Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/11/30

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Kilar 135/3,8
From: Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 1997 10:23:14 -0500

At 11:54 AM 11/30/97 +0100, Hans Pahlen wrote:
>I saw a "Kilar 135/3,8" thread mount lens on a list with used lenses. Price
>was $110.
>Is this something to have, and what is it?

Well, this might be in an RF-coupled adapter or in a VISO adapter or in a
Kilfitt Reflex Housing adapter or, for that matter, it might be in a
non-scale-focusing adapter.  The basic lens is fairly common and rather
mundane -- it was an early effort by Brother Heinz and doesn't have the
sparkle of the later 3.5/150 or 5.6/300 or the grandeur that attached to
the 4/300 or the mirror lenses.  It's a nice lens, but I'd not pay $110 for
one unless it had the RF-coupled adapter, as that adapter is worth that
much by itself.

Kilfitt was an intriguing fellow and his full tale is too long to be told
here.  The original location for the plant was in Lichtenstein, then
Munich.  When Heinz retired in '67, his operation was bought out by Dr
Frank Back of Zoomar fame, and the firm was so renamed.  It had 'two
headquarters', one in Munich and the other in Long Island.  In 1988, Zoomar
withdrew from commercial production and dedicated itself to government
work, precisely as SOM Berthiot and Bouwers had done two decades earlier.

The American movie industry has long relied on Zoomar lenses, incidentally.
 Nice glass.

Marc


msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
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