1946 LEITZ SUMMITAR, Coated 2.0/50mm lens

Screw mount lens for Leitz Leica I II III IIIa IIIb IIIc IIIf & IIIg

Camera body NOT included

In this listing we have an excellent Leitz Summitar 2.0/50mm lens. This is a classic lens known for its excellent image quality. It’s carefully constructed of chrome plated brass. It fits all Leica screw-mount rangefinder cameras as well as other cameras based on the Leica design. It can also be used on the later Leica M cameras and many modern mirrorless digital cameras if you use an adapter. (Which are very inexpensive and easy to find on eBay).

The serial number of this lens (610981) indicates that it was produced in Germany in the summer of 1946. It has signs of brassing but other that it’s an excellent example of the Summitar design and most collectors will agree it looks good on a prewar or postwar Leica camera.

The glass is in exceptionally clean condition. (Leitz used rather very soft optical glass and as a result most early Leitz lenses are heavily scratched.) There is no fungus, separated elements or crystallization. Focus and aperture adjustments function smoothly. The glass surfaces and coating is near perfect and there are no scratches or cleaning marks and it’s capable of producing beautiful photos with modern color and b&w films.

All in all a very lovely, collectable vintage lens that offers a lot of performance while still fitting easily into a pocket. An impressive, high speed lens for your classic Leica when a 3.5/50 Elmar simply isn’t fast enough…