Other Classic Camera Lens Mounts
Contax / Nikon RF Bayonet Mount
Nikon F/Ai SLR Bayonet Mount
Pentax Screw Mount (M42)
Leica Screw Mount (M39)
Leica Mount Lenses (M39 & M-Bayonet) Wide-Standard-Tele
Telephoto Lenses (60mm+)
by Karen Nakamura
Long Focus Lenses
Long lenses in Leica screwmount (M39) are rather inexpensive and available from a variety of sources. You can pick up an old Leitz 90mm f/4 Elmar for around a $100 fairly easily. Or, old Canon Serenar or even Nikon lenses (90, 100, 105, 135) are available for reasonable prices. If you have an M-series camera, all you need is a M-to-screw bayonet adapter, which go for between $50-100.
Long lenses are much easier to design than wide angle lenses. Most of the early lenses are simple triplets (like the Elmar) and give good performance. Around the 1960s, manufacturers introduced a fourth negative element at the rear, creating the tele-focus design, allowing the lenses to be more compact.
Leitz Summicron 90mm f/2
I bought this lens as my main long lens for my M7. It's the third generation (pre-ASPH), made in Canada. The quality of the Leitz Summicron 90mm f/2 is beyond reproach. The non-ASPH design gives a very nice out-of-focus background ("bokeh") while the center is more than sharp enough for me.
It's nice and compact, although the solid metal construction means it is also pretty hefty. The black painted variation I have (mk. III) is actually the lightest 90mm Summicron at 410g, the Mk. IV aspheric is 500 g and the previous chrome ones are much heavier (around 685g). When I need a lighter choice, I use the M-Rokkor 90mm f/4 below, which is only 270g.
Minolta M-Rokkor 90mm f/4: This lens is unique in that it's the only lens sold by a Japanese company (Minolta) that was actually made in Germany. Usually it is the other way around -- many Leica R lenses were actually made by Minolta. Instead, Leica made these lenses for Minolta for their Minolta/Leitz CL. The M-Rokkor is very sharp, very compact, and exudes the classic Leica qualities of smooth focus, high resolution, and gentle contrast. For this reason, many M-shooters enjoy it, although there are some who say the cam on the M-Rokkor has a different cam angle for M cameras. I have not found any incompatibility with my M7. There are two M-Rokkors, the first lens was made for the Leica CL by Leitz. The second lens was made by Minolta for their CLE and was a different design. This is the lens that I usually have in my camera bag for my CL. It's light, compact, and sharp. I also use it with my M7 when I don't want to drag around the Summicron. |
 |
 |
|
Other Fun Lenses
A Leitz 90mm f/4 Elmar is a nice lens that can be had for relatively little. Many have haze on the internal lenses. Fortunately, Leica lenses are relatively easy to take apart. My initial impression of the Elmar is that when it's in the shade it's extremely good. I love some of the color rendition from it. However, it seems to suffer from extreme flare when in the sun. I found some 36mm push-on hoods for the Elmar (and 100mm Serenar below) in Japan. When used on a Leica IIIf (as pictured), you need to use an accessory finder like the IMARECT.
I also bought an inexpensive cheap Canon 100 mm f/4 Serenar for $45 on eBay. The Canon is physically in excellent condition. Unfortunately, it's a simple 3 lens triplet design, so I don't have tremendously high hopes for its resolution power.
I scouted around for the redesigned Canon 100mm f/3.5 which is supposedly much better, but instead picked up another cheap Canon 135mm f/3.5 on eBay for $34 ($7.50 shipping). I practically bought it sight unseen because of the poor quality of the listing photos, but it turned out to be in excellent condition. Ebay is really like playing Russian Roulette, sometimes you miss big, sometimes you hit big.
Talking about Russian roulette,
I received a set of long lenses with the Zorki
4K
cameras: a Jupiter-9 85mm f/2 and a Jupiter-11 135mm
f/4. The Jupiter-9 is a clone of the Zeiss Sonnar, except it has
been tweaked. There are a lot of pages about the tweaks and how it causes
a focus
shift. Well, this lens has that problem. I sent it to Russia
to be recalibrated and it's now biting sharp, especially stopped down one or
two stops. One of my favorite lenses but I ended up selling it in a fit of insanity during my move.
The 135mm f/4 Jupiter-11 is also excellent, but most of these f/4 variations are. It's very easy to design a long lens with a small aperture.
I just bought a set of vintage Nikon 135mm f/3.5 lenses (in LTM and Nikon RF mount) which I'm excited to try out.
I also bought a Canon 85mm f/2 right before leaving to Japan. I didn't have a chance to test it, and it's now in storage. It seemed like a very nice lens and I would've liked to have compared it against my Leitz Summicron 90mm f/2 above. The Canon was chromed brass, which meant it was pretty heavy (556g).
Many people call these lenses "telephoto" lenses but only the 135mm lenses are strictly telephoto designs. I.e., the rear nodal point is shorter than the focal length through the use of a negative rear element.
