[Leica] Zeiss Jena 5cm 2.8 Tessar in Leica Mount

[marcsmall at comcast.net (Marc James Small)]

At 04:23 PM 4/21/2008, Raid Amin wrote:
 >Please advise me how rare a CZJ Tessar lens is in LTM. Is it a lens that
 >was never produced by Zeiss in Leica mount or did Zeiss produce a few
 >such lenses? How likely is it to run into such a lens if it is produced
 >by Zeiss?


If you have one or know of such, I would 
appreciate the serial number for the Zeiss Lens 
List and confirmation that it is coated. (the red T is the giveaway).

During the Second World War, the German optical 
guru, Heinz K?ppenbender, ordered Leitz to cease 
regular production of camera lenses.  It was 
necessary to sell Leica cameras in Sweden to pay 
a part of the hefty charge for steel and 
ball-bearings levied by the Swedes, so a portion 
of Carl Zeiss Jena Contax RF BM production was 
converted to LTM for sale in Sweden.  The most 
common of these are the 1.5/5cm and 2/5cm 
collapsible Sonnar, the 2/8.5cm Sonnar, and the 
2.8/3.5cm Biogon.  The 2.8/5cm Tessar is neiter 
common nor rare, and a number are known to exist, 
though this is not as common as the 5cm Sonnars.

There are also a number of one-off conversions as 
well by private machinists in the immediate Post-War years.

Marc


msmall@aya.yale.edu
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