Difference between revisions of "Kowa lenses for other cameras"
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Revision as of 11:24, 15 March 2009
The Prominar 35mm f/2.8 is perhaps the only lens made by Kowa in Leica screw mount. (The earlier Prominar 7.5cm f/3.5 and 7.3cm f/3.5 are not signed by Kowa, and were perhaps manufactured by Sun instead, see K.O.L. and Sun lenses in Leica screw mount.)
Description
The lens is known from a single example, recently sold at auction.[1] Its front and rear part have a very different finish, giving a rather disparaged aspect, akin to an aftermarket conversion.
The rear mount and focusing ring are chrome finished, with a tab and an infinity lock. The distance scale is engraved in feet, going down to 3.5ft and perhaps beyond. The lens head is black, and has a massive aperture ring with black and chrome knurls, graduated from 2.8 to 22. The front bezel is engraved Prominar 1:2.8 f=35mm Kowa Optical Works No.xxxxxxx. The only known example has serial number 1600290.
Similar Kowa lenses
Other Prominar 35mm f/2.8 lenses made by Kowa are the fixed lens of the Kallowide and Kallowide F and the wide angle interchangeable lens of the Kallo 140 and Kowa 140 rangefinder cameras with leaf shutter. (The lenses for Kowa's 35mm SLR cameras do not have the Prominar name.) All these Prominar 35mm f/2.8 have similar serial numbers in the 16xxxxx range, and certainly have the same optical design, with six elements in four groups. The Leica mount lens was not adapted from any of these. The aspect of the head is superficially similar to that of the Kallo 140 lens, but the knurled ring has a different function on the latter, where it is used for focusing. This tends to indicate that the Leica mount lens was an original product, specifically made by Kowa itself.
No original document mentioning the Leica mount lens has been found yet, and the lens was perhaps never commercially sold.
External viewfinder
The lens comes with a black and chrome accessory viewfinder. It might be the same as for the 35mm f/2.8 lens of the Kallo 140, and its external aspect is also quite similar to the auxiliary Kontur-like finders offered by Kowa for other rangefinder cameras. The viewfinder's barrel is a black cylinder, with a chrome front rim inscribed Prominar, and a chrome ring at the rear, graduated in feet from ∞ to 3.5ft, for manual parallax compensation.
Notes
- ↑ Example sold as lot no.391 of Westlicht auction no.14 (November 30, 2008).
Links
In English:
- Kowa Prominar 35mm f/2.8 for Leica: lot no.391 of auction no.14 (November 30, 2008) by Westlicht
