the ‘Mandler” 35mm f/2 lens to be made in China. Photo courtesy of Leica Rumors
Toronto. … or is nothing sacred these days? In 1975 I bought a 35mm summicron for my new Leica. I later (much later) learned it was the third iteration of the lens and designed up in Midland by Dr Mandler. The lens was boldly marked “LEITZ CANADA” around the lens front along with the name “SUMMICRON”, serial number, speed, and focal length.
A recent email from Wayne Ridley alerted me to a forth-coming Chinese knock-off of the 50+ year old pre-aspherical-element lens. The new model was announced by Leica Rumors and picked up by Digital Camera World. Rumors tag it as a seven elements design although the original late 1950s lens was said to be an eight element design and the newer (pre aspherical element) lenses were a six element design.
Dr Mandler moved to Midland after ww2 and remained in Canada for the rest of his life while camera and non-military lenses manufacture returned to Europe as the Leitz organization struggled to avoid dissolution (another story).
