The GAS bug hit me too. After a long and patient search, I finally found an "affordable" 2.8cm/3.5 NKJ W-NIKKORˇC in Leica Thread Mount. I had been using an adapted S mount version but the LTM mount is much harder to find. Prices all over the place. There is actually one posted on eBay for $2199. Have seen a couple over the last year in the $800 range. I took a chance on one for much less (I could almost sell it to KEH for what I paid for it) .
It seems the original owner had blackened out the area of the filter ring and surrounding area around the front element with black permanent marker/paint. These 1952 lenses are chrome plated brass construction. So I was not sure if the reason they marked that area was to cover chrome coming off or what the reason.
Long story short, after removing the front element so I would not damage it in a cleaning effort and after a lot of time with acetone, isopropyl alcohol, and cotton swabs the lens looks like new. With the exception of a little oil on the aperture blades, this thing is near mint. I will post a before and after tomorrow.
Had a cold and rainy Saturday yesterday so I did not get out like I wanted to, but did make a trip to the state farmers market to pick up some sweet potatoes and took a couple shots there. Posted one below. Hopefully next weekend weather will be nice. I have a couple areas I want to give this lens a good test.
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