I've got the following and wonder if they'll fit modern Canon (or other make) camera: (All Canon Serenar)- f:2 85mm; f:3.5 35 mm; f:4 135 mm. Also Nikkor S.C 1:15 f=5cm [Nippon Kogaku] and Super Rokkor 1:28 f=45 mm [Chiyoko].

-- lisa zack (lzack@ipns.com), January 20, 2000

Answers

No - They won't fit a modern Canon unless U have a Leica Screw mount adaptor for yr EOS or FD mount Canon camera.

The lenses listed are old Leica Screw Mount lenses and will fit camera bodies that use that mount - e.g. Old Nikon, Canon, and Leica Rangefinders and the current production Cosina/Voightlander and Yashuhara RFs.

If they are in mint to excellent condition - they are worth quite a bit - check out ebay and the following site to find out a bit more about them and what they are worth today.

www.cameraquest.com

The site is run by Steve Gandy - He should be able to give U a better idea of what they are worth.

-- Shannon Hong (Shong@lhc.qld.edu.au), January 20, 2000.

Minor correction. Nikon never made a screw-mount rangefinder, they just sold lenses for them.

A lot of Japanese rangefinders after WWII were more or less copies of Leica screw-mount rangefinders. There is an adapter that will let you mount them to modern Leica M mount rangefinders (and the cheaper Minolta CL cameras and the new Konica M-mount rangefinder).

Cosina will be soon selling a rangefinder that takes screw-mount lenses (they are currently selling a camera that takes the lenses but has no rangefninder or viewfinder.

According to Stephen Gandy's web site only about 300 5cm 1.5 Nikkor lenses were made for Leica cameras. DO NOT SELL IT WITHOUT PROPER APRAISEL!!! It could easily be worth more than what the dealer wanted for your entire collection.

-- Geoffrey S. Kane (grendel@nauticom.net), January 21, 2000.

Thanks for information on the Nikkor lense. I went to a camera show over the weekend and was swamped with collectors trying to buy it! One told me not to even consider selling it without appraisal but guessed it could fetch as much as $1,000. He suggested selling it on ebay. I will try to get local appraisal first.Thanks again.

-- lisa zack (lzack@ipns.com), January 24, 2000.

Lisa, just some background info for you. Nikkor is the brand name for the lenses made by Nikon. Originally, Nikon was just the name of the camera and the company was known as Nippon Kogaku. In fact, Nippon Kogaku made lenses for other cameras before they designed their own, so there were Nikkor lenses before there ever was a Nikon canera(1948).

You might want to check out the webpage for the Nikon Historical Society (http://www.nikonhs.org). Stephen Gandy also has a very good web page. He specializes in Nikon and Leica and has a page at www.cameraquest.com .

-- Geoffrey S. Kane (grendel@nauticom.net), January 24, 2000.

It is funny. Early on Canon made cameras, but not lenses. They used Nikkor lenses, since that company didn't make cameras. After a while Canon started making lenses, and later Nippon Kyogu (sp?) started making cmaeras. Now the two are the two largest camera/lens makers.

-- Terry Carraway (TCarraway@compuserve.com), April 13, 2000.