After reading the thread about old vs. new 50mm Summicrons, especially John Collier's response, I became curious about which Summicron I have. It is rigid, not Dual-Range, and came on a very usable user M3 which I bought last spring. The serial number of the lens is 1950897. It seems sharp, but low in contrast. It does not appear to have fog, fungus, or any significant cleaning marks. It has the focusing tab with infinity lock.

The serial number of the M3 body which came with it is 1072144.

Any help with this would be appreciated.

-- Dave Jenkins (djphoto@vol.com), January 27, 2001

Answers

Dave,

Your lens is a basic rigid Summicron from 1962. The next announced upgrade was the black model from 1969. There were a few cosmetic changes during the run of you model lens, (aperture ring shape and scalloping), but the optics were supposedly unchanged until the black model in '69.

Your M3 was from 1963.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), January 27, 2001.