was the first generation of 28mm F:2.8 lenses made in Germany or Canada or both

-- tom hipple (elizabethmmg@msn.com), August 31, 2001

Answers

1st generation (1965-72) was made in Wetzlar; second gen (72-78)and 3rd gen (79-93)in Midland, Ont. and current generation in Solms.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), August 31, 2001.

Actually, the first generation of bayonet mount 28/2.8 Elmarit lenses were made in Wetzlar and Canada. The lens design (9 glasses, with protruding rear elements) came from Wetzlar. A few early lenses (SN 206XXXX) (manufacture date 1964) are engraved Weztlar on the front ring and Germany on the barrel. These are relatively rare. The vast majority of these first generation lenses were made in Canada: some of the Leica guidebooks are wrong on this point - for correct information, see Lager Volume II. Further, these first generation lenses, with the protruding rear elements, were actually issued from 1965-1969, since the last SN was 231XXXX. After this, the design was replaced by a retrofocus lens without the protruding rear element, for compatibility with the M5. Note: First generation 28mm lenses do NOT call up the 28mm frame on the M4-P or M6, since their design predates these cameras by many years.

-- Eliot M. Rosen (erosen@lij.edu), August 31, 2001.