Kinoptik Apochromat 100mm f2 cine lens that appears to have been converted to Leica screw mount shortly after World War II. It has a 4-group, 6-element Gauss-type design and weighs 970g. The serial number is 3xxx, suggesting it was manufactured in the 1940s.
The lens originally featured a very soft early coating on some of the elements, but it was so delicate that cleaning has almost entirely removed it, leaving virtually no coating remaining now.
When traveling to France, I occasionally come across Leica screw mount conversion lenses of this type from that era, but despite having rangefinder coupling cams, almost 100% of them have completely non-functional rangefinder coupling. I have yet to find a properly coupled example.
However, thanks to the efforts of a skilled repair technician, this particular lens has been adjusted to couple with the rangefinder almost perfectly, from 1m close focus to infinity, allowing it to be used without any issues in normal shooting. This is the dream Kinoptik 100mm lens, usable with Leica rangefinders!
The lens barrel used for this lens is commonly found on medium telephoto lenses converted for Leica rangefinder coupling by brands like Kinoptik, Astro-Berlin, and SOM Berthiot. It is likely a French-made barrel from shortly after World War II. Typically, these barrels are made of aluminum, but this one is constructed from a heavier alloy (material unknown) and is painted silver.
The gray paint has developed cracks over time, resembling the crazing found on ancient ceramics. Combined with the faded brown appearance of the early Kinoptik S1 lens head, it gives the lens a remarkably wabi-sabi aesthetic.
During its last sale in 2022, the lens underwent a full overhaul and meticulous rangefinder coupling adjustment as mentioned earlier. The glass shows only slight balsam separation in the middle element and a few minor cleaning marks, but these are unlikely to affect image quality. Additionally, early Kinoptik 100mm f2 lenses often suffer from flare in the center of the image due to internal reflections, but this lens has been thoroughly adjusted to minimize unwanted flare.
Although it was previously sold, sample images have been uploaded to the test shooting gallery. The lens produced minimal unwanted flare and offered smooth, rich, and gentle rendering. I hope you will check out the test shots in the gallery.
