Re: [Leica] Russar 20/5.6 ??

["Bryan Caldwell" <bcaldwell@softcom.net>]

Marc,

>>you seem to have gotten a good deal from E-Bay, one of the very few of
which I've yet heard!<<

I can add my name to the list of those who've gotten some very, very good
Leica deals on EBay. Today I received an unused current 28mm brightline
finder with case and box for about 1/3 of what the least expensive dealers
advertise. A few months ago I got a beautiful Focomat 1c with extended
column and filter drawer for $280 complete. And I've picked up a couple of
Leitz filters for a fraction of what they sell for used in stores.

If you are cautious, know what market prices are for items, and check out
the seller carefully, EBay can be a wonderful resource. If you act rashly
and get more caught up in  winning the auction rather than getting a good
deal, you can find yourself on the bad end of a transaction. When I hear
people complain about their experiences on EBay it usually turns out that
they haven't researched the item, asked questions of the seller, read the
seller's terms, used their head in bidding, comparison shopped the item, or
checked the seller's history.

Bryan




- ----- Original Message -----
From: Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 1999 7:09 AM
Subject: Re: [Leica] Russar 20/5.6 ??


> Bob
>
> $380 for a Russar MR-2 with caps and finder is about par for the course,
so
> you seem to have gotten a good deal from E-Bay, one of the very few of
> which I've yet heard!
>
> The lens is of a disputed heritage, and I've not disassembled mine to
> check.  Most of my sources indicate the lens is a Topogon design (a
> wide-angle design originally formulated by Richter at Zeiss in the '30's
> for aerial-recon photography and later adapted as a 4.5/2.5cm or 4/2.5cm
> for the Contax RF system), though Wright, in his LENS COLLECTORS' VADE
> MECUM links it to the LF Russar design, a more complex formulation.
>
> In any event, it does suffer from a falling-off of edge illumination:  the
> edge of the frame is about 1 stop slower than the center.  This provides a
> nice effect to emphasize the center of the image in some cases -- for
> instance, I have a picture hanging in my office I shot of my son at the
> beach, with the edges a bit darker than the center, causing him to stand
> out a bit.  However, under other circumstances, this edge fall-off can be
a
> decided minus.
>
> Other than that, it is a fine lens optically.  It doesn't suffer from
> noticeable distortion and is of good sharpness, contrast, and resolution.
>
> Marc
>
> msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
> Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!
>