Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/03/27

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Subject: [Leica] Steinheil Culminar
From: Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>
Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2001 21:02:23 -0500
References: <B6E65D1A.23F%w.gower@home.com>

At 08:15 PM 3/27/2001 -0500, Dan Post wrote:
>I was given a couple of Steinheil-Culminar 135/f4 LTM lenses, and since they
>don't sell for doodly on *YOU KNOW WHERE*, I decided to see if I could clean
>one and see what it might do.
>Has anyone else used this optic? It has an aluminium barrel high reminiscent
>of the Russian 135 I used to have, and is not as sturdy as the Hektor, but
>surprisingly sharp.

Oh, Danny boy, must I be forced to slide from my normally most reticent
mode to remind all about NON-LEITZ LEICA THREAD-MOUNT LENSES:  A 39mm
DIVERSITY, by <ah-HEM> that scholar and all-round-nice-guy y-clept Marc
James Small?  Available from Petra Kellers, of course, at
http://www.camerabooks.com/, along with many another fine work on fine
cameras.

Steinheil is a fascinating concern;  the founder of the company was Caesar
Augustus Steinheil, hence the later CASSAR lenses.  The company was highly
thought of in the middle of the last century:  for instance, those
"Heidosmat-Anastigmat" viewing lenses on Prewar Rolleiflex cameras were
made by Steinheil, as was many a fine Novar for Zeiss Ikon.  The company
had sufficient clout to hire the great Ludwig Bertele away from Zeiss in
1941.  It closed its doors in 1961 when the family became tired of running
an optical works and sold out.

Marc

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

Replies: Reply from "Dan Post" <dpost@triad.rr.com> (Re: [Leica] Steinheil Culminar)
In reply to: Message from William Gower <w.gower@home.com> ([Leica] A question for collectors - M4 Midland (black chrome))