pragmatist Posted June 13, 2012 Share #1 Posted June 13, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) Think i read somewhere that it's good practice to send your M9 and favourite lens in for critical calibration. Am i right here and if so does your local Leica dealer do this or is it a Solms jobbie? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 13, 2012 Posted June 13, 2012 Hi pragmatist, Take a look here Lens calibration. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Paul J Posted June 13, 2012 Share #2 Posted June 13, 2012 I too have wondered this. The thought of being without it for a couple weeks though has always stopped me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
asmith Posted June 13, 2012 Share #3 Posted June 13, 2012 I believe there is a traditional American expression of wisdom which goes " If it ain't broke don't fix it" . Alwyn 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
viboons Posted June 13, 2012 Share #4 Posted June 13, 2012 (edited) From my own experience, local Leica shop can only calibrate old lens, 28mm Elmarit-M, 35mm Cron ASPH, 50mm Cron, 50mm Lux and M8, M9 but they cannot calibrate FLE lens, 50mm Lux ASPH and 35mm Lux ASPH. I had to sell my 50mm Lux ASPH to the shop and still keep my 35mm Lux FLE deciding to send it to Solms or trade it with the good calibrated one. Edited June 13, 2012 by viboons Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 13, 2012 Share #5 Posted June 13, 2012 (edited) :confused:Did I get that right? Sell a lens because it needs focus adjustment? A bit weird if I may say so. Leica will adjust any lens to M8/9 standard. You are correct that it is preferable to have FLE lenses adjusted by Leica themselves. They have the equipment and expertise. Normal lenses are just as well served -or sometimes even better- by reputed Leica repair shops. I would urge you to search the forums. There are dozens of threads on the subject. Edited June 13, 2012 by jaapv Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IWC Doppel Posted June 13, 2012 Share #6 Posted June 13, 2012 I have had my old glass checked and adjusted where necessary when having 6 bit coding by a recommended specialist. Interestingly two lenses had a little oil mist that would have marginally reduced performance before cleaning and reassembly Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenPatterson Posted June 13, 2012 Share #7 Posted June 13, 2012 (edited) Advertisement (gone after registration) Think i read somewhere that it's good practice to send your M9 and favourite lens in for critical calibration. Some people are under the false impression that Leica calibrates your lenses to "match" your specific body, which is absolutely false. Leica calibrates rangefinders and lenses to a standard, so that lenses and bodies are completely interchangeable with all the other bodies and lenses in the world. To do otherwise would be chaos, and would mean a return to the long retired practice of having bodies and lenses with matching serial numbers that could only be used together. My apologies if your OP was just a suggestion to have your favorite equipment regularly checked, but I agree that "if it ain't broke then don't fix it..." Edited June 13, 2012 by StephenPatterson 12 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpalme Posted June 13, 2012 Share #8