I would like to buy a Leica screw mount 50mm lens for my Bessa R, but I think I want to avoid the collapsible lenses. Which models of Leica screw mount are non-collapsible?

TIA!

With best regards,

Steve Mack

The man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he could learn in no other way. Mark Twain

Since screw-mount Leicas were meant to be small and pocketable, the answer is - not many! There is the rigid Summar (very rare, almost all were collapsible), the pre-war Xenon and its post-war version the Summarit, the Summicron Mark II and the Summilux Mark I (both very rare indeed in rigid screw mount). If you are worried about fouling the metering baffle in a Voigtlander, I wouldn't be, I have used a collapsible Elmar with a Bessa T and L, even fired the shutter with the lens closed, and there was no damage. To be totally sure, you can place a piece of Dymo tape on the barrel of a collapsible lens in the extended position to stop it closing, Leica themselves did this to make old lenses usable with the Leica M5. If you want the good old pre-war Leica look, I would recommend an f3.5 Elmar, which is also the cheapest choice by far.

Regards,

David

On the other side of the spectrum are the screw mount Summicron 50/2.0 (11619) and Summilux 50/1.4 (11621) that were made around 1999 in limited numbers (I believe 500 each) for the Japanese market. Chrome only. Some of these turned up outside Japan and are offered on the auction site occasionally. Expect to pay between $ 1500 for a mint Summicron and $ 2200 for a Summilux.

No stress, buy a collapsable lens and strap a "fixing plastic collar" around the tube. That way, it's impossible for the lens to be fully collapsed and no damage (for both camera and lens).
I use my Leica's Elmar and Summitar that way on my Bessa T.
Just the collar have to be cutted for remove, I'm thinking to use velcro straps (the one used for fixing wiring behind desk) what's a reusable solution.

I have the Leitz Summarit 50/1.5. My copy has cleaning marks in the coating (alot of them do because the coating is soft) The Summarit has a wierd size filter (41mm) therefore a hood solution is pain as well unless you find the original hood which is expensive. I use a cameraquest.com 41mm hood but it was $50 with a cap. It is nice to have the large aperture though. The look wide open is great for photographs of people, and is why I have it.

The summicron collapses without a problem on my R2. The Leica Collapsible lenses have a much heavier mechanism than the Zeiss and Nikon Collapsible lenses.