Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/08/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 05:23 PM 8/5/97 -0500, Harrison McClary wrote: >the # is 1702354. There are two versions of the Summilux. The original Summilux was an updated Summarit (NOT Summitar, as I wrote you privately) and suffered from some of the residual softness problems which plagued that lens. It was then completely redesigned in 1961, with the new design being introduced in 1962 at serial number 1844001 (though, as with the redesign of the Summicron when the rigid lens was introduced, Leitz did not advertise this change for some years thereafter). The new optical formula is still used on the current lens, though this now has an inbuilt lens hood. Almost all of the Summilux production have been bayonet-mount lenses, though 445 of the old formula were made in LTM and 103 of the new. The first version was only available in chrome. The second version was available in both chrome and black, though, so far, the current lens-mount (1961 formula with the inbuilt lenshood) has been produced only in black. So what you have is a very, very early first-version Summilux. This is a nice lens and does hold some collector interest as well. Hope this helps! Marc Marc James Small Cha Robh Bas Fir, Gun Ghras Fir! FAX: +540/343-7315