50mm summicron LTM question from a novice

<p>-Hello all,<br>

Not a regular here on the RF forums so please be gentle.<br>

I have inserted a a Leica M-3 with a 50mm lens. I have a good handle on the desirability and value range of the camera body—it is a good every-day shooter, not a collector. However, I do have questions about the lens.<br>

The lens: 50mm/f-2.0 Summicron in LTM collapsing mount, S/N1364121. There is a screw-to- bayonet adapter ring on it.<br>

I have seen lenses of this specification offered at $200-$350 on auction sites. I have also seen them at well over $1,000 , but don't know quite why they are so high (or desirable).<br>

Can anyone help me understand this?</p>

<p>The serial number puts this lens as a 1956 model (Summicron Mark I). This lens is part of the Leica legend, many people today prefer the softer contrast of this lens to later models. The price spread is simply due to the fact that lenses like this are 60 years old, they may exhibit wear and tear, particularly scratches (the lens coating was not especially hard) and haze - the lubricant used by Leitz had a tendency to out-gas over time. A $200 lens would certainly need cleaning, it might have so much damage that it is only barely usable, while $1000 and more should get you a lens in at least Exc++ condition (clean glass, very slight signs of use). A Summicron has unique properties BUT Canon Serenars are easier to find cheaper in better condition and I personally enjoy using not only a Serenar but also a Russian Jupiter 3 f1.5 (which has been cleaned and adjusted to work properly with a Leica - I think of it as my "poor man's Summarit" (Leitz's f1.5 lens from the late 40s/early 50s). </p>

<p>Condition and desirability. Although the Summicron design is from from 1949, and nowhere near the stunning characteristics of later renditions, the lens can be used on both earlier bodies using the screw mount (LTM) as well as the later M mount ones with an adapter. According to Puts' Compendium, the first of the 50mm Summicrons was designed to use a rare earth glass (Lanthanum) but had to be recomputed in 1952 to use Schott glass, from which 2 small batches were covertly produced and tested in a Summitar disguise; the 1st batch used a specifically coded batch for 3 elements, and literature suggests that it used Crown glass (SummiKron). The next version (II), which began production in 1956, was still produced in the LTM mount, but its main production was in the new M mount. and due to improved optical characteristics of its redesign became a highly sought after lens.</p>

<p>Non reflective coatings on these lenses are quite soft, and along with the other issues mentioned, so one in very good condition would get a better price. It is a very sharp lens in the centre, but later Summicron lenses are sharper into the corners.<br>

I think I would go for a later version if I was paying 'well over $1,000'. There are now 5 versions. My collapsible LTM is OK and I use it a fair bit. It's a good lens for the M3. </p>

<p>Thanks everyone for that history. I understand the collector's premium on condition and. Setting aside condition (mine is in pretty good shape, but ungraded), it seems that the high-priced examples are said to have that radioactive element. How can this be determined?</p>

<p>You could use a geiger counter to be sure. The Leitz serial numbering system in those days wasn't quite as accurate as it is today, as often pieces which came in for repair/cleaning had parts replaced with whatever they had on hand...often changing serial numbers if the piece had a number on it.</p>

<p>For clues to identifying radioactive vs non-radioactive versions (short of a Geiger counter), check out our previous discussions and a Japanese site with some photos of both:<br>

http://www.photo.net/leica-rangefinders-forum/00djJm<br>

http://www.photo.net/leica-rangefinders-forum/00IUWK<br>

http://www.photo.net/leica-rangefinders-forum/00IiEf<br>

http://www.sky.sannet.ne.jp/seven-ss/camera/summicron50.htm</p>

<p>Don't worry about it (so long as the lens is optically clean, with no scratches or clouding).<br>

I've owned and used every 50mm lens model made by Leica since the early 1950s (Not including the current offerings). My lens of choice is a collapsible Summicron.</p>