Re: [Leica] Screw Mount Lens

["B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>]

I suppose this is a question for Marc - Isn't the problem with the Russian stuff
that, while the designs may be world class designs, the quality control was and
is less than non-existent. Which means that buying one of these lenses is a
total crap shoot: you may be getting what is in essence a fabulous Zeiss lens,
or you may be getting the bottom of a vodka bottle?

Marc James Small wrote:

> At 08:35 PM 1999-01-20, David Young wrote:
> >
> > For curiosity, is the PAM Britar also a German lens?  Once you mentioned
> >that many aftermarket LTM lenses blew the Leitz contemporary lenses into
> >the weeds, what are the several horrid LTM lenses?
> > I recently bought several Nikkor rangefinder lenses (85/2 and 135/3.5) and
> >just got the prints back.  To my surprise, they were very good.  I would
> >say they were comparable to Leica shots.
>
> The PAM Britar is certainly an American lens (either US or Canada), but
> naught else seems to have been recorded about its provenance, and, yes, I
> would appreciate further information!
>
> The horrid LTM lenses include a slew of cheap German and Japanese lenses
> which appeared in the '50's, as well as a few French and Italian ones, as
> well.  I've never been too impressed by the Postwar Ukrainian FED lenses
> I've tried, either, though opinions differ on these.
>
> Your two Nikkor lenses certainly should outperform anything Leitz was
> making at the same time:  both Nikon designs are based on the epic Zeiss
> formulations of Ludwig Bertele, arguably the finest lens designer of his
> era.  The 2/85, especially, is a most wonderful lens and is still a
> competitive design today.  (The Russians continue to market the same design
> as the Jupiter-9, incidentally.)
>
> Marc
>
> msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
> Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!