Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/03/27
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 08:15 PM 3/27/2001 -0500, Dan Post wrote: >I was given a couple of Steinheil-Culminar 135/f4 LTM lenses, and since they >don't sell for doodly on *YOU KNOW WHERE*, I decided to see if I could clean >one and see what it might do. >Has anyone else used this optic? It has an aluminium barrel high reminiscent >of the Russian 135 I used to have, and is not as sturdy as the Hektor, but >surprisingly sharp. Oh, Danny boy, must I be forced to slide from my normally most reticent mode to remind all about NON-LEITZ LEICA THREAD-MOUNT LENSES: A 39mm DIVERSITY, by <ah-HEM> that scholar and all-round-nice-guy y-clept Marc James Small? Available from Petra Kellers, of course, at http://www.camerabooks.com/, along with many another fine work on fine cameras. Steinheil is a fascinating concern; the founder of the company was Caesar Augustus Steinheil, hence the later CASSAR lenses. The company was highly thought of in the middle of the last century: for instance, those "Heidosmat-Anastigmat" viewing lenses on Prewar Rolleiflex cameras were made by Steinheil, as was many a fine Novar for Zeiss Ikon. The company had sufficient clout to hire the great Ludwig Bertele away from Zeiss in 1941. It closed its doors in 1961 when the family became tired of running an optical works and sold out. Marc msmall@roanoke.infi.net FAX: +540/343-7315 Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!