39mm screw lenses

The 39mm screw mount was introduced by Leica with the model I (C), and used on all the Leica models until the IIIg. The mount was adopted on many Leica copies and other 35mm rangefinder cameras.

The mount is also called Leica Thread Mount (LTM), Leica Screw Mount (LSM), or M39. It is 39mm diameter and 26 threads per inch, with rangefinder coupling.

The most important bodies using the 39mm screw mount are:

• Leica I/II/III
• Canon rangefinders
• Voigtländer Bessa
• the Russian FED, Zorki, Leningrad and Drug
• the British Corfield Periflex

Some makers made cameras and lenses with a 39mm screw mount completely incompatible with the Leica one, because the flange-to-film distance is different. Two such systems are:

• the Braun Paxette
• the Russian Zenit, first models

(Further, screwmount lenses by Meopta may at first appear to be for the Leica; however, these have 38mm screw thread and are instead for the Meopta Opema.)

We can attempt to make a list of 39mm screw lenses from the most important makers. All the lenses in this list are genuine Leica mount lenses, or at least were advertised as such by reputable dealers. Today some merchants convert old and rare lenses into Leica mount. Please do not include these converted lenses in the list.

Acall

Marked Acall.

• 35/3.5 W-Acall, black and chrome, looks the same as Komura and Telesar

Angénieux

• 28/3.5 Type R11, black (see this page at Joe's blog)
• 35/3.5 Type X1, black
• 35/2.5 Retrofocus R1, black
• 50/2.9 Type S2 collapsible, chrome, focusing tab, for Gamma
• 50/1.5 Type S21, black and chrome (see this page at Joe's blog)
• 90/1.8 Type P1, black (see this page at Joe's blog)

Askania

An incredibly long Fern-Achromat TE-N/PL 16/925mm f/16 has been sold by Auction Breker Köln on 01/10/2005. It was mounted on a reflex housing looking like the Astro Identoskop. A table engraved indicated the other lenses:

• LR-T/PL 2.7/420mm
• LR-T 4/480mm
• TE-N 11/600mm
• TE-N/PL 16/925mm
• EX-T 22/1250mm
• EX-T/PL 32/2000mm

Probably for military use only.

Astro Berlin

Astro Berlin seems to have made some lenses with a genuine Leica mount. Today, many sellers are adapting Astro lenses to the Leica mount, often assembling them with the rear barrel of a 50/3.5 Elmar.

• 55/1.8 Pan-Tachar, chrome, coupled
• 75/2 Gauss-Tachar, black and chrome, coupled (at cameraquest)
• 125/2.3 Pan-Tachar, black and chrome, coupled (at cameraquest)
• 150/2.3 Astro-Portrait, black and chrome, heavy tripod collar, with Identoskop reflex housing (seen at ebay)
• 400/5 Fernbildlinse, black, with Identoskop reflex housing, huge ring around the barrel (lp-foto auction #7)

Bausch & Lomb

• 3in/2 EF Anastigmat, black, rangefinder coupled, advertised as original mount

Berthiot

• 28/3.3 Angulor, chrome (sold at Westlicht Auction 27 Nov 2005)
• 50/3.5 Flor (collapsible), chrome (see this page at Syarakuse)
• 50/2.8 Flor (collapsible), chrome (sold at Westlicht Auction on a Gamma body, 23 May 2003)
• 50/1.5 Flor, chrome or chrome and black (sold at Westlicht Auction 27 Nov 2005, see also this page at Syarakuse)
• 55/1.5 Flor, chrome (see this page at Syarakuse)
• 75/2.8 Flor, chrome and black (see this page at Syarakuse)
• 90/2.8 Flor, chrome (see this page at Syarakuse)
• 145/4.5 Télé, chrome (eBay auction)

Links

• A page about the Berthiot lenses for Leica, in the Syarakuse website, in Japanese, with English titles to navigate

