Uncommon, Rare, and Collector's Delights.

dexdog said:
An oddball post-WW2 lens, an uncoated 5cm f3.5 Tessar with aluminum barrel and anodized aluminum mount, produced in April 1947. Probably the lightest lens I own, this one is 51gr/1.7 ounces. The post-war 5cm f3.5 "black line" Tessar that was produced around this same time weighs 80g/2.8 ounces, while the pre-war lens constructed of chromed brass weighs 120g/ 4.2 ounces

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In a similar vein here's a 3million also uncoated Sonnar. Partial aluminum / brass construction.
The same is true for this 2.85x LTM Sonnar, which is original to its mount - aka the focus mount has the usual stamped numbers.

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TenEleven said:
Low numbers because it was a transitional lens. Either because Zeiss was using up the remaining nickel plated parts or because they wanted lenses which matched both black and silver Contaxes.

Edit: By the way both the leather-lens cap and the black bakelite and metal rim lens cap in Brians picture (if that's what it is) is also uncommon and sought after by collectors.
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I picked up the 5cm F2 Rigid and a 5cm F2 Collapsible with a Case of Contax filters, hoods, and caps. Also a Contax I fitted case, brochures, etc. no Contax I in it.

 
Voigtlander Nokton for Prominent camera. I think that this one is interesting because of the luxury packaging of the lens and hood. Makes sense, the Prominent was an expensive camera. The little silver disk is the cover for the rear lens element. I bought this 15 years ago or so, in a big box o' Prominent stuff. I knew the lens was in the box, but the hood and filters were a surprise. The hood and filters also have their own fitted leather case lined with blue velvet.

 
The Nokton is pretty to look at, but also works really well on my Sony using a Yeenon adapter with an integral helical (the Nokton lens relied on the camera's helical to focus). This is cool adapter because you can crank it all the way out to make the Nokton a macro lens. Second pic shows adapter at close focus; I can get the nose of the lens about 3.5 inches from the subject. I don't know the magnification factor, but 3 keys on my keyboard fills the frame on the Sony from side to side.

 
The Nokton 50/1.5: I use one on my Nikon S-mount, found an adapter for it for $50 long ago.

The Filters made for the Polaroid 180 fit on the Nokton.
 

Ihagee Auto-Ultrix 127 by Mike Connealy, on Flickr
Not really rare, but unusual to find in working condition and rarer yet to see pictures made with the camera, partly because of the 127 format. It is an interesting example of miniaturization, mostly through scaling down of traditional, large designs. The Ultrix does have some innovative features for its time including a self-erecting lens standard and the optical eye-level finder which was a nice improvement over the tiny reflex viewers on most folders. Some examples have Compur shutters and Tessar or Xenar lenses. Mine has the Pronto shutter and Ihagee Anastigmat lens, but it is quite a nice performer.
 
Brian, I probably have the same adapter, bought it from ebay seller Cupog, from Czech Republic I think. The adapter worked really well on my Contax. It looks exactly like the Viogtlander version that a number of Japanese ebay sellers are offering for $$800 or more.
 
dexdog said:
Voigtlander Nokton for Prominent camera. I think that this one is interesting because of the luxury packaging of the lens and hood. Makes sense, the Prominent was an expensive camera. The little silver disk is the cover for the rear lens element. I bought this 15 years ago or so, in a big box o' Prominent stuff. I knew the lens was in the box, but the hood and filters were a surprise. The hood and filters also have their own fitted leather case lined with blue velvet.

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First of all, this thread is a delight, some VERY nice pieces in here (dexdog's pre-war LTM Sonnar is amazing, first photo I've ever seen of one) and a lot of knowledge condensed on these pages.

The Nokton is a nice lens. I have the same version, with the silver ring around the barrel instead of the black ring on earlier versions. I use it with an Amedeo adapter on my film Leicas. I like it a lot on black and white film, a bit less so on color film due to its warm color cast. I renders quite sharp in the center wide open, with dreamy falloff and of course low contrast. Makes for flattering portraits. The Bokeh can be quite a handful, sharp outlines and some swirl, so you have to be mindful of your background when composing.
 
When I first got the Nokton I was surprised to discover that the knurled ring closest to the nose of the lens was actually the threads for the Voigtlander filters. I think that Ultrix 127 would be a great dog name, kinda like Astro from The Jetsons 😉. Yes, I am really, really old.
 
In keeping with the folders with odd names theme, here is a "SCW PressVan". A triple strut folding camera with a coupled rangefinder. The left knob advances the film the right knob focuses. It has on-camera-body focus like a Plaubel Makina. Automatic film spacing for both film formats. Yes, both! It takes 120 and 35mm film. It has a fold-out sports-finder integrated into the camera. The rear part in the cold shoe can be removed to fit a flash or other accessories.

To top it all off it comes with a very good Pentax 75mm f3.5 lens - when they were still called Asahi Kogaku. Despite its heavy weight it's one of my favorite 120 folders and I have shot it quite a lot. I will admit that I have yet to try shooting 35mm film in it beyond verifying that that does in fact work.

