50mm Summicron Serial Numbers

• Order nos. - 11218-chrome 11228-black . LLC - 121
• Production era - 1964-1976 black; 1964-1966 200 chrome < 95,647 lenses
• Variants - 1-cam, 2-cam, 3-cam; red scale (early), yellow scale (after 1967), black and chrome versions
• Note - The chrome finish was made for the Leicaflex. About 200 were made, and once it was found that the finish could reflect extraneous light in to the meter cell, this finish was discontinued in favor of black. chaos '06
• Number of lenses /groups - 6 / 5
• F stop range - f/2 - f/16
• Closest focusing distance - 50 cm / 1.64 ft
• Smallest object field -
• Diaphragm setting /type - 6-blade
• Angle of view diagonal - 45 degrees
• Filter type - Series VI + 14160
• Accessories - Hood: 12564 - Close focusing attachment: ELPRO - Macro extension tube (3-piece combination): 14139 - Filter ring: 14160
• Materials -
• Dimensions (length x diameter) - 38.5 x 63 mm / 1.52 x 2.48 in
• Weight - 680 g /1.50 lb
• Inscription - SUMMICRON-R 1:2/50 LEITZ CANADA (or WETZLAR) 2XXXXXX
• Designer - Walter Mandler

Summicron R 50mm Serial Numbers

50mm f/2 Summicron-M. From Leica Wiki (English) Jump to: navigation., search. 11819-black, 11826-black, 11825-silver, 11816-silver, 11624-titan, 11619-silver (S), 11615-silver-50yr.

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• On the street - €EU 780 chrome, 188 black, in 2008
• Reviews
• Forum discussion

50mm f/2 Summicron-M Serial Numbers. SN Start SN End Product Year Total 2909101: 2913100: Summicron-M f= 5 cm 1:2: 1978: 40: 2916800: Summicron-M f= 5 cm 1. And i found two which i will go for one of them, one is called Leitz Wetzlar 50mm Summicron-m( there is 'Leitz Summicron-M 50mm on the lens), serial number is 3446646. Serial numbers compiled from known lenses and Puts Pocket Pod.pdf. Len no. 3303805 is M 2/50 not R as listed ^ Puts has Summilux in lieu of Summicron for this batch.

50mm f/2 Summicron-R I Serial Numbers

50mm Summicron Serial Number

Lens superseded by 50mm f/2 Summicron-R II

In 1956, Leitz introduced a rigid version of the 50mm f2 Summicron, the revolutionary lens first offered as a collapsible version in LTM in 1953 and in M mount in 1954. The 1956 rigid version constituted a revised optical design with a harder front element and deeper rear element. A 'Dual-Range' M mount rigid version was also introduced at this time. Leitz produced this 'second version' rigid Summicron, both normal and dual-range, between 1956 and 1968.

Between 1960 and 1963, Leitz also produced 1160 copies of this rigid second version in LTM, making it one of the rarer and most valuable Summicrons produced. Of course, its rarity soon encouraged the assembling of fakes; the rigid Summicron's lens head can be unscrewed from the rigid mount, and Leitz complicated matters by supplying rigid mounts in LTM for a few years so that owners of M and LTM bodies wouldn't have to buy two lenses but could simply swap one lens head between two different lens mounts, M or LTM.

50mm Summicron Serial Number

Lens superseded by 50mm f/2 Summicron-R II

In 1956, Leitz introduced a rigid version of the 50mm f2 Summicron, the revolutionary lens first offered as a collapsible version in LTM in 1953 and in M mount in 1954. The 1956 rigid version constituted a revised optical design with a harder front element and deeper rear element. A 'Dual-Range' M mount rigid version was also introduced at this time. Leitz produced this 'second version' rigid Summicron, both normal and dual-range, between 1956 and 1968.

Between 1960 and 1963, Leitz also produced 1160 copies of this rigid second version in LTM, making it one of the rarer and most valuable Summicrons produced. Of course, its rarity soon encouraged the assembling of fakes; the rigid Summicron's lens head can be unscrewed from the rigid mount, and Leitz complicated matters by supplying rigid mounts in LTM for a few years so that owners of M and LTM bodies wouldn't have to buy two lenses but could simply swap one lens head between two different lens mounts, M or LTM.

The end result is that it's a good possibility that the LTM Rigid Summicron you're being offered for sale is a frankenlens and not a true factory assembled version. The situation becomes further confused in that the true focal length of the rigid Summicrons differed slightly, depending on the version – 51.6, 51.9 or 52.2 – while the LTM rigid mount required a specific 51.9 focal length lens head, and many of these self-assembled lenses contain 51.6 or 52.2 lens heads mated to LTM rigid mounts.

How can you tell you're looking at a rare factory assembled example instead of one made up from a replacement focusing mount and a non matching lens head? Fortunately, on the factory assembled models Leitz engraved the serial number of the lens both on the lens head and on the detachable lens mount. If these serials match, you've got a legit factory assembled LTM Rigid Summicron; if not, you've got a self-assembled frankenlens with potential focal length compatibility issues, one that can't claim to be among the 1160 produced by Leitz.

A further complication in identifying a real factory produced version is that Leitz apparently produced them in dribs and drabs instead of one sequential run of 1160 consecutive serial numbers. According to Dennis Laney's Leica Collector's Guide, accepted serial number ranges for a legit copy are 1,599,XXX, 1,704,XXX, 1,706,XXX, 1,762,XXX, 1,763,XXX and 1,885,XXX, 'but, as always with Leitz, the fact that a lens falls outside of this range does not necessarily mean it is not original' [Laney's words]. The litmus test is the matching serial numbers.

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I was recently contacted by Bill Moretz, the owner of a reputable brick and mortar photo establishment in business since 1988 doing repair and photo lab services and equipment rental – asking me about a rigid Summicron he had in inventory he wasn't quite sure exactly what it was. I had him send me some pics, did a little research, and then asked him to remove the mount from the lens head to see if the serials matched. They did. His rigid thread mount Summicron is a rare factory assembled original, serial number 1,607,043. According to Bill, everything in great condition optically and mechanically.

Bill has asked that I put the word out through the blog that the lens is for sale, and I told him I'd be happy to do so in order that he might avoid the pitfalls of Ebay and the various ways dishonest buyers devise to scam honest sellers out of collectible items. He's asking $1950 plus insured shipping charges of $30 within the States. In my opinion, that's a great deal as I see undocumented versions with various optical issues offered from anywhere between $1700 on the low end to $2800-$3000 on the high end. It comes with the original matching Leitz hood and lens cap.

If you're interested, contact me at leicaphilia@gmail.com.