Zunow 10cm f/2
Zunow (Teikoku Kogaku) · LTM · 1956
Also known as: Zunow 10cm f/2 · Zunow 100mm f/2 · Zunow 100mm f2 · Zunow 10cm F2 · Zunow 2/10cm · Zunow Opt. 10cm f/2 · ズノー 10cm F2 · ズノー 100mm F2
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black · Leica screw mount | LTM | 1956 | No. 30029 · No. 30033 · No. 30046 — the three published serials, all in the 300xx block | Not recorded |
- Filter. Zunow made a black-rimmed Y2 filter engraved 'Y2 X2.0 58mm F:1.2 100mm F:2' (photograph in a Yahoo! Auctions listing of November 2026, whose title misreads the 58mm as 50mm). The 58mm f/1.2 it names is a Zunow SLR lens, so the filter may have been made for the SLR's 58mm and 100mm lenses; it fits this rangefinder lens too, as the owner of one has confirmed. The engraving names the lenses, not the thread size; it is consistent with the 58mm filter figure given by leicalenslist.com without confirming it.
- A single secondary list (leicalenslist.com) also gives six elements in three groups, a 58mm filter, a 1.1 m close focus and a silver finish, and says itself that no verified cross-section exists; none of it is confirmed elsewhere, so none of it is entered here.
- The SLR lens came with the complete Zunow SLR outfit sold at Leitz Photographica Auction 40 in June 2022, its first appearance at a public sale, for €120,000. Its 400xx serial differs from the rangefinder lenses' 300xx. Leitz describes the SLR's 35mm and 100mm lenses as 'never officially released and produced for test purposes only'; that is disputed, since Arao's specification of July 1958 lists the 100mm f/2 (six elements in five groups, 440 g) and the Mitsukoshi flyer of August 1958 prices it at ¥34,000.
How to tell them apart
- Only the Leica-thread rangefinder lens is known. Pacific Rim Camera has seen it only in black and in thread mount and thinks Nikon, Contax and chrome versions possible but unverified; no Nikon S example has surfaced¹
- A different lens shares the name: the 100mm f/2 with automatic diaphragm made for the Zunow SLR of 1958, serial 40003 on the only one recorded. Whether the two share optics is not documented²
Black · Leica screw mount:
- Black barrel with a chrome mount (Camera-wiki), rangefinder-coupled; catalogued as Zunow Opt. Japan
- Black · Leica screw mount: No. 30029 was sold by Coeln Cameras at €12,000 before VAT. No. 30033 went unsold at Leitz Photographica Auction 43 against a €12,000–14,000 estimate; No. 30046, with light haze, was passed at Flints in April 2025 against £5,000–8,000.
Specifications
- Aperture range
- f/2
- Years manufactured
- 1956
- Country
- Japan
What reviewers say
No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.
Optical formula
No cross-section, patent or reliable construction has been found; the one list that gives an element count says itself that it has no verified drawing.
History
The third of the lenses Zunow put on sale when Teikoku Kōgaku took the Zunow name in December 1956, beside the 3.5cm f/1.7 and the 5cm f/1.3, and in CameraQuest’s view probably the first 100mm lens this fast for a 35mm rangefinder. Every example on record is a black, rangefinder-coupled screw-mount lens catalogued as Zunow Opt. Japan, and although Zunow’s 1957 list files its lenses under Leica, Contax, Canon and Nikon bodies together, no Nikon S or Contax 10cm f/2 has been seen.
Almost nothing about the optics has been published. No review, no cross-section, no patent; one secondary list gives six elements in three groups and a 58mm filter, and admits it cannot verify either. What is on record is the serials — 30029, 30033 and 30046 — and three trips to market: one sold by Coeln Cameras at €12,000 before VAT, one unsold at Leitz, one passed at Flints in 2025.
A second Zunow 100mm f/2 exists and is easily confused with it: the lens with an automatic diaphragm made for the company’s single-lens reflex, which went on sale in August 1958, ten months before the Nikon F, with a fully automatic diaphragm built into the body. The only one recorded, serial 40003, came with the SLR outfit that sold at Leitz in 2022 for €120,000. Whether the two share their glass is not documented. Zunow closed on 1 January 1961.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Example photos
Sample photo wanted — shot with a Zunow 10cm f/2? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
Listings updated 2026-11-09. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.