Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/11/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Saturday morning I went to the quarterly San Jose (well, sometimes in San Mateo) camera swap meet, which is a big show with about 350 tables. I go to these for entertainment, but I usually end up buying a lens or a ball head or something. This time I was a little more disciplined and only bought some caps and a copy of Marc Small's book. I bought the caps to copy Stephen Gandy's trick and make an M-mount rear cap for my Russar so I can keep an M adapter on it all the time. It's a good trick! Anyway, while there I saw something fascinating: an apparently new Nikon 35mm shift lens in Leica R mount. No auto diaphragm of course -- the Leica 35 PC doesn't do an auto diaphragm, either -- but what one could see of the mount from the outside (it was on an R7) was beautifully done. Infinity focus was preserved, and everything worked smoothly. I asked details about the lens, and the dealer said that they buy them from a technician who had worked for Leica NJ. He also converts the Nikon 28mm PC lens. Price for the 35: $495 with box, etc. I wasn't interested in buying it because I hate the plasticky feel of newer Nikon lenses, so if I really wanted a shift lens I'd save up and buy a Leica one. But I was impressed by the price. The dealer is Camera One, of Sarasota, FL, email is camera@cameraone.com, <http://www.gate.net/~camera>. - -Patrick