Leica LTM Where is the Elmar magic?

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
According to a list I downloaded some time ago:

Elmar 50mm 1935

Summaron 35mm 1955

Elmar 90mm 1956


Hence, unless the 50mm was coated after manufacturing, it should be an uncoated lens as others have suggested.

Jim N.
 
The Summaron is coated so make consecutive pictures on one roll to see. Move in closer with the Summaron.

The difference will be the dark tones are not as dark, the light ones not as bright, and any over exposed areas will have less detail. Color intensitity is less.

Turn down the contrast and color saturation on your TV to see it real time.

The big jump is from non coated to coated and then a smaller step to multicoating.
 
Andy, another consideration is lighting of the particular subjects. If you're doing long
or medium shots with the sun behind you, the characteristics you're after will never
show, especially if the exposure calls for small apertures. Try some tighter shots with
side or back lighting, then look not only at the main subject in the final print, but check the area of transition from in-focus to gradually more out of focus. Try to avoid
stopping down any farther than f/8 or f/9, as the case may be. The comments about
quickie commercial processing are essentially correct, but with care in the use of
light the glow*will* show up, even on the machine prints. And if ever in doubt
about exposure, crank it up--it's nearly impossible to completely overexpose modern
negative films. No human eye can tell the difference between "correct" exposure and one stop over--that's how broad the latitude is.

Fred
 
yossarian said:
Andy, another consideration is lighting of the particular subjects...
Fred
Click to expand...
Fred, thanks a bunch for the advice. I've already reloaded with Tmax 400, pre-cut a few more rolls and will shoot 'till I get it right (the family is considering a vacation w/out me 🙂).
 
Being uncoated, your Elmar will have lower contrast than a coated lens. But not dramatically, since the Elmar is a very simple lens, with four elements in three groups. That means that there are four peices of glass, and two are glued together. Each air-to-glass interface causes a loss of light and contrast, so there are six such surfaces in the Elmar.

Coated lenses with more than 3 groups will have more reduction in contrast due to lack of coating.

Coating doesn't increase sharpness, just contrast, and a little more light transmission.
 
akptc said:
Sorry Fred... btw, the seller just emailed me, said the bag was in pristine condition 😉
Click to expand...

"Pristine" you say....that word....you are possessed, aren't you? He got inside you
and is using you for all his nefarious plots. The only way for you to save your soul
is to send me the accursed bag. Otherwise, your every thought, every move will be
under his misanthropic control. It's dangerous for me, but I must do this for you
Andy--it's your only way out.
 
John, thank you for the info. I've ordered a few books, including " Leica: Witness to a Century", the "Leica Pocket Book", and the "The New Leica manual:...", in hopes of educating myself a bit more. I must say I enjoyed reading "The Leica M" book, so these new ones should be a treat as well.


Fred, so kind of you to offer your spiritual help (i.e. to spirit away my new pristine Caontax G bag 🙂). I will think about it.... nope, I am keeping the bag, curses be damned 🙂) You can have the pick of my pre-Ford-era system bags though...
 
Remember, the old prewar Elmar 50/3.5 was THE LENS that made 35mm photography a feasible proposition. High resolution optics are needed to get reasonable prints from such a small film area.

That it seems barely different from much more modern lenses is quite a credit to the achievement Leitz made in the 1920's with this lens! The Elmar only improved over time - if you can handle the slower speed, its certainly a first-class lens, as are any of the myriad of 4/3 Zeiss Tessar type designs.
 
Mike Kovacs said:
... That it seems barely different from much more modern lenses is quite a credit to the achievement Leitz made in the 1920's with this lens!...
Click to expand...
- Which Leica lens would be the modern incarnation of the Elmar 50/3.5?
 
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