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For the Collector of vintage Nikkor lenses.



My wife bought the Nikon 100 year Anniversary Book.

One of these was not listed in it.

Judging by the SN, not many made.



Several NKT Logos on the exterior, and on the reticule looking through the scope.





It is heavy. As it has NKT Logos, either late 1940s or early 1950s. I do not know much about this Nikon Auto-Collimator, except I saved it from the scrap heap.

https://www.nikon.com/products/industrial-metrology/case_study/measuring/nikon_inst/

Not much online for Nikon auto-collimators. The above shows the 1942 model.
 
Two recent acquisitions, both 135mm lenses.

The first, a Schneider 135mm f3.5 Xenar is not especially rare but boy it is a delight. I just love how these Xenars render. Originally developed, I believe, for medium/ large format cameras they have been factory adapted for 35mm use by the addition of a focusing mount. I now have three of them - in 105mm, 135mm and 180mm. Really nice - and as heavy as lead. The first photo shown below is taken with the 105mm lens of the same design. It has rendering that I identify as being "sharp enough", but soft and rounded too - i.e. "classic" in something of the same style as old Sonnar lenses (though this is a different design). It is just the kind of rendering I really appreciate.

As far as I can make out the second lens is something of a rarity, though not perhaps highly rare. It attracts relatively high prices on eBay. It is a Dallmeyer 135mm f4.5 lens, I think it was originally intended for a Reid or something of that sort or as an outright competitor to the Leica near equivalent - the Hektor 135mm f4.5 . This lens is in LTM mount while the Schneider is in Exacta mount. It is here wearing a Leica hood. Both are excellent performers with high quality build and nice optics.


Cafe Study 29 by Life in Shadows, on Flickr

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Fujinon 3.5cm f2 in LTM. I have owned two of these over the years, kept one, sold the other. This lens was attached to a Canon VI-L that I bought on eBay on 2009. There is an old thread somewhere on RFF where I posted a few pics from this lens, exhibits good sharpness but somewhat low contrast typical of a lot of 1950s lenses.

 
dexdog said:
Fujinon 3.5cm f2 in LTM. I have owned two of these over the years, kept one, sold the other. This lens was attached to a Canon VI-L that I bought on eBay on 2009. There is an old thread somewhere on RFF where I posted a few pics from this lens, exhibits good sharpness but somewhat low contrast typical of a lot of 1950s lenses.
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I think I have the brother of your lens - it can't be more than 2-3 digits away. I like the Fujis rendering. It's not as punchy as the Nikkors but coma is shockingly well controlled for such an old lens. Also it has no detectable distortion, again a rarity among the Japanese wide-superspeeds.The design is rather unique too - a sort of reverse of the design commonly found on speed boosted lenses with the singlet split into two cascading menisci for greater aberration control.
 
Since we had a plenty of entrants from Germany and Japan how about some lens from the United Kingdom. Wrays 'Unilite' - a 50mm f2 lens for their Wrayflex. A speed-streched Xenotar/Biometar type lens that converts the rear doublet of the standard "double gauss" type into a thick strongly curved meniscus reminiscent of the Carl Zeiss Topogon. This specimen here has adapted to Leica M mount by Mr. Miyazaki. The lens is in OK but not amazing condition, the coating is really this amazing electric blue color though, that's not just my phone; I've never seen anything quite like it.

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dexdog said:
I need to sit down and decipher this phrase...😀
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Hah... let me try to explain.


Here's a Canon 50mm f/1.2 super speed lens. The Nikkor 55/1.2 and many other super-speeds follows a similar formula. You can see that not only are the front elements enlarged but also the front single lens has been split up into to consecutive menisci. This allows for greater aberration control.
s43-lens-construction.png

Here's a Nikkor 35/2.5, but I could just as well write Summaron 35/2.5 or Summicron 50/2 (v2) or Zeiss Planar 50/2 etc etc. It's a fairly standard double Gauss design. (Before the pendants crucify me: Of course glass diameters, sizes and curvature would be different - sheesh!)
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And lastly here's the Fujinon 35/2 in LTM. I think it should be clear(er) now.
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TenEleven said:
Hah... let me try to explain.


Here's a Canon 50mm f/1.2 super speed lens. The Nikkor 55/1.2 and many other super-speeds follows a similar formula. You can see that not only are the front elements enlarged but also the front single lens has been split up into to consecutive menisci. This allows for greater aberration control.


Here's a Nikkor 35/2.5, but I could just as well write Summaron 35/2.5 or Summicron 50/2 (v2) or Zeiss Planar 50/2 etc etc. It's a fairly standard double Gauss design. (Before the pendants crucify me: Of course glass diameters, sizes and curvature would be different - sheesh!)


And lastly here's the Fujinon 35/2 in LTM. I think it should be clear(er) now.
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Thanks! I was going to do an internet search for the design of the Fuji lens, but you made that un-necessary. So, the Fuji is a modified double gauss design with the rear element replaced by two lenses.
 
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