Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/02/06

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Subject: Re: Using a 90 Elmar f4 SM
From: Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>
Date: Thu, 06 Feb 1997 22:32:31 -0500

At 08:37 AM 2/7/97 +0800, Dan Khong, man of import and depth, wrote:

>The aperture progression is in Stolze? units - the  fun starts  when you
try to set
>modern aperture readings onto the 90 Elmar.

The Stolze scale is the older 'European' aperture scale -- f/1.1 to f/100 in
doubling apertures -- which was later replaced by the 'International' or
'American' scale popularized, ironically, by Carl Zeiss.  Thanks to Eric
Welch -- of lamented memory to many of us -- I obtained, for the princely
sum of $25, one of the only two known Carl Zeiss Jena lenses marked in the
Stolze scale, and the sucker dates from 1910.

Leitz continued to mark its lenses in the Stolze scale through the Second
War and, even afterwards, the scale left its imprint on the Elmar and Hektor
designs.

In any event, from a user angle, it's no sweat, as the Stolze scale markings
fall at the half-aperture points of the International scale.  Thus, half-way
between f/4 and f/5.6 is -- lo, and behold! -- f/4.5.  These are geometric
scales, and the progressions are based upon squares and square roots.

Marc

msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!