Hello - this is one of those history questions!! I've just bought a great condition 35mm f3.5 Summaron M and I'd like some information about its origin - Serial number: 1149661 - maybe someone out there once owned this lens!! Also - how can I locate such information for future reference? I paid around $300 for the lens (approximate equivalent in British Pounds)- without hood or lens cap - is this good? Thank you for your help!

-- Chris Timotheou (nowayout@btinternet.com), June 28, 2001

Answers

Chris,

Your lens was produced in 1957. I had one from 1958, serial number range 156XXXX, in which I paid 175 Dollars for in 1989. Optically it might have been good in its day, but it was not earth shattering. It also seemed to be a bit slower than the indicated f-stop by about one half of a stop at every aperture.

I acquired a f/2.8 Summaron and it was a major improvement.

As far as date information, long before the internet, I bought a "Leica Pocket Book", which has every model of lens and camera as well as serial number date ranges. It is produced by Hove, and is quite inexpensive, which is good because it is updated periodically.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), June 28, 2001.

Sorry... I mis-typed. Your lens is from 1954.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), June 28, 2001.

I used the 3.5 Summaron for several years, and it is very sharp when stopped down. Makes a good landscape lens. I found it to still be very sharp even at its minimum apertures where the newer faster lenses seem to be less than optimal. I also noticed the lens used to underexpose a bit. I too replaced mine with a 2.8 Summaron which is much sharper at the wider apertures.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), June 28, 2001.

Another good 35mm lens for LST is the Nikkor 35mm f:3.5. It is derived from the Leica 35mm Elmar, but coated. There must be a begillion of them around. It has fantastic Bokeh and gives great looking slides, even though it may not measure so well. The 50mm f:2.0 Nikkor is another great LST lens. It is a coated knockoff of the Zeiss Contax Sonnar. Both of these are terrific bargains.

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@home.com), June 28, 2001.

This is what Ghester Sartrius' Identifying Leica Lenses: The Complete Pocket Guide to Buying and Selling Leica Lenses Like an Expert (NY: Amphoto Books, 1999), p 66, says about your lens:

Summaron 35mm f/3.5, 1954-1960
Code: SOONC-M without additional viewfinder, SOONC MW with additional viewfinder for the M3, SOONC MT for the Leica M2 version
Serial numbers: from approx. 1,124,000 to approx. 1,720,000
Units: 20,064 without additional viewfinder, 19,141 with additional viewfinder for the M3
Finish: chrome
Focal length: 35mm
Aperture: f/3.5 - 4 - 5.6 - 8 - 11 - 16 - 22
Lens elements: 6 (in 4 groups)
Angle of view: 64 degrees
Minimum distance: 1 m
Mount: fixed
Viewfinder: SBLOO/12010
Hood: IROOA/12571
Weight: 195 g

The Summaron 35mm f/3.5, in production up to 1946 in the screw-mount version, was produced also in the bayonet-mount version for the M3 from 1954. But these cameras were predisposed for only 50, 90 and 135mm focal lengths and so, for the 35mm, it was necessary to use a supplementary mirror viewfinder SBLOO which was inserted in the accessory shoe. Later, the Summaron 35mm f/3.5 was furnished with an additional special finder (commonly known under the name of "glasses") with which the field of the viewfinder of the M3 was increased to cover the angle of view of the 35mm focal length.

A few hundred units of the lens were produced at a fixed-focus distance, for use with the Leica MD and MDa Post models, developed for use in the reading telepone meters.

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), July 04, 2001.

I have one (#1178552) which I bought for a trip to Mexico during which I didn't want to worry too much about equipment theft etc. I found it very liberating to not have to pamper it. I didn't even use a lens cap. I ground a little off the bayonet flange that sets the rangefinder frames, so that the 35mm frame came up on my m6.

I found it sharp on axis but disappointing towards the edges. In the future I'll take the Summicron

-- john stockdale (jjss@bigpond.net.au), July 05, 2001.

I traded for a Summaron 3.5 about two years ago and have found it to be an excellent all round wide-angle lense. It is small, compact, and very sharp. I use it often with my M6 and traded a 90mm Elmar C for the Summaron. I think it is especially good with color transparence film, especially Provia. The colors are brilliant and realistic. I also have a 3.5 Summaron with the "eyes" which I used with my M3. Another excellent performer and a real bargain at $275.00! Much less expensive that an $800.00 plus used Summicron 35 lense.

-- John Alfred Tropiano (jat18@psu.edu), July 16, 2001.