Troll Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 Apparently the first high speed lens for Leica was actually made by Hugo Meyer and adapted to the model A with a screw mount which eventually became the Leica standard mount. Anybody know anything about this lens? I know that it was f:1.5, but don't know what the focal length was. Presumably a lens for 35mm movie cameras, so if it was 50mm it probably didn't cover the whole frame or maybe it was longer? Wonder what the construction was? TIA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic_. Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 http://www.m-camera.com/lm-0035.html http://www.m-camera.com/special.html http://www.m-camera.com/leica-bl.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic_. Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 http://www.m-camera.com/special.html It's about half way down the page, for Japanese Yen 680,000 (or approx. US$6,800). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eliot Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 The only lenses that I'm aware of that were made for the model A Leica (which was a fixed lens camera) were: the 50/3.5 Anastigmat, 50/3.5 Elmax, 50/3.5 Elmar, and 50/2.5 Hektor. All but the Elmar are rare. Hugo-Meyer made some lenses in Leica SM, that could be used on any camera with that thread. But I don't know of one for the model A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eliot Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 One possibility is that the model A camera was converted to a latera model. At the owner's request, Leica frequently converted As to later Cs or Ds, which of course had mounts for interchangeable lenses, and so could be fitted with the Hugo-Meyer. That's just a guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Posted January 31, 2003 Author Share Posted January 31, 2003 "Leica, the First 60 Years," by Rigliatti, p. 42: "As early as 1928 the LEICA I had an 'interchangable' lens. This was a conversion by Meyer who fitted one of their own f:1.5 lenses by means of a screw mount. As far as can be determined they originated the LEICA screw mount. These cameras were advertised from 1928. Other conversions to interchangable lenses are also known." A picture of a Leica with Meyer's f:1.5 lens is shown along with an advertisement on page 43. Price was 39 pounds including camera, lens, and 3 spools of film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eliot Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 Bill. If that were true, the Meyer would have the patent for the Leica SM. But Leica introduced the model C with interchangeable mount in 1931, so either Meyer did not patent the mount or Leica had developed it earlier and waited until 1931 to introduce the camera. It is noted in Lager that some very early lenses from Leica had an a after the serial number (which stood for a German word that meant patent applied for). But if it's in Rogliatti, it's probably true. I have never seen a model A Leica with a Meyer lens attached, but that doesn't mean they're not out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harry_soletsky1 Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 British Journal of Photography Alamanac 1930 has 3 ads of interest. The Leica ad is for the A(p.687). On page 643, there is a A.O.Roth ad for the Meyer Plasmat f1.5 on the Leica. On page 636 in another Roth ad there is a reference to long focal length lenses for the Leica with prices. Some of this was discussed in my article in the Viewfinder Vol 3,#2 p.1. The camera in the ad in the finder (inserted by the viewfinder editor is clearly an A(note the infinity lock). The actual nature of the screw mount is unknown to me but the Meyer adaptation certainly preceeded the introduction of the Leica C. The URLs above refer to a 75mm f1.5 Plasmat which I don't know if it is for that particular screw mount. I own 50 and 75 f1.5 Plasmats that are RF coupled as well as a 150mm Meyer RF coupled. Unfortuneately all these lenses are cloudy so I can't comment of their character. In fact when I obtained the 50mm, I wanted to use it. I sent it to the now gone Professional Camera Repair and they told me they really couldn't do anything with it that made sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yuji_okada Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 Sorry late reply. I just found this article. The answer of the first question is kino-plasmat 1+5/8inch f1.5 lens. If somebody is interested in more, I have the article and photo on september1929 on photo magazine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Posted November 23, 2007 Author Share Posted November 23, 2007 Thanks, Yuji. Always of interest to a Leica fanatic. Too bad the entire article can't be reproduced. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yuji_okada Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 Bill, if you are still interested, the picture of that lens can be seen on my web http://oldlens.com/ and click the kino-plasmat 40mmf1.5 botton. But I say sorry in advance,some explanation is made in Japanese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Posted November 26, 2007 Author Share Posted November 26, 2007 Thanks, Yuji. Very interesting. I had assumed that being a Kino (movie) lens, it would vignette badly on the 24x36 frame. It even does very well with the color on your site. Again, Thanks. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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