Photo Above: Subject lens (foreground) mounted to the Samsung NX1 using a bellows for both infinity and MACRO focus assist. The lens is a M39 screw mount. I used an M39-to-M42 step-up ring to attached to a M42 mount bellows. The camera end is a Pentax mount which I adapted to the NX1 with a PK-to-NX mount adapter.
The 20cm f/4.5 Telyt of 1935 was a quality lens for its day. It had a 5-element, 4-group design and a 20-blade iris diaphragm behind the 3rd element (see photo below).
This lens was designed with an achromatic doublet at the front which brings red and blue light to the same focus. Known as an achromatic lens or achromat, it is a lens designed to limit the effects of chromatic and spherical aberration. Achromatic lenses are corrected to bring two wavelengths (typically red and blue) into focus on the same plane (see illustration below).
The 20cm f/4.5 - f36 Telyt was designed for mounting on the first Leitz Reflex housing for screw-mount Leicas and was subsequently used on the original Visoflex (see illustration below.
The lens was made with milled or scalloped focusing rings. It has aperture settings from f/4.5-36, a rather long minimum focus distance of 3 meters (9.8 feet), weighs in at a hefty 550g (1.2 pounds), and bears the inscription Ernst Leitz Wetzlar Telyt. Total assigned serial numbers over its entire production run indicate that only 17,100 were made, making it fairly uncommon. (Source #leicasociety Instagram)
Serial number of the subject lens is #272404 which historical documentation shows the lens was fabricated in the second year of production (1935) and only 1,000 were made (below table).
SN Start SN End Product Year Total
230001 230300 20 cm 1:4.5 20cm 1934 300
272001 273000 20 cm 1:4.5 Telyt 1935 1000
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The photos below are shown 'as-photographed' (except as noted), with no in-camera picture effects or filters. Due to the long focal length a tripod was used.
7/14 Update: I performed a simple adjustment in a photo editor to align the black and white levels to match the histogram for most of the photographs below. I posted them below their unedited counterparts.
F18 / 1/125sec / -0.3EV / ISO200
F12.5 / 1/250sec / 0EV / ISO200
I noticed that when even using the camera's histogram to better dial-in exposure, images with this lens for the most part came out slightly over exposed producing a hazy look. It is noticeable in both the photograph above and below.
F18 / 1/80sec / -0.3EV / ISO200
Below: Corrected image above for (black/white) levels,shadow
F36 / 1/30sec / 0EV / ISO200
F12.5 / 1/250sec / 0EV / ISO200
Below: Enlargement of photograph above to show level of detail sharpness. Note that image below was corrected for (black/white) levels and shadow.
The following three photographs were taken with a full open aperture (f4.5) and close range to express the background bokeh. The 20-aperture blades of the lens produced a beautiful uniform bokeh as shown below:
F4.5 / 1/500sec / -0.3EV / ISO100
The photo below shows that with the lens fully 'stopped-down' dust particles or fungus are present in the lens.
Comments: The best aspect of this lens is the bokeh as shown. It's built solid and both the focus and aperture dials are smooth and firm. The dust and fungus discovery is a bummer, but the lens elements can always be cleaned.
Practical use is another issue. As shown mounted to the camera you need a bellows for proper focusing and a tripod, so it's no run-and-gun street-photography lens.
Exciting to find this lens was one of the first years of production (1935) with only 1,000 made that year. The first year there were only 300 made, so 1934 the first production test-run year.
As noted the lens produces a sense of slightly hazy or overexposed results compared to what the camera's histogram suggests. However, I provided a 'mastered' (we'll call it that for simplicity's sake) copy for most of the photographs, where black and while levels were balanced to match the histogram for the image. The result were images that reallyt popped. It changed my thinking on the potential for this lens on a modern digital camera.
Comments welcome.
#leicalens #SamsungNX1 #NX1 #lecia #Leitztylet #bartsantello
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