I am looking at a second hand Elamrit 21 2.8 that has the serial number 3212327 Upon visiting Erwin Putts web site I noted that there were two versions of this lense with the only apparent difference being the lense hood. Can anyone comment on any other differences in these lenses? Thanks.

-- Richard (richard@designblue.co.uk), July 13, 2001

Answers

We probably need an expert like John Collier for this one, but here is what I think is correct -- please correct me if I'm wrong!

As I understand it, the only difference between the two versions of the 21 Elmarit (f2.8) non-asph, is how close they focused. The earlier version focused all the way down to 16", but de-coupled the RF past 28". Apparently, this created confusion with some users and often resulted in improperly focused images, as the lens didn't stop when the RF stopped. The second (newer) non-asph version focusses only to 28" (like most other modern M lenses) and stops, but of course remains fully RF coupled. I believe both share a filter size of 60mm, but the older version has a different hood arrangement than the newer version. I do not know whether or not the optical formula changed, but in the past Leica has been known to make changes in optical formulas, coatings, etc, and not publish that fact.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), July 13, 2001.

Hmm...I get the feeling Jack is about to touch me for a small loan :-) :-). There were several different focusing mounts for this lens but all had the same optical formula.

The first preproduction version is the ultra ultra rare one with a E49 filter thread which was shown at the initial introduction but has not been seen since. The hood for this lens was numbered 12537 but will not fit the other versions.

The first production version had E60 filter thread and a 12537 hood (same number but did not fit the E49 preproduction lens). It focused to 0.4 metre or 16 inches. The hood bayoneted onto two posts on the lens. The first hoods had two viewfinder cutouts and two mounting slots. Later hoods had four viewfinder cutouts and four mounting slots.

The second production version is exactly the same as the first but only focuses to 0.7 metre or 28 inches.

The third version is different only in that it uses a clip on hood (12543) which has four retactable ears which clip into a groove on the lens.

Sources: Lager (Satorius unfortunately gets things muddled up)

My only disappoint with this lens is that I feel it is priced too high. It is quite common to see them in the $1200US range which is just too close to the 21/2.8 Asph. I think about $200US less would be more reasonable. Now if there was a way I could stuff the Asph optics into the mount which focuses to 0.4 metre....

Cheers,

-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), July 13, 2001.

Thanks for the advise I will be looking at one tommorow for about 1000 dollars which I guess is the right money?

-- Richard (richard@designblue.co.uk), July 13, 2001.

See John, I knew you would be able to clarify this issue for us! Interesting that there are actually 4 variants of this lens, well 3 variants and a phantom anyway.

By the way, if you have a few minutes I've been wanting to ask you about another matter... :-)))

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), July 13, 2001.