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 [1][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 [1]. It was made in Leica screw mount (LTM / M39) for the Tanack cameras, which themselves accepted Leica thread-mount lenses [2]. 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 [1]. Like the other Tanar lenses, it uses a straight helical so that the front of the barrel does not rotate during focusing [2]. 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 [1]. 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 [1]. 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 [1].

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 [1]. 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 [2]. 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 [1]. 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 [1].

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 [1]. 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 [1]. 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 [1]. Production of the lens effectively ended with the collapse of the Tanack camera business in late 1959 [2].

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 [1].

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 [1]. 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 [1]. As with many 1950s Japanese rangefinder lenses, internal haze and dust in the cemented groups are common condition issues to inspect before purchase.

Sources

• [1] Camerapedia. Tanar lenses. https://camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Tanar_lenses
• [2] Camerapedia. Tanaka. https://camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Tanaka