Dallmeyer 8.5cm f2 Telephoto Lens for Leica Screw Mount.
Manufactured in the late 1940s, this Dallmeyer 8.5cm f2 lens is a rangefinder-coupled telephoto lens with a 4-group, 6-element double Gauss design. The aluminum barrel, made by Cooke & Perkins, is well-crafted and features a refined British design.
In contemporary catalogs, this lens was marketed as featuring "Dallcoat", a lightweight metal barrel, and high resolution, and was sold for the Leica L-mount. The Dallmeyer 85mm lens, though produced in limited quantities, comes in several variations, and this particular example is likely the most common type. The lens weighs approximately 399g and has a filter diameter of 48.5 or 49mm.
It underwent a full overhaul in January 2025. After careful servicing, the helicoid operates smoothly and the rangefinder coupling is working well.
The glass shows a very shallow cleaning mark on the front element and some typical white-ish coating damage on the rear element, common for Dallmeyer lenses, but they have little to no impact on shooting performance.
The soft rendering near wide open is beautifully pleasing—sweet is the perfect word to describe it. Whether wide open or stopped down, the lens delivers delicate lines and beautiful bokeh, typical of Dallmeyer’s style, making it ideal for atmospheric portraiture and still-life photography.
The test shots confirmed that the lens performs as expected. I hope you enjoy viewing the results in the test gallery, all of which were taken wide open.