Technical Details-Long
Focus Lenses
|
Manufacturer
|
Ernst Leitz Wetzlar , Inc. | Leica | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lens
|
90mm f/4 Elmar | 90mm
f/4 Elmar-C 90mm f/4 M-Rokkor |
90mm f/2 Summicron Type I, II & III 90mm f/2 Summicron APO ASPH |
|
Serial #
|
283,64x 372,49x |
347420x | |
|
Place
of Manufacture
|
Germany | Germany | I: Wetzlar, Germany II, III: Canada IV: Solms, Germany |
|
Date
of Manufacture
|
1951??? | 1973-1978 |
1958-79 Model I |
|
Lens Construction
|
4 elements
in 3 groups |
4 elements in 4 groups | I: 6 elements in 5 groups II: 6 elements in 5 groups III: 5 elements in 4 groups IV: 5 elements in 5 groups, 1 aspherical surface |
|
Lens
Mount
|
Leica M39 screw mount compatible |
Leica M bayonet mount w/ coupled rangefinder |
|
|
Focusing range
|
1 meter - infinity |
1 meter - infinity |
1 meter - infinity Right focusing (infinity at right) 27° Angle of View (AoV) |
|
Apertures
|
f/4.0 ~
f/36 (no click stops) |
f/4.0 ~ f/32 (half-stop clicks) |
I: f/2.0 ~ f/16 (full stop) II, III, IV: f/2.0 ~ f/16 (half-stop) |
|
Filter
Mount
|
Filter:
A36 mm slip-on |
Filter:
Series 5.5 |
II, III, & IV = Built-in telescoping hood Filter Thread |
|
Dimensions
(D x L mm) and weight |
41mm x 79mm 200 grams |
270g |
I: 685 g (chrome) |
|
Retail
price
|
$ |
KEH buying prices (LN-): |
|
| Manufacturer |
Canon, Inc. | Nikon | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lens |
100mm f/4 Serenar | 135mm f/3.5 Canon Mk. I | 135mm f/3.5 Nikkor-Q |
| Serial
# |
45,02x | 62,31x | |
| Place
of Manufacture |
Japan |
||
| Date
of Manufacture |
1948-49
Mk I 1950-53 Mk II |
1952
Mk I Serenar/Canon |
1950- 1953- 1956- |
| Lens
Construction |
3 elements in 3 groups | 4 elements in 3 groups | 4 elements in 3 groups |
| Lens
Mount |
Leica M39 screw mount compatible w/ coupled rangefinder |
||
| Focusing
range |
1.07 meter - infinity |
1.5 meter (5') - infinity |
1.5 meter (5') - infinity 18° Angle of View (AoV) |
| Apertures |
f/4.0 ~ f/22 (no click stops) |
f/3.5,
4.0 ~ f/22 (1 step stops) |
1950: f/3.5 ~ f/16 |
| Filter
Mount |
Filter:
34mm threaded |
Filter:
48mm threaded |
Filter: 43mm threaded |
| Dimensions (D x L mm) and weight |
41mm x 101mm (Mk II) 459g
(Mk I) |
56mm
x 97mm (Mk I) 565g
(Mk. I) |
1950: 510g 1953: 475g 1956: 397g |
| Retail
price |
¥17,720
(Mk I-1948) ¥18,200 (Mk II-1950) |
¥27,000
(Mk I-1952) |
1953-56: $135 |
| Manufacturer |
Canon | KMZ | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lens |
85mm f/2 Serenar | 85mm f/2 Jupiter-9 | 135mm f/4 Jupiter-11 |
| Serial
# |
5190x (Model I) | ||
|
Place
of Manufacture |
Japan | USSR |
|
|
Date
of Manufacture |
I: 1948.1 II: 1951.9 |
|
|
| Lens
Construction |
6 elements in 4 groups |
7 elements in 3 groups Resolution: 30/18 |
4 elements in 3 groups Resolution: 34/19 |
|
Lens
Mount |
Leica
M39 screw mount compatible
|
||
| Focusing
range |
1.07 meter - infinity | 1.15 meter - infinity |
2.5 meter -
infinity |
|
Apertures |
f/2.0 ~ f/16 |
f/2.0 ~ f/22 (stepless) |
f/4.0
~ f/22 (stepless) |
| Filter
Mount |
Filter: 48mm |
Filter:
49mm x 0.5 threaded |
Filter:
40.5mm x 0.5 threaded |
|
Dimensions (D x L mm) and weight |
I: 556 g. II: 615 g. |
60mm x 52mm |
48mm
x 98mm |
|
Retail
price |
I: ¥34,520 |
|
|
Leica R SLR Mount Telephoto Lenses
For a very long lens, I also use the Leica Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 on my Canon EOS 10D. It's designed for the Leicaflex / R series of cameras but can mount to EOS using an adapter. It's of course manual focus and of course you have to meter open and stop-down manually, but it's not as difficult as it sounds. The quality is of course very good, although not as good as current lenses that have aspherical elements or ultra-low dispersion glass. Nonetheless, it gives a nice classic look to portraits.
Technical Details-Leica R Mount Telephoto Lenses
| Manufacturer |
Leitz | Leitz | Leitz | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lens |
180mm f/2.8 Elmarit-R | 180mm f/2.8 Elmarit-R Second Version |
180mm f/2.8 Apo-Elmarit-R | |||
| Serial # |
||||||
| Place of Manufacture |
Germany |
Germany | ||||
| Date of Manufacture |
||||||
| Lens Construction |
5 elements in 4 groups |
7 elements in 5 groups | ||||
| Lens Mount |
Leica R Bayonet (1, 2, & 3 cam) |
Leica R Bayonet 3-cam | Leica R Bayonet ROM/3-cam | |||
| Focusing range |
2 meter - infinity |
1.8 meter - infinity |
2 meter - infinity |
|||
| Apertures |
f/2.8 ~ f/16 (half-stops) |
f/2.8 ~ f/22 (half-stops) |
f/2.8 ~ f/22 (half-stops) |
|||
| Filter Mount |
Filter: Series VIII Hood: Built-in |
Filter: Series VIII / 67 Hood: Built-in |
Filter: 67mm Hood: Built-in |
|||
| Dimensions (D x L mm) and weight |
78mm x 134mm 1325 grams |
75mm x 121mm 810 grams |
76mm x 132mm 970 grams |
|||
| Retail price |
||||||
|
||||||
Leave a comment