Maybe some of the members can post their weight of their own Summicron here, especially between the number 29417001 so we would be able to determine when this change happened. Thx for your answer, i followed your information and found five patches of Summicrons between these two examples. A weak point in this suggestion is that this was still years before the West generally learned about kaizen, so I have no idea how much Leica might have reexamined its designs during and between manufacturing batches. For example, a hollow that used to hold a cam might now be partially filled with metal (in other words, not milled away) to reduce manufacturing complexity, or a helicoid part might grow to make for easier alignment during assembly. It looks like there were six batches of thousands of lenses each between these two lenses, making mechanical design changes plausible if not likely. E39 Filter.My guess is that the original, 3-cam design had a fair amount of hollow space for those cams, which was mostly preserved in the initial R-cam design (that likely just omitted those more complex bits), then that space was utilized to simplify manufacturing and assembly without affecting the optics. The latest variation of this model features a built-in lenshood ( from 1994-on ). Due to Internet research the common opinion is that there are only 2 Summicron R 50mm 1:2 Lens/Design versions, the older one until 1976 mainly for Leicaflex Cameras and the later one with new lens design with the popup lens Hood. Other variations include black finish, chrome finish, titanium finish and even a limited platinum finish. Since 1979, the optical deisgn has remained the same, but the barrel has seen a few variations such as a focusing tab. Contrast and resolution similiar to the third version, except performance is better to the edges and flare has been reduced. Summicron-M, "Fourth Version": 1979-currentĬurrent lens sold by leica today. Since the later version provides performance improvements, and the previous versions feature medium contrast and high resolution ( ideal for B&W shooters ), this version is the "odd man out" of Summicrons. This lens is the least popular of all the versions, but for probably no good reason. This was the opposite of the previous versions. The design emphasis on this lens was for higher contrast with slightly less resolution. Change to a six element design in 5 groups. Many refer to this model as the Summicron Third version ( or sometimes as Rigid II ). 119,500 made ( includes this version and Rigid ). Both this lens and the Rigid are considered by most, to represent the pinnacle of Leica's manufacturing quality. Without the "eyes" attached, the lens will work fine in the normal, 1 meter to infinity range on almost all Leica M mount cameras. Optically identical to the Rigid, however, this model focuses as close as 48cm utilizing a set of "eyes" which aid the M3 camera in focusing this lens with rangefinder coupling. 119,500 made ( includes this version and Dual Range ). Well regarded for its "out-of-focus" or "bokeh" characteristics. Flare and secondary reflections are reported with this lens ( Leica "glow" ?). Lens shows good improvement over previous 'cron in both higher resolution and contrast. Lens has low to medium contrast, and prone to flare. Leica 50 mm f /2.0 Summicron-R 1st version 1964 Leica 50 mm f /2. The Collapsible Summicron ( SM & M ) have very similar performance to the Leica Summitar lens at wide apertures, slightly better stopped down. The screw mount and M mount lenses are identical in performance.
#50mm summicron variations serial#
Serial #'s for the screw mount started at 920,000 and ran into the M mount serial #'s, about 1,112,000. The Collapsible Summicron lens began life as a screw mount lens and was later made for the M mount cameras.