

[VictorM.]

The M4-2 has 35-50-90-135 frames. Supposedly the same as the original M4.

 

[FrankS]

It must start with the M4-P then.

So, even with the older, larger frames, the 35mm framelines seem to work great with the 40mm lens!

 

[ddutchison]

It must start with the M4-P then.

So, even with the older, larger frames, the 35mm framelines seem to work great with the 40mm lens!

Well from my experience I wouldn't say great. They work well enough, but I cut off the top of the frames on a couple of pics early on when using the 35mm frame lines on the M2- and this was at 20 meters or so, with carefully composed shots. The 35mm frame lines are a little tighter on my M6 but they're still wider than a 40 at infinity.

After a while I modified the lens to bring up the 35 frames since -to me - it seems more like a tight 35 than a loose 50, and I find that shooting just inside the 35mm lines works better than shooting well outside the 50mm lines.. Mike, I'd recommend using the manual frame selector until you are 100% sure which approach works best for you. I'm sure you'll agree that it's worth the trouble of coming to terms with the slightly unusual focal length in order to have a lens this good at this price, or at any price for that matter.

As recommended by a poster on Photonet's Leica forum, the "Tele-Wide" finder that comes with aux. lens set for the Yashica Electro (Can't vouch for the Petri or other lens sets.) is a perfect 40mm finder for about $190 less than the Voigtlander item (Not that it's anywhere as good as the Voigtlander finder, but it works, and the "tele" frame is a good fit for a 75mm).

 

[Palaeoboy]

Palaeoboy: at infinity or at 1m?

The tests dont say but I would presume its at infinity to achieve some overall standard for all lenses as some of them (teles) dont focus down to 1 m.

It should be noted that the CLE Rokkor also recorded a measurement of 39.7mm for its focal length. The Elmar-C and the CLE Rokkor 90mm however recorded different focal lengths.

 

[John Rountree]

I use the 40 mm Rokkor on my M7. I think it is a perfect fit with the 35mm frame lines, if you use the inside area of the lines. In fact I find the accuracy of framing that way very predictable and accurate. Framing is so good I believe I would be disappointed if I was using a 35mm lens.

 

[enochRoot]

i agree fully!