Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/01/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 04:58 PM 1/11/2008, Jim Hemenway wrote: >I wonder if the 2.8Fs with Planars are more in demand by collectors >because Rollei used Planars first, adding Xenotars in order to meet the >demand for more Rolleis, because Zeiss couldn't produce enough Planars. >The perception might be that the Xenotars were Rollei's second choice. > Well, yes and no. Franke & Heidecke was perfectly satisfied by the 2.8/8cm CZJ Biometar they used on the 2.8B, but Carl Zeiss objected to their ordering any more and offered the Planar, newly reconfigued by Hans Sauer, as a substitute. F&H then negotiated a separate deal with Schneider to cover themselves if they had a terminal breach with Carl Zeiss. At some points, the JSK-lensed cameras actually sold for more than did the CZ-lensed ones. The JSK lenses produced for the 600x cameras are a different stories. For around 15 years, Rollei and JSK were both owned by Mandermann, and he tried to get Rollei to go with only JSK lenses, an effort which failed though JSK did make some outstanding lenses for the camera line. There are very few Rolleiflex collectors, as Stan Tamarkin keeps learning with every one of his auctions, and those who do collect Rollei tend to glom on the VERY early stuff, such as Heidoskops and Oringal Rolleiflex Zwei-augens. Marc msmall@aya.yale.edu Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir!