What is a Votar 135mm f/3.5?

[Loose Gravel]

Years ago I inherited a Votar from my uncle. He was a Leica and Rolleiflex fan. In the mix of things, there is a Votar lens. Looks funky. Mostly chrome except the image end is black and reads "Votar 1:3.5 f = 135mm West Berlin Germany Nr 17366", and a red V. Looks like a piece of junk. Is it?

 

[David H. Bebbington]

Out of curiosity, is the lens in a focusing mount? Does it have a 39 mm Leica-type screw thread on the end? (You say your uncle was a Leica fan). Never heard of the lens, but quite a few makers produced lenses in Leica-thread mounts. As this type of lens is relatively easy to make, the example you have might well work OK if in good condition. Rumours that this company also made a floating-element design called the Floating Votar cannot be confirmed

 

[Eric Rose]

check out this guy: http://www.exakta.org/popicollb.html

 

[Loose Gravel]

It is a focuser and is threaded on the camera end. I don't know what Leica threads look like. The threads are male and about 1 19/32" OD. That's about 40mm. Could this be the Leica 39mm thread?

 

[David H. Bebbington]

It is a focuser and is threaded on the camera end. I don't know what Leica threads look like. The threads are male and about 1 19/32" OD. That's about 40mm. Could this be the Leica 39mm thread?

Sure sounds like it! You may find that the maker tried so hard to copy the Leica 135 mm lens (called a Hektor) that he also made the lens head capable of being unscrewed. If so, the lens could be used for many other things (the lens head of the Hektor when unscrewed covered at least 4x5").