Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/05/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]- -Dave wrote (long time ago): >I noticed that KEH currently lists a 90mm chrome Tele-Elmarit >(Canadian) as being "rare" and has a price around $2700 for it. >Now I'm wondering if I passed up a "bargain", since just >last Saturday I passed up one of these at a local swap meet; >it was offered for $595. snip >I came to the Tele-Elmarit. Up until then, I'd been thinking >about getting a nice new chrome 90mm Summicron. The Tele-Elmarit >looked nice: very compact, clean, sharp lettering. The aperture >ring was rough to turn, however (not bad, just not up to the usual >Leica feel). Looking at the blades when closed down to f/16, I >could see bright areas. I don't know if aperture blades are >lubricated or not, but it's apparent that they'd been used quite >a bit. Anyway, I had no idea how much a chrome Canadian Tele-Elmarit >>was worth or whether it was rare or not. I passed on it because of the feel and look of the aperture blades. Since I saw the KEH ad, >I've been wondering a bit more about these lenses. Dave, After some rersearch, I found the Chrome Tele-Elmarit 90/2,8 (fat) to be really rare. Around 1.700 ex.manufactured. The last I came across, sold for 2.000 $ (Ex ++) I've seen only 2 for sale in Belgium during the last 14 years. In the Leica collector list, I think it's rated R7. In Germany and in UK, there are even more expensive. Together with a chrome M3, like on the dust cover of the van Haesbroeck Leica book, it look gorgeous. But as a user, the last (slim) Tele-Elmarit is better. Lucien