Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/03/19

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Summarex
From: Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 11:07:20 -0500

At 04:41 PM 3/19/2000 +1100, Alastair Firkin wrote:
>Mine is probably a later lens 940002.

And


>Why buy the Summarex? This lens is flawed. Leica was prepared to axe it
>even when it had no replacement. It was not a great performer at full
>aperture, was expensive, heavy, and blocked a lot of the viewfinder on the
>M3/4. Leica finally released a fast short telephoto 20 years after the King
>was discontinued.
>
>Until the release of the f1.4 Summilux, the Leica rangefinder user had to
>make to with the 90 Elmarit and later Tele-elmarit, both of f2.8 speed.


First, your lens dates from 1951, approximately 1/3 of the way through
production (approximately 1550 were made by the end of 1951, out of 4342
total production).

Second, Leitz specifically stated that their reason for taking the
1.5/8.5cm Summarex out of production was the advent of a much improved
replacement, the 2/9cm Summicron, in 1957.  The new lens was substantially
lighter (680g versus 800g), much better optically, and was produced in both
LTM and M mount from the get-go.

Marc

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