Canon

To be done

Corfield

See Corfield 39mm screw lenses

Dallmeyer

• 85/2 Dallac, chrome and black, C&P logo on the barrel
• 135/4.5 Dalrac, chrome and black, knurled aperture ring, C&P logo on the barrel, seen with a Reid military engraving on the other side of the barrel
• 4"/5.6 Dallon, Tele-Anastigmat, black but one chrome ring, maybe uncoupled
• 12"/4.5, black, rangefinder coupled, direct vision finder attached to the mount
• 12"/5.6 Dallon, for Visoflex
• 24"/5.6 Dallon Tele-Anastigmat, with rifle stock, for Visoflex

A 12"/7.7 Dallon Tele-Anastigmat has been offered for sale at ebay with a Dallmeyer prototype reflex housing.

Enna

• 85/1.5 Ennaston, chrome, black tripod collar at the base (sold at Westlicht Auction 27 Nov 2005)

FED

To be done

Fuji

Fuji made lenses in Leica mount in the 1950s or 1960s.

• 3.5cm/2, chrome (sold at Westlicht Auction 27 Nov 2005)
• 5cm/2.8 L, black and chrome (sold at Westlicht Auction 27 Nov 2005)
• 5cm/2 L, black and chrome (eBay auction)
• 5cm/1.2, chrome, later black
• 100/2, black and chrome

Galileo

• 50/2 Eptamitar, collapsible, all chrome, focusing tab

Hensoldt

A lens marked Dr Hensoldt Optik Wetzlar 1:1.8/f=55 1057 PROTO in a rigid chrome mount has been seen at an ebay auction. An identical lens with s/n 1089 was sold at Christies (8 June 1995) mounted on what was advertised as a Leica Standard copy, with no more precision.

Isco

The Isco Westar 50mm f:3.5, rigid with chrome finish, was the standard lens mounted on the prototypes of the Recta, a rangefinder variant of the Rectaflex.

Kilfitt

Kilfitt lenses had a set of adapters, to attach them on various lens mounts, among them Visoflex.

Kilfitt lens with a fixed 39mm screw mount, rangefinder coupled:

• 90/3.5 Kilar D, chrome, s/n 212-XXXX

KMZ

To be done

Kobalux

The small Japanese company YK from Yokohama made two wide angle lenses in Leica mount. They were sold under the names Kobalux, Avenon, Komura, Pasoptik, Bower or Adorama.

• 21/2.8 Super Wide, chrome or black
• 28/3.5 Wide, chrome or black

Kodak

• 47/2 Ektar, small focusing wheel, standard lens for the Kardon, same as the Retina or Bantam Special lens
• 50/2.8 Ektanar (see this page at Syarakuse)

K.O.L.

The K.O.L. Xebec is a six-element 50/2 collapsible lens. See this page by Akiyama Michio at the Nikon Kenkyukai Tokyo website about the Kōgaku Seiki's Nippon camera.

Komura

Made by Sankyo Koki, alias Komura.

• 28/3.5 W-Komura, black and chrome, hood
• 35/3.5 W-Komura, black and chrome
• 35/2.8 W-Komura, black and chrome, focusing tab
• 35/2.8 Komura, black with wide chrome stripes, focusing tab
• 80/1.8 Tele-Kinegon, black and chrome, "S.K. Japan" on beauty ring
• 80/3.5 Komura, black and chrome
• 105/3.5 Komura, black and chrome
• 105/2.8 Komura, version 1: black w/chrome mount
• 105/2.8 Komura, version 2: black w/chrome aperture ring and mount

Note: The 2 versions of the Komura 105mm f2.8 are not the same physical length and, therefore, must be optically different. Version 2 is longer, and, at common focus distances, its front element is farther from the film plane than is version 1's.

• 105/2 Komura, black with chrome mount, finder, hood
• 500/7, black with one chrome ring, breaks in two parts for transport (for Visoflex?)
• 2x converter

Konishiroku/Konica

Well before the Hexar RF, Konishiroku had already made lenses in Leica mount, around the 1950s.

