Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/08/03

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Subject: Re: 50 Summicron DR Update
From: Dan Cardish <dcardish@microtec.net>
Date: Sun, 03 Aug 1997 21:59:58 -0400

At 07:04 PM 02-08-97 -0700, Stephen wrote:
>Well folks, after spending several hours with Modern, I found the
>following:
>
[snip]

>I believe the lens you're talking about is the rigid Summicron lens made
>from 1953 to 1956 and having 4 of its 7 elements made from lanthanum
>glass, a rare earth glass.  I wrote to Leitz in Rockleigh, NJ about the
[snip]
>
>THE INTERESTING THING about the above is that Modern stopped short of
>saying they were EXACTLY  the same formula, even though they could have
>said so.  Instead, Modern used "essentially the same" and "on average,
>identical performance."   Hmmmm.
>
>I am not sure, I have not been inside the lenses and compared each
>element.  But I am sure many people believe the formulas are slightly
>different.

My DR summicron was made in 1968.  It therefore can't be exactly the same
as the ones build between 1953 and 1956, since the composition of the glass
was different.   In fact, I don't think production of the DR summicron
began until 1956 or 1957.

Dan C.