I recently acquired two Summicrons, the 50 & the 90, with the "-M" designation. What does this mean?--aside from the obvious fact that they are for the M rather than the R. Are they reformulated versions?

-- Peter Hughes (ravenart@pacbell.net), September 19, 2001

Answers

The "M" designation = the bayonet lens-mount for RF Leica's, as opposed to LTM (Leica Thread Mount) for the earlier RF bodies.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), September 19, 2001.

It was just a change in how Leica marks its lenses. I think it appeared in the mid seveties and has no relationship to lens design version. I presume it helps you tell whether you have a R or M lens :-)

Cheers,

-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), September 19, 2001.

I have a feeling it started round about when Leica split up and the camera half moved to Solms, so lenses produced after about 1988 have the M designation. But otherwise the lenses are the same as their pre-M kind, (when they are the same lens), for example, the 50mm Summicron/Summilux, 75 Summilux etc. etc. all became Summicron-M etc.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), September 19, 2001.

My 70th anniversary 90/2.8 (1983) was marked Tele-Elmarit-M.

Cheers,

-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), September 19, 2001.

It started around 1979.

-- Lucien (lucien_vd@yahoo.fr), September 19, 2001.

Do Summicrons made in LTM have the "M" designation? I've never seen it on one...

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), September 19, 2001.

Okay, here it is: "M" meant/means "Meßsucher" or in today's spelling "Messsucher". That is the German word for "Measurement-Seeker", or in plain English, "Viewfinder".

-- Michael Kastner (kastner@zedat.fu-berlin.de), September 20, 2001.

More news: The use of "M" did in fact arrive long after Ms (and all their predecessors) first appeared. This is in fact, yes, due to something that started round about when there was a splitting up. The split-up was however not Leica itself (having moved its camera stuff to Solms), but the split-up of everything concerning their camera bodies and camera lenses themselves (which already were Ms) into Ms and Rs.

-- Michael Kastner (kastner@zedat.fu-berlin.de), September 20, 2001.