We often hear of some
astonishing amounts of money that some rare, collectible examples of Leicas and
other cameras have been sold for. While that
is rather impressive, it is of little value for many photographers that are
looking for a bargain to augment their camera outfits and even collections.
This is where many of the
camera trade fairs come into play, events where cameras, lenses and accessories
are sold, traded, and bartered, often at bargain prices. One such camera fair happens with regularity
in Solms, the former seat of the Leica headquarters in Germany.
José Manuel Serrano
Esparza visited the latest Solms camera fair and gracefully agreed to have portions
of his report published on the LEICA Barnack Berek Blog.
SOLMS CAMERA FAIR:
PARADISE FOR USERS, COLLECTORS AND TRADERS OF CLASSIC PHOTOGRAPHIC GEAR
By José Manuel Serrano
Esparza
Twenty-two years after its
foundation in 1994 by Lars Netopil, the Solms Camera Fair held at the
Taunushalle (Taunus Hall) of this city of the Land of Hessen (Germany), located
at around 80 km from Frankfurt, has turned into one of the most important
photographic fairs of classic and vintage cameras, lenses and accessories in the
world, as well as a twice a year landmark international event within its scope,
by dint of a great effort fulfilled by a number of professional exhibitors from
both Germany and many other countries of the globe, sharing a love for their
trade and a passion for this type of top-notch stuff featuring an amazing level
of mechanical and optical technology, along with second to none standards of
reliability, duration in time working flawlessly for many decades and a
timeless beauty.
An attendee to the Solms
Camera Fair looking over a Leica M3 with a 4 elements in 3 groups Elmar 50 mm
f/2.8 lens in bayonet mount.
The Leica M3 is the best
rangefinder camera ever made along with the Nikon SP, and with difference the
best choice to attach it standard 50 mm lenses thanks to its extraordinary
0.92x magnification viewfinder and an effective rangefinder base of 63.71 mm.
On its turn, the Elmar 50
mm f/2.8 (manufactured between 1957 and 1954) is an exceedingly small and light
(220 g) retractable lens with a superb entirely metallic (chromed brass)
mechanical construction, excellent correction of distortion and vignetting to
negligible levels, and features a circular 15 blade diaphragm resulting in an
exquisite and smooth bokeh at full f/2.8 aperture, though its sweeting spots
are at f/4 and f/5.6, where both sharpness and contrast are excellent (the latter
being particularly better than at f/2.8).
Front top area of the
Leica M3 where we can see the window of its 0.92x viewfinder (on far right,
providing the main image for the VF and being combined with the bright-line
frames, the rangefinder metering field and the LED indicators), the brightline
illumination window (in the middle, gathering ambient light to produce in the
VF the brightline frames for lenses of different focal lengths) and the
rangefinder window (on far left, providing the image for the very bright
rangefinder metering field).
Sixty-two years after its
launching into market in 1954, the Leica M3 keeps on boasting the best
viewfinder made in the world hitherto (far superior to the cream of the crop of
current digital professional cameras with different sensor formats in the
reflex and mirrorless scope alike), followed by the top-notch viewfinders of
the also analog cameras Nikon SP, Olympus OM-1, Leica R8 and Leica R9.
A first-rate service and
painstaking attention paid to the customers — one of whom can be seen in the
background, telling by ear the accuracy of a Leica M shutter, in the purest
Peter Loseries style —
(who are allowed to
thoroughly check the correct and full operating state of the items together
with their cosmetic appearance) as top priority for exhibitors, along with a
craving for offering highly competitive prices, make up a very interesting
additional bonus for the visitors, who in increasing numbers have gathered at
the Solms Taunushalle (venue of this one of a kind relishing rendezvous for any
enthusiast of analogue photographic equipment) for more than two decades.
An early black painted screwmount
uncoated Leitz Hektor 135 mm f/4.5 lens (manufactured betwen 1933 and 1960)
featuring 4 elements in 3 groups, built-in tripod bush and a chrome focusing
scale being observed by a visitor. It delivers a great bokeh thanks to its
15-blade circular diaphragm.