• 50/3.5 Hexar collapsible, all chrome, focusing tab
• 50/1.9 Hexanon

In the late 1990s Konica also made a new series of Leica mount lenses:

• 35/2 L Hexanon, chrome, 1000 made, 1996
• 35/2 L UC-Hexanon, black, two versions (see this page of Dante Stella's site), 1000 made, 2001
• 50/2.4 L Hexanon (collapsible), chrome, 1000 made, 1997
• 60/1.2 L Hexanon, black (see this page at Cameraquest), 800 made, 1999

Koritska

The Italian optical company Koritska, based in Milano, made a Victor 5.5cm f/3.5 lens in Leica mount for the Gamma, an Italian Leica copy. It was marked F lli Koritska for "Fratelli Koritska".

Leica

To be done

Leotax

Showa Kogaku, better known as Leotax, apparently made their own lenses for their very first Leica copies, among which the rare Letana Anastigmat 50mm f/3.5 (see this Leotax page at Cameraquest).

Meyer

Meyer made some lenses in 39mm Leica screw mount at an early date, mostly before World War II. They are marked Hugo Meyer.

• 3.5cm f:2.7 Makro-Plasmat, chrome with black ring (see this page at Syarakuse)
• 4cm f:4.5 Weitwinkel Doppel Anastigmat, chrome, not coupled, marked Ohne Kupplung (eBay auction)
• 5cm f:2.7 Makro-Plasmat (collapsible), chrome (see this page at Syarakuse)
• 5cm f/1.9 Primoplan (collapsible), chrome (see this page at Syarakuse)
• 5cm f/1.5 Kino-Plasmat, chrome (see this page at Joe's blog)
• 1 5/8" f/1.5 Kino-Plasmat, all chrome (sold at Westlicht Auction 27 Nov 2005)
• 10.5cm f/2.7 Makro-Plasmat, black and chrome, rangefinder coupled (sold at Westlicht Auction 27 Nov 2005, see also this page at Syarakuse)
• 10.5cm f/4.5 Trioplan, black and chrome, rangefinder coupled (eBay auction)
• 15cm f/5.5 Tele-Megor, chrome, not rangefinder coupled, marked Ohne Kupplung (eBay auction)
• 250/5.5 Tele-Megor, black with chrome rings, rangefinder coupled (sold at Westlicht Auction 29 May 2005), external finder (chrome) marked 25cm

Chiyoda Kogaku/Minolta

Chiyoda Kogaku, later renamed Minolta, made a range of Leica screw lenses for its Minolta 35 series camera, a Leica copy made between 1947 and 1958. Chiyoko is a shortened version of the name (CHIYOda KOgaku):

• 45mm f2.8 Super Rokkor, chrome, 5 elements/3 groups, marked "Chiyoko"
• 5cm f2.8 Super Rokkor, chrome, 5 elements/3 groups, marked "CHIYOKO"
• 5cm f2 Super Rokkor, chrome, 7 elements/4 groups (Summitar type), marked "CHIYOKO"
• 5cm f1.8 Super Rokkor, black, 6 elements/5 groups, marked "CHIYODA KOGAKU"
• 8.5cm f2.8 Super Rokkor, chrome, 5 elements/3 groups, marked "Chiyoko"
• 11cm f5.6 Tele Rokkor, black and chrome (all chrome also made), marked "Chiyoko"
• 13.5cm f4 Tele Rokkor, chrome, 4 elements/3 groups, marked "Chiyoko"

Minolta also made a special macro lens in that mount at the time of the Rokkor SLR lenses:

• 50/3.5 QF-Rokkor macro lens, not rangefinder coupled, part of the Minolta MC/MD lens system

Minolta's last screw mount lens was made in a limited edition:

• 28/3.5 G-Rokkor, chrome, 2000 made, 1998, same lens as for the Minolta TC-1

Misuzu

A Misuzu Kōgaku Altanon 50/2 (s/n M170057), black with chrome mount, chrome diaph ring and focusing tab, was sold at Christies (8 June 1995) mounted on a Misuzu Alta body (s/n 700489).

National Opt Co

Made by National Optical Company, based at Leicester.

