Leica M 28mm Elmarit with Hood
Toronto. A Toronto Star ad by Len MacNeil sent me off to Scarborough in quest of Leica M lenses. When I arrived, Len had sold most of his lenses but he had a beautiful 28mm Elmarit left. This lens was designed in Wetzlar where a few were manufactured and labelled.
The lens manufacture moved to Midland, Ontario where my lens was made and clearly labelled (contrary to both Dennis Laney and Gianni Rogliatti). The lens was made in 1966 and uses a massive cell that fits deep into the camera body – too deep to mount on my Sony NEX cameras since it just touches the sensor mount. On my M4, the lens was free of the distortion that made the Angenieux 28mm on my Exakta so troublesome to use.
Two later lens designs were made eliminating this deep penetration into the Leica body. The 2nd design was made in Midland by Dr Walter Mandler who joined Leitz Canada when the little company was first founded after the second world war. Leitz Canada originally set up shop in the Midland Curling Rink, a spot Bell Canada used much later to assemble radio telephone equipment and gear that I helped install around the Georgian Bay area one summer.