As a matter of fact, the
very recent Solms Camera Fair held on November 26th, 2016 has been an
outstanding success, with 100 exhibitors from a number of countries (Germany,
United Kingdom, France, Japan, United States, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Spain
and others) and around 500 attendees who arrived at the Solmser Fotobörse not
only from Germany but also from worldwide to have unforgettable experiences and
acquire top quality cameras, lenses and accessories.
In this regard, the Solms
Camera Fair embodies the trait that has traditionally turned these classic
photography professional sphere events celebrated in Germany into world class
encounters:
the very good condition
(often in A/B, near mint or mint condition and perfect functioning to get
pictures at every diaphragm and shutter speed) of a high percentage of the
articles on sale, not only Leica ones (though the legendary German photographic
firm is the core of the fair) but also from other prestigious brands in the
History of Photography like Nikon, Canon, Zeiss Ikon, Ihagee Exaktas,
Voigtländer, Rollei, Mamiya, Minox, Kodak, Hasselblad, Zenza Bronica, Alpa,
Olympus, Pentax, VEB Pentacon Dresden Prakticas, Linhof and many others.
The presence of visitors
from Far East was very abundant during the Solmser Fotobörse November 26th,
2016. Here we can see a Chinese collector and great enthusiast of classical
cameras and lenses gleaning information on a black early Leitz Summarex 8,5 cm
f/1.5 lens from 1943.
Summicron-M 50 mm f/2
fourth version (manufactured between 1979 and 1994) and sports the same optical
formula as the Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 Fifth Version (1994-2013).
It is one of the greatest
feats in the history of photographic lenses.
Featuring 6 elements in 4
groups and 8 blades, it was designed by Walter Mandler at the Ernst Leitz
Canada factory in Midland, Ontario, managing to reduce the weight (195 g) in
comparison to the 6 elements in 4 groups and 10 blades 3rd version (200 g),
beating the resolution of the Summicron Rigid 50 mm f/2 (1956-1968) and
simultaneously improving the contrast a great deal, doing it without any
aspherical or floating elements, reducing the manufacturing cost by means of
the use of flint glass in the first bigger element in addition to other
elements inside the objective in synergy with the last two elements made of top
class high index lanthanum glasses, keeping the doublets cemented (taking
advantage of the mechanical design advantage that their mounting means),
applying common radii all over the lens to foster the use of a very low figure
of grinding and polishing manufacturing tools to a limit of four, and
stretching the classic Double Gauss scheme to its feasible scientific and
physical boundaries, according to the parameters set forth in his mythical
dissertation Über die Berechnung einfacher Gauss-Objective at Giessen
University (Germany) in 1979.
Metabones Leica M to E
Mount adapter. Built according to very high levels of mechanical quality,
precision and noble metals, it makes possible to take advantage of the superb
full frame 24 x 36 mm CMOS sensors (boasting 24, 37 and 42 megapixels,
depending on the model) of the Sony A7 series cameras coupled to the Leica M
lenses featuring great luminosity and excellent opto-mechanical performance,
making up a very compact binomium able to deliver impressive image quality
along with possibilities of enlargements to king sizes without picture
degradation. It features a flocked interior to eliminate any possible flare and
focuses flawlessly to infinity.
Through Leica M adapters,
this tiny lens has proved its great symbiosis with professional digital
cameras, both in the 24 x 36 mm format
(Sony A7, A7II, A7R, A7RII, A7S, A7SII, Leica M9, Leica M, Leica M
Monochrom and others), APS-C (Fujifilm XT-1, Fujifilm XT-2, Fujifilm X-Pro 1,
Fujifilm X-Pro 2, Fujifilm XE-1, Sony NEX-5, Sony NEX-6, Sony NEX-7, Samsung NX
series) and Micro 4/3 ones (Olympus OM-D E-M1, Olympus OM-D EM-5, Olympus OM-D
EM-5 Mark II, Olympus PEN-F, Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH4, Panasonic Lumix DMC-G7,
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8), delivering superb image quality, even at maximum f/2
aperture, with high contrast and crisp detail on almost the entire picture
area, in an stunningly compact and light combo resulting in very comfortable
handheld shooting throughout many decades of intensive use, thanks to its
first-rate mechanical construction.
Needless to say that coupled
to analog rangefinder 24 x 36 mm format Leica M cameras like the Leica M3,
Leica M2, Leica M6, Leica M7, etc, it also renders extraordinary results with
chemical b & w and colour films alike, having traditionally excelled among
others with the Kodak Tri-X 400.