• 2"/2 Anastigmat, collapsible, focusing tab, all chrome, looks exactly like the collapsible Taylor & Hobson 2"/2 Anastigmat (eBay auction)
• 105/3.5 Trinol Anastimat, chrome and black, or black with chrome mount, mount marked Stewartry and Made in Scotland, with Stewartry zoom frame finder

The Trinol lens head is made by National Optical Company and marked as such in fine print, but has no maker marking.

Nippon Kōgaku

(Later Nikon.)

• 25/4 W-Nikkor C, all chrome, focusing tab
• 28/3.5 W-Nikkor C, all chrome, focusing tab
• 35/1.8 W-Nikkor C, black and chrome, focusing tab
• 35/2.5 W-Nikkor C, all chrome or chrome with black front ring, focusing tab
• 35/3.5 W-Nikkor C, all chrome or chrome with black front ring, focusing tab
• 50/1.4 Nikkor-S C, all chrome or chrome with black front ring
• 50/1.5 Nikkor-S C, all chrome
• 50/2 Nikkor-H C (collapsible), all chrome
• 50/2 Nikkor-H C (rigid), all chrome or chrome with black front ring
• 50/3.5 Nikkor-Q C (collapsible), all chrome
• 50/3.5 Nikkor-Q C (rigid), all chrome, focusing tab
• 50/3.5 Micro-Nikkor, chrome and black
• 85/1.5 Nikkor-S C, black with chrome mount, tripod screw
• 85/2 Nikkor-P C, black or all chrome
• 105/2.5 Nikkor-P C, black
• 135/3.5 Nikkor-Q, black or all chrome
• 135/4 Nikkor-Q C, all chrome

Old Delft

• 3.5cm/3.5 Minor, chrome (sold at Westlicht Auction 27 Nov 2005)
• 9cm/4.5 Delfar (see this page at Syarakuse)

Olympus

Olympus made one lens in Leica mount, the 4cm f/2.8 Zuiko C. It was sold with its external finder, marked with the Olympus logo and 4 cm.

Pam

• 105/4.5 Britar, all chrome, with Pam optical finder

Pentax

• 43/1.9 SMC-Pentax-L Special, 800 made in chrome and 1200 in black, year 2000, same as the SLR lens

Ricoh

• 21/3.5 GR, 1000 made in chrome and 700 in black, 1999, same lens as the Ricoh GR-21
• 28/3.5 GR, 2000 made in chrome and 1000 in black, 1997, same lens as the Ricoh GR-1

Rodenstock

• 35/2.8 Heligon, all chrome

Ross

The British optical company Ross made some lenses in 39mm screw mount. The Xtralux range was released together with the Reid British Leica copy.

• 90/3.5 Xtralux, black and chrome, normally coupled, one advertised at ebay auction as having no rangefinder cam
• 4"/5.5 Teleros, black and nickel, collapsible (sold at Westlicht Auction 27 Nov 2005)
• 135/4.5 Xtralux, black and chrome
• 50/2 Xtralux, chrome collapsible.

Schacht

• 35/3.5 Travenar-R, black with wide chrome stripes
• 90/2.8 Travenar-R, black with wide chrome stripes

Schneider

Schneider made some lenses in Leica mount very early, before World War II. They also made special lenses ordered by Leica.

• 35/2.8 Xenogon, chrome
• 50/2.8 Xenar (collapsible), chrome
• 50/2 Xenon (collapsible), chrome
• 8cm/2 Xenon, uncoupled, black and chrome (sold at Westlicht Auction 27 Nov 2005)
• 8cm/2 Xenon, black and chrome
• 80/2 Xenon, black and chrome (see this page at Syarakuse)
• 13.5cm/3.5 Xenar, black and chrome
• 135/3.5 Tele-Xenar, all chrome

Soligor

• 35mm f3.5 Soligor, black and chrome
• 105mm f4 Soligor, black
• 135mm f3.5 Soligor, black and chrome

Steinheil

Steinheil made some lenses in M39 mount. It was essentially the optical range developed for their own Casca model. They were all in chrome finish. Some of these lenses also existed with a Tower engraving on the barrel, to be sold with a Sears Tower Leica copy.

