This Old Lens On Fujifilm 200: Leica Leitz Canada 135mm f/2.8 Elmarit M Lens with Goggles

Preface:

Respectfully what in the whole heck?

As shared in the last post on this lens I was a bit surprised how well this lens did on M Digital. But…

Somehow it was even better with film.
It works with the Konica Hexar RF.
- While I expected it to work well with a Leica film M, the goggles aligned and worked perfectly with the Konica Hexar RF. Focusing was a breeze.
- I guess this is more a testament to Konica for making their camera as interchangeable with Leica lenses as any Leica camera.

Before posting samples and additional thoughts I will cut and paste my preview post text for this lens.

First off why? Well… Much of what you need to know is in the name.

It is a Leica lens.
It has a portrait friendly 135mm focal length.
Goggles. I think they are cool looking.

Not in the name.

Leica name, but not a Leica price tag. Came in for less than any of my herd of Artisan M lenses.
Built in lens hood. I am a sucker for a built in lens hood.

Big fat metal lens cap with an embossed Leica logo. You would pay over half the price of this lens for a Leica branded metal lens cap. A very Leica world specific metric, but valid nonetheless.

Built like a proper in a pinch melee weapon as expected.
Have yet to test it in the wild but the goggles appear to work with the rangefinder on my Konica Hexar RF as well while looking the business in all black. ~~Need to test this setup in the wild.~~ Done.

While not surprising given Leica’s dedication to backwards and forwards M integration this film era goggle-ified lens works and focuses just fine with a digital M.
I kind of like having an actual Leica lens.
Oh. And it can be used to take a photo.

Notes from early testing.

Pros

While not pin sharp it is plenty sharp enough for portraits.
I find the glowy aesthetic of the background blur and flare to be a plus for portraits.
Perhaps courtesy of the used Leica grip it is better balanced on the M than I expected.
Takes a bit of concentration to focus but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.
I think it looks the business on camera.

According to a Leica forum Wiki this appears to be a Mark II version of this lens produced between 1964 and 1973.
Made in Canada, evidently. This bothers some as I understand things. I could not give less of a flip about this.
Cost me 1/23 the asking price for a brand new, slower aperture having, non-goggle-ified 135mm Leica M option. No one would cross shop these lenses, but sans goggles I imagine an add on EVF would be needed and in that case why not just get an SL or other… Wait. I am pretending any of this makes sense right now… nevermind. Whatever floats your boat.

Cons

Not seen with other M lenses is a slight vertical rangefinder image misalignment. Likely due to the goggles being slightly off. Nothing worth investigating further since it does not impact the horizontal rangefinder alignment. Will write this off as an acceptable anomaly specific to this lens.
Goggles would look ridiculous adapted to a mirrorless camera and floating in the middle of nowhere unused so I will likely not even try. Silly reason? Yes. I will own it.

End cut and paste here. Here are all 37 images from the roll. All 37. Not one single shot was out of focus. That is as good or better hit rate than any other M lens I have used with any camera. As much as I love (Yes. Love. I will own it.) rangefinders I always expect a couple of missed frames. Film or digital. Chalk it up to human error. But all 37 frames in focus… with a 135mm lens? That is a far better hit rate than I have had with 75mm and 90mm M lenses. I credit the goggles. That extra bit of magnification makes a heck of a difference.

There is one caveat. Would not call it a disadvantage with such solid results.

Whether with digital or film the goggles block the outer edges of the rangefinder. But…

All 37 frames are in focus. I find it impossible to argue with those results. All pics were taken while out and about with my very patient kids using Fujifilm 200 and developed with Cinestill CS41.