Mr_Flibble
All-Pro
- Location
- The Lowlands
- Name
- Rick
I got this lens in the first months of this year. It was advertized as "UG" at KEH, The entire lens unit was loose and turning in the mount and both ends were full of cleaning marks.
It took me a while to figure out how to properly disassemble and reassemble it, but I managed to tighten up the focus.
Recently the cleaning marks were polished out. The lens is still prone to flare, but not as badly as it was before.
A little over 6100 Xenon lenses were manufactured, it is assumed by Schneider-Kreuznach for Leica. To sell them overseas the lens had to be marked as Taylor,Taylor & Hobson Xenon lenses because of the running patents on the lens design.
The lens never sold well over the years it was offered (between 1936-1948). Mine is from a batch of 1500 numbered and sold in 1937.
Eventually it was replaced by Leica's own version of the lens, the Summarit. Which is, I'm told, basically the same lens formula with (better) coating.
Examples from a recent roll of Agfa Superpan 200. The lens was used with a vented sun hood.
Older (pre-polish) sample, with Lucky B/W 100, where the lack of anti-halation makes the glow even worse
It's definitely not a lens you use for say Landscape photography, but the softness at wider aperture certainly has the ability to create pleasing portraits.
It took me a while to figure out how to properly disassemble and reassemble it, but I managed to tighten up the focus.
Recently the cleaning marks were polished out. The lens is still prone to flare, but not as badly as it was before.
A little over 6100 Xenon lenses were manufactured, it is assumed by Schneider-Kreuznach for Leica. To sell them overseas the lens had to be marked as Taylor,Taylor & Hobson Xenon lenses because of the running patents on the lens design.
The lens never sold well over the years it was offered (between 1936-1948). Mine is from a batch of 1500 numbered and sold in 1937.
Eventually it was replaced by Leica's own version of the lens, the Summarit. Which is, I'm told, basically the same lens formula with (better) coating.
Examples from a recent roll of Agfa Superpan 200. The lens was used with a vented sun hood.
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Older (pre-polish) sample, with Lucky B/W 100, where the lack of anti-halation makes the glow even worse
It's definitely not a lens you use for say Landscape photography, but the softness at wider aperture certainly has the ability to create pleasing portraits.