Tanaka Kogaku W Tanar 35mm f/2.8

Tanaka Kogaku W Tanar 35mm f/2.8

The W Tanar 35mm f/2.8 was the faster of the two wide-angle lenses Tanaka Kogaku built for its Tanack rangefinder system, a family of Japanese Leica copies produced in the 1950s. It was offered as a new product in late 1956 at a price of 15,800 yen, and it remained available until the Tanack cameras were discontinued at the end of the decade [1]. Using a more complex optical layout than the slower 35mm f/3.5 it replaced, the lens reflects Tanaka's brief push to round out the Tanar line beyond the standard 50mm optics[2].

Optically the W Tanar 35mm f/2.8 is a six-element design arranged in four groups, with the aperture stopping down to f/22 through a diaphragm of six blades. It was made in Leica screw mount (LTM / M39) for the Tanack cameras, which themselves accepted Leica thread-mount lenses. The Leica-mount version is uncoupled to the rangefinder, in keeping with the simpler handling Tanaka used on its wide-angle barrels; the focus tab and focus ring are shared with the earlier 35mm f/3.5, and only the finely knurled aperture ring differs between the two. Like the other Tanar lenses, it uses a straight helical so that the front of the barrel does not rotate during focusing. As a 35mm lens it requires an accessory viewfinder, since the Tanack and Leica-type bodies of the era did not provide a built-in 35mm frame.

The lens exists in more than one form. The Leica-mount version always carries a black and chrome barrel, with black focus and aperture rings and chrome lens tip, focus tab and barrel base; the front bezel is engraved either W TANAR 35mm f:2.8 or W TANACK 35mm f:2.8, in both cases with the W picked out in red. Tanaka also produced the lens in Nikon S and Contax rangefinder mount, where the barrel differs noticeably: the focus ring and lens tip are black while the aperture ring and base mount are chrome, the focus ring carries a row of fine knurls without a focus tab, and it turns in the opposite direction to follow Nikon and Contax ergonomics. Because the rangefinder cam geometry of the two systems differs only slightly at wide angles, the Nikon and Contax examples were sold interchangeably for either body.

Optical qualities

Rendering Independent technical testing of this specific lens is scarce, and published rendering reports are limited. As a six-element, four-group wide angle from the mid-1950s, it belongs to a generation of coated Japanese rangefinder optics intended to give even coverage across the 35mm frame at moderate apertures. In the absence of reliable measured data for the f/2.8 version, claims about its sharpness, contrast, bokeh or flare cannot be stated with confidence, and prospective users should treat it as a period wide-angle lens whose character is not well documented.

History

Development and Launch Tanaka Kogaku, based in Kawasaki and later Ginza, began work on a Leica copy called the Tanack 35 in 1952 and released it in 1953, building a line of Tanar screw-mount lenses to equip the cameras. The first non-standard Tanar lenses were the chrome W Tanar 35mm f/3.5 and Tele-Tanar 13.5cm f/3.5, announced in late 1955. As the range shifted to a black-and-chrome finish around late 1956, the chrome 35mm f/3.5 was gradually replaced by the black-and-chrome 35mm f/2.8, which appeared as a new product at the end of that year.

Production Evolution The 35mm f/2.8 was offered alongside the 13.5cm telephoto in Nikon and Contax mounts in addition to Leica mount, an expansion of the Tanar catalogue during 1956 and 1957. Known serial numbers for the Leica-mount lens run from 283579 to 284470, a sequence that plausibly began at 283501, with the "2835" prefix understood to encode the lens specification of 2.8 and 35mm. The Nikon and Contax examples carry a separate, much lower serial range, recorded from 58543 to 58705, which overlaps the numbers used for the chrome Tanar H.C. 5cm f/2.8. Production of the lens effectively ended with the collapse of the Tanack camera business in late 1959.

Special editions No major factory special editions of the W Tanar 35mm f/2.8 are widely documented beyond the dual front engraving, where some examples read W TANACK rather than W TANAR, and the separate Nikon and Contax mount versions.

Collector Notes Buyers should confirm the front-bezel engraving and the mount, since the lens was sold in Leica screw, Nikon S and Contax forms that look broadly similar but are not interchangeable on the body; the Leica version has a focus tab and a black-and-chrome barrel, while the Nikon and Contax versions lack the tab and reverse the chrome and black placement. The model is uncommon, the recorded Leica-mount serial run suggesting only a small total production, so originality of finish and matching caps and finders is worth checking. As with many 1950s Japanese rangefinder lenses, internal haze and dust in the cemented groups are common condition issues to inspect before purchase.