• 35/4.5 Orthostigmat, rotating mount, two focusing tabs (exists with Tower)
• 50/2 Quinon, 6 elements/2 groups (Sonnar type), close focussing to 18"
• 50/2.8 Triplar collapsible (offered at eBay as a prototype)
• 75/1.5 Selenar (eBay auction, said 10 made)
• 85/2.8 Culminar
• 135/4.5 Culminar
• 135/4.5 Triplar

Steinheil also made lenses for the Braun Paxette, with a 39mm diameter screw mount, not compatible with the Leica rangefinder because the flange to film distance and rangefinder coupling were different.

A 50/2.8 Triplar collapsible lens has been offered for sale at ebay, as a prototype lens. A 75/

Sun

• 75/3.5, black and chrome
• 90/4 Sola, chrome

Tanaka

Made by Tanaka Kogaku, originally sold for the Tanack Leica copy.

• 35/3.5 W Tanar, chrome
• 50/2.0 Tanar H.C., black and chrome

The 50/2.0 may be a Sonnar design. It has close focussing to 18 inches, a small front element, and a rear element near the mount; these features are shared by the Nikkor 50/2.0 and Quinon 50/2.0, which are both Sonnars.

• 50/2.8 Tanar, black and chrome
• 50/3.5 Tanar, chrome

Taylor, Taylor & Hobson

Taylor, Taylor & Hobson made the collapsible 2" f:2 Anastigmat as the standard lens for the Reid British Leica copy.

They also made a rigid 2" f:2 Cooke Amotal Anastigmat lens for the Bell & Howell Foton camera. Some of them appear in Leica screw mount, it is unknown if they are original or converted.

Telesar

Marked Telesar, maker unknown.

• 35/3.5 W.Telesar, black and chrome, similar to the Acall and Komura

Tokyo Optical

(Later Topcon.) See Topcon 39mm screw lenses

Voigtländer

Voigtländer Braunschweig

Voigtländer made some lenses in 39mm Leica mount. They are very rare and sought after.

• 50/1.5 Nokton, one of the lenses of the Prominent (see this page at Joe's blog)

Cosina Voigtländer

See Cosina Voigtländer.

Wollensak

Marked Leitz New York:

• 50/3.5 Velostigmat, all chrome, collapsible, focusing tab
• 50/2.8 Velostigmat (only reported in Classic Camera issue #9, by Pierpaolo Cancarini)
• 90/4.5 Velostigmat, black and chrome
• 127/4.5 Velostigmat, black and chrome, tripod mount

Yashica

• 50/1.8 Super-Yashinon, black and chrome (for the Yashica YE)
• 50/2.8 Yashikor, black and chrome

Yasuhara / Phenix

Yasuhara made a Yasuhara MC 50/2.8 lens for the T981. It was rigid, in chrome finish with a focusing bar (you can see it in this page of the Ichrizuka site by Madam-san).

Phenix made a Phenix MC 50/2.8 lens for the Phenix JG50, an evolution of the Yasuhara T981. It was a four element collapsible lens, always in chrome finish with a focusing tab.

Zeika

Made by Zeika Opt Co Tokyo.

• 35/3.5 Rojar, chrome

Carl Zeiss Jena

See Zeiss 39mm screw lenses.

Zuiho

Zuiho is the maker of the Honor, a Japanese Leica copy. Its standard lens was the Zuiho Honor 50mm f:2, rigid with black and chrome finish and focusing tab.

Zunow

See Zunow 39mm screw lenses.

Bibliography

• Inoue, Mitsuo (井上光朗). "Shashin renzu no yoake. Renzu-ya Funsenki" (写真レンズの夜明け・レンズ屋奮戦記, Dawn of the photographic lens – Fierce war tales between lens shops). Classic Camera Senka (クラシックカメラ専科), no.14, Oct 1, 1989. Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama. Pp 128–132.

Links

• The Syarakuse website, in Japanese, with English titles to navigate