Novoflex Leica R to Leica
M adapter. Made in Germany. This long standing firm has always excelled in its
products, and its adapters are not an exception: made with painstaking workmanship,
peerless accuracy and choosing the best available metals, enabling utter
accuracy at infinity focus and featuring the 6-bit coding.
Leica M7 Test Camera from
Belgium. Its main difference with respect to vast majority of M series 24 x 36
mm format analog rangefinder models boasting mechanical escapement was that it
pioneered the autoexposure in aperture priority mode, id est, the photographer
sets manually the aperture on the lens and the camera chooses the shutter
speed.
Therefore, the shutter of
the Leica M7 (redesigned with two different levels of pressure: one to lock the
automatic exposure reading and the other one to release the shutter) is
electronically controlled, though the mechanically operated speeds of 1/60 s
and 1/125 s have been preserved to be able to keep on getting pictures if the
battery fails.
Launched in 2002 by Leica
Camera AG, it can be considered an evolution of the Leica M6 TTL (they´re
almost identical in look), and as a matter of fact, the exceedingly reliable
and quiet cloth focal plane shutter inherent to the analog Leica M breed of
cameras goes on being essentially the same, and only the speed control
mechanism is electronic, though Leica made a commendable effort with the
viewfinder of the M7, which is clearer, more brilliant and more contrasty than
the excellent VF of the Leica M6 TTL.
The Leica M7 includes more
than a thousand components and its assembly takes approximately 16 hours, with
a further thorough calibration of the viewfinder on a measuring bench.
Needless to say that the
manufacturing methods and technologies to make this camera (in the same way as
the rest of analog Leica M models) are state-of-the-art, with all the metallic
pieces being put together mostly by hand by highly skilled and experience
employees, in synergy with CNC controlled milling machines and highly complex
mechanisms like the ones featured by the mask frames whose bright-lines for the
chosen focal lengths are reflected into the viewfinder, with different
positions of them with respect each other, so variously sized windows are
generated and a pair of luminous frames is visible at the same time.
Leitz Focomat Ic 35 mm
enlarger, a masterpiece of German engineering. This fabulous and very sturdy
device exuding a highly appealing retro look was manufactured between 1950 and
1977. Built like a tank to endure a lot of decades of hard professional use, it
still works like a charm well within the XXI Century and will provide great
satisfaction to its owners, particularly the enthusiasts of black and white.
Entirely made of metal and
wood of the highest leve, it was the common choice of the foremost illustrated
magazines and newspapers worldwide (id est, it became the photographic industry
standard for 24 x 36 mm format in contexts where maxium feasible image quality
and speed of operation were of utmost significance) during the second half of
XX Century.
Both the Leitz Elmar 5 cm
f/3.5 and the Leitz Focotar 50 mm f/4.5 (enlarging lenses that can be used with
the Focomat Ic, in addition to the Focotar 40 mm f/2.8 originally created for
the Leica Focomat V35 enlarger, Schneider Componon-S 50 mm f/2.8, EL-Nikkor 50
mm f/2.8 and others) get superb image quality in synergy with the stalwartness
and precision of the overall mechanism, the simplicity, elegance and smoothness
of the whole device, the top-of-the-line Leitz condenser and the impressive
quality of light source (being born in a large domed housing half of which has
a matt semi-silvered inner area and is directed onto the negative via the
single focusing condenser, which simultaneously acts as a pressure plate)
resulting in a praiseworthy balance between very enhanced sharpness and
tonality (though dust specks, scratches and negative defects will have to be
more painstakingly removed than with diffuser enlargers) which has been of
invaluable help for many of the best printers in the world (having also been
extensively used by world-class photographers like Jane Evelyn Atwood),
specially in the black and white sphere.
But albeit buying this
true engineering tour de force profesional 35 mm enlarger can currently often
be a bargain compared to the steep prices it reached throughout its halcyon
days, it is very important to previusly check the condenser condition
(specially the bottom area landing on the film, which mustn´t have any
scratches or nicks) before making any purchase.
Upper view of a Leitz
Wetzlar 90 mm f/4 lens head on a OUAGO/16467 focusing adapter for use with
Leica Visoflex II or Visoflex III reflex boxes. It was manufactured between
1959 and 1983.
Lateral view of the same 3
elements in 3 groups Leitz Wetzlar 90 mm f/4 lens head on a OUAGO/16467 focusing
adapter in Leica M bayonet for use with Leica Visoflex II or Visoflex III and
enabling the focusing from 1 meter to infinity.
This combination is a
masterpiece of German optical and mechanical expertise and its cosmetic
appearance can only be defined as exceptional, enhanced by the painstakingly
accurately made scalloped focusing ring and the amazing machining precision of
the Visoflex helical focusing mount of the OUAGO adapter.
It delivers a first-class
image quality (very sharp, with good contrast and great colour rendition) even
to today standards, both with analog and digital cameras, and its exquisite
focusing smoothness, small size (length of only 3.5 cm, diameter of 5.9 cm) and
low weight (174 g) turns it into a very interesting choice for Full HD and 4K
recordings.
Top and upper front areas
of a Leica M2 in near mint condition.
This is one of the most
representative models of the M lineage of rangefinder cameras.
On the lower half of the
image can be seen from left to right: the window of the rangefinder, the
luminous frame-lines for 35, 50 and 90 mm lenses and the viewfinder.
Manufactured between 1958
and 1967, the utterly mechanical Leica M2 features a 0.72x magnification
vewfinder designed by Willi Keiner in early fifties and optimized for its use
with highly luminous 35 mm lenses — with specific bright-line frames — , the
most widely used in photojournalism, so it greatly fostered this photographic
genre during late fifties and the decade of sixties through the synergy between
the photojournalist´s know-how, acquired sense of anticipation and the
advantage of using a 35 mm format mirrorless Leica rangefinder camera featuring
a crystal clear 0.72x magnification direct optical viewfinder integrated with
the rangefinder boasting an effective base length of 49.32 mm.
It all enables the
photographer to see exactly what is happening while pressing the shutter
release button at the moment in which the image is imprinted on the chemical
emulsion (unlike a reflex camera in which the sight is lost when the mirror´s
up) and composing in a geometrical way, with the added bonus of the exceedingly
silent noise brought about by the mechanical shutter of the M2 and its
amazingly short 12 ms shutter lag, all of these aspects being insrumental to
hold sway over the control of te moment and get the pictures.
It is important to say
that though the Leica M3 manufactured between 1954 and 1966 has been the best
Leica M ranfinder camera ever made (with an exceptionally accurate RF —
designed by Willi Keiner, Heinrich Schneider and Erich Mandler — made up by
more than 150 high-precision parts, entirely made of top-notch glass and whose
0.92x viewfinder magnification effect on the effective measuring base delivered
by far the greatest accuracy ever attained with 50 mm, 90 mm and 135 mm
lenses), its production cost was very high, so the Leica M2 turned into a more
affordable alternative, and the Leica M2 design style has defined the
appearance of every Leica model since 1958, both in the analog and digital era,
including the Leicas M9, M9-P, M Monochrom and M10.
One of the diachronic
prides of the German photographic industry: the exquisite Leica CM manual
compact camera for 24 x 36 mm format film, produced between 2004 and 2006, a benchmark
of design and craftsmanship.
It was created by the
Berlin Art University and member of the German Design Council Achim Heine,
whose constructive keynote was to achieve a great compact camera excelling at
its contours profile, stemming from plenty of handmade manufacture and fitted
to a superb 6 elements in 4 groups 40 mm f/2.4 lens noticeably improved through
multicoatings at the forefront of technology.
To properly grasp the
qualitative and visionary gist of this camera, suffice it to say that its
viewfinder display was built using the Leica M7 VF as a reference, and all the
significant functions can be operated while looking through the viewfinder.
Moreover, the camera body
is made of solid titanium surrounded by a leather cover in two thirds of its
front, lateral and back area.
Visoflex II and III OTVXO
simple 5x magnifier 16461 vertical in its original box.
It is a finder with
focusing eyepiece for the compensation of visual defects within the range of +
1.75 to - 2.5 dioptres.
The superb mechanizing of
the metallic anodized surfaces and the top fluted chromed round area along with
the outstanding accuracy of the Leitz Wetzlar Germany letters speak volumes
abour the thoroughness with which the legendary German photographic firm makes
things.
Number 3 of VIDOM, the
great magazine of the Leica Historica e.V Deutschland. This lavish illustrated
publication started some decades ago as a small black and white bulletin with
few pages to subsequently become the worldwide reference-class editorial item
in its scope, featuring 80 colour pages with top quality paper, gorgeous
photographic quality of images and extraordinary articles written by recognized
experts in the Leica brand like Dr. B. Bawendi, Lars Netopil, Stefan Thonesen,
Herbert Mouget, Knut Kühn Leitz, Hans P. Rajner, Claus Walter, Dieter Dosin,
Michel Specklin, Ottmar Michaely, Georg Mann, Carsten Schouler, Jerzy Wasowicz,
Axel Rosswog, Hans-Günther von Zydowitz, Wolfgang Sauer, Alexander Decker,
Norbert Oertel, Marc Hoch, Georg Steinmetz, Olaf Nattenberg, Dr. Heinz-Georg
Nordmann, Dirk Daniel Mann, Rolf Adam, Walter Michel, Ulrich Möller and others.
On the right of the image
you can see the silver metallic cylinder with ball and socket head set of a
Leica tabletop tripod, which provides effective stability with low speed shots
under 1/15 s and has three robust extending legs (out of image).
It is a sturdy and compact
very high quality item made of aluminum and can be easily set up in a wide
range of places.
Leitz Visoflex II reflex
housing for Leica M rangefinder cameras.
It fits on any Leica M
rangefinder camera like an interchangeable lens.
With the Leitz Visoflex
System Leica tried to enhance the versatility of its RF cameras by adding a
mirror housing, turning them into a kind of SLR models provided with ground
glass viewing and focusing inserted between the camera body and either special
short Viso mount lenses or the lens heads of different rangefinder coupled
objectives, as well as enabling the use of long focal length objectives.
Manufactured between 1959
and 1962, the machining and finish of the anodized metallic surfaces is
first-string in the same way as its smart appearance, with a painstaking manual
grinding work until getting those admirable rounded contours, particularly on
its upper area.
On middle top of the image
you can see the release lever of the Leitz Visoflex II mirror reflex housing,
milled with utmost care and thouroughness, in the purest " Made in
Germany" style and perfection.
The distance between this
release lever and the camera release button must be approximately 1 mm to make
sure that the mirror always swings out of the way before the shutter runs down,
even when releasing quickly.
It weighs 480 g and sports
an optical depth of 40 mm.
On top left of the image:
Leitz Entfernungsmesser " Fokos" in its original box.
This type of attachable
rangefinder was introduced in 1933 with a short base of 7.5 cm for horizontal
mounting on the Leica Standard, subsequently being manufactured in eight
different versions, all of them giving a good approximation of the zone focus.
You must use the window
beside the wheel for focusing, and there is a bright circle in the middle
showing two images, which will eventually coincide on turning the wheel, and if
the photographer doesn´t see the bright circle at first, he should move his /
her eye position to reveal it.
Under it there´s an E.
Leitz Wetzlar 35-135 mm Universal Viewfinder VIOOH Lyre Shape.
This viewfinder replaced
the VIDOM and was introduced at the Leipzig Fair in 1940, being taller and
shorter than its one prism predecessor.
It has two prisms in the
eyepiece, so that the image is both upright and right way round, not being
necessary to rotate the eyepiece to get upright pictures.
In addition, it is fitted
with a parallax adjustment lever.
It was the Leitz universal
finder until 1962/1963.
Leitz Hektor 135 mm f/4.5
in Leica M bayonet mount showing its socket for tripod. Manufactured between
1954 and 1960, it has 4 elements in 3 groups. It is a long lens design with non
rotating lens head during focusing and click-stop diaphragm.
It features a 15 blades
circular diaphragm, so its bokeh is splendid, but its optical formula is
optimized for portraits at f/4.5 and f/5.6, so on shooting at those two widest
apertures the center is sharp but the performance in borders and corners varies
between blurred and soft.
Its mechanical
construction is superb, with an awesome cosmetic appearance in the satin chrome
of most of its barrel and the vulcanite of its lower third, albeit it is a very
prone to flare lens and a shade should be permanently used.
Anyway, for contexts not
belonging to the portrait domain (in which it can excel in the hands of an
experienced photographer knowing what he´s doing), this lens isn´t a top class
choice at all for other manifold contexts, because of its lack of sharpness at
the two largest apertures, rendering of dull colors, low contrast and the
aforementioned proclivity to flare, though the possibility to couple it to a
number of digital cameras in different formats with which photographers can get
pictures shooting handheld stopping down between f/8-f/11 at high and very high
sensitivities between ISO 800 and 3200 without noise (avoiding shake pictures
and preserving very good quality of image thanks to the state-of-the-art
sensors), has fostered its versatility,
and a certain revival of this lenshas taken place during recent years,
although best results will be obtained doing portraiture at f/4.5 and f/5.6.
Nevertheless, the 4
elements in 4 group Leitz Elmar 135 mm f/4 (manufactured between 1960 and 1965)
is a much better alternative as an all-around performer, because of its far
superior sharpness at all apertures and its top-drawer 12 blades diaphragm, so
it´s a keeper in terms of optical performance, image quality attain and
achieved results in portraiture, as well as having a price tag often turning it
into a bargain.
One of the highlights of
the Solms Camera Trade Fair: a Summilux-M 50 mm f/1.4 ASPH black chrome edition
with scalloped focusing ring. Only 500 units of this coveted lens were made,
resembling the first non aspherical type of this lens from 1959
It features 8 elements in
5 groups, one aspherical surface (in the fourth element), one floating group
and exceedingly small dimensions (length of 52.5 mm with largest diameter of
53.5 mm) and weight (335 g) for its high luminosity and stratospheric
performance, it is by far in practical handheld photography the best standard
50 mm lens with f/1.4 maximum aperture created until now in the world in terms
of resolving power, contrast and awesome uniformity of performance at every
diaphragm, including f/1.4 and f/2.
6 elements in 4 groups
Leitz Wetzlar Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 Third Version.
It is a very interesting
lens created by Walter Mandler in Midland, Ontario, Canada, as a derivative if
its 6 elements in 4 groups and 290 g Summicron-R 50 mm f/2 for Leicaflex
cameras, having beeen produced both in Wetzlar (Germany) and Midland, Ontario
(Canada).
It has a weight of 200 g,
a 10 blades diaphragm, minimum focusing distance of 0.7 m and delivers an
excellent image quality in which top priority was to get the best feasible
contrast and sharpness in the center, at the cost of slightly reducing the
resolving power rendered by the previous 1st and 2nd versions of the
Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 giving medium contrast and higher resolution which were
the best choice for black & white photographers.
The Summicron-M 50 mm f/2
Third Version (manufactured both in Germany and Canada) meant a transitional
turning point in the history of the Leica M traditional flagship lens par
excellence, since it was by Walter Mandler, who with his well-known tremendous
optical background, exceedingly comprehensive knowledge of the different
optical glass types, an impressive insight and an outstanding grasping of the
photographic market circumstances, realized that Leica needed a top-notch
quality standard 50 mm f/2 lens optimized for micro contrast and colour film.
And he clearly achieved
that goal with this lens, which within time would turn into the technological,
mechanical and optical launching platform for the future masterpiece non
aspherical 6 elements in 4 groups Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 Fourth Version
(manufactured between 1979 and 1994, and featuring identical optical formula to
the Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 Fifth Version made between 1994 and 2014), that would
reign supreme as benchmark of optical and mechanical quality for 34 years until
the introduction of the stratopsheric Apo-Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 ASPH in 2013.
Walter Mandler
accomplished the amazing optical feat of taking the Summicron-M 50 mm f/2
Double Gauss formula without any aspherical or floating elements whatsoever to
the scientific boundaries of the physically possible (the margin for improving
the optical performance of this non aspherical scheme is exceedingly small, as
proved by Peter Karbe in thorough research made by him between 1989 and 1991
which proved that going beyond Mandler´s " Uber die Berechnung einfacher
Gauss-Objektive " 1979 Doctoral Dissertation at Giessen University was
virtually an exhausted way, since the driving force of Ernst Leitz Midland,
Ontario, Canada had drawn most of its potential to practical effects, with a
continuous sagittal red line of contrast for 10 lp/mm geting a value of 92% in
the center, 72% in the borders and 54 % in the corners, along with a tangential
discontinuous red line with a value of 92% in the center, 86% in the borders
and 80% in the corners, in addition to having achieved simultaneous stellar
values of contrast (superior in this regard to the Summicron-M 50 mm f/2
Version 3 from 1969) and resolution (similar to the Summicron DR Type 2 from
1956).
The current Head of Optics
Development at Leica Camera AG and best optical designer in the world managed
to improve Mandler´s 1979 non aspherical Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 optical formula
with his non aspherical 8 elements
Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 Version 6th 1989-1991 Project, increasing its contrast
value for 40 lp/mm over 50% at f/2 on the whole image surface, and at the same
time raising the ability of detail and nuances capturing at such widest
aperture, likewise solving the lack of suitability of highly refractive optical
glasses to correct colour aberrations using special kinds of glasses featuring
anomalous partial dispersion in the elements 1 and 2, keeping intact the very
small size and exceedingly light weight of Mandler´s Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 with
only 4 mm more of focal length than it and an optical formula whose elements
located in front of the diaphragm resembled the ones sported by Mandler´s Summicron-M
50 mm f/2, while the ones placed behind it would follow the scheme of the
Summilux-M 35 mm f/1.4 Asph, reaching an amazing contrast value of 75% at 40
lp/mm in the image center and adjacent areas and more than 50% on the corners,
supported by its great colour correction.
But once more, Walter
Mandler´s visionary grasping of the affordable manufacturing costs limits
according to the market context proved to be decisive, and the Summicron-M 50
mm f/2 Version 6 with eight elements was finally abandoned because of its very
high production cost and lack of commercial feasibility.
Not in vain, to begin
with, Walter Mandler priority was based on an integral philosophy of cost
reduction without losing any optical and mechanical quality (even slightly
improving them), avoiding the use of the expensive LaK9 glass — replacing it
with an exceedingly skillful combination of flint glass elements — and only two
types of optical glasses, of which just one (with a refractive index of 1.8)
was special and expensive, coming from the Leitz Glass Laboratory.
Mandler could do it with a
host of ingenuity, experience and tricks of himself: he applied common radiii
throughout the Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 1979 Fourth Version 1979 lens, reduced to
four the number of sets of grinding and polishing tools, made identical the
first and last surfaces of the lens, in the same way as the outside convex
surfaces of both doublets and their inner surfaces, while devising different
different diameter, thickness and glass types for those doublets, whose
cemented mounting was a mechanical design advantage, significantly dropping the
cost of machining and lens elements centering as well as succesfully avoiding
internal reflections, glare and flare, in addition to exhibit an stunning
optical performance, resolving 40 lp/mm at 60% contrast across the film
diagonal.
Another of the most
significant mainstays of the Solms Camera Trade Fair is the vast array of
illustrated magazines, books, brochures, instruction manuals, booklets and all
kind of photographic literature on sale at very affordable prices, particularly
related to the Leica firm.
In this regard, attendees
can often find numbers of vintage magazines like Curt Emmermann´s Die Leica
(edited between 1931 and 1942), Leica Photography (with samples dating back to
thirties), Leica World ( directed by Hans-Michael Koetzler) and other ones
being more modern like Viewfinder, LFI, M, S, the Japanese Camera Magazine and
others.
Here, on the left of the
image, we can see the 1960 book Leica und Leica-System, dealing on the
photographic experiences and know-how with Leica gear gained throughout years
by its author Theo M. Scheerer, who appears on the cover holding a Leica M2
with a Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 Rigid Type 2 (manufactured between 1956 and 1968) featuring
a scalloped focusing ring.
It is a great 186 pages
work published by Umschau Verlag in 1960 and providing any Leica enthusiast
with lavish information on all kind of aspects related to the German
photographic firm at the time along with his enlightening proficiency on the
Leica M System and its virtues.
On the right of the image, out of focus, can be
seen an original Leitz Wetzlar box with a 16499P viewfinder for Visoflex III
inside it.
Please note: This article is substantially more extensive, covering not only Leica but many other camera manufacturers as well.
For the complete article
by José Manuel Serrano Esparza please go here.
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Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography
Click on image to enlarge
Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography
Click on image to enlarge
Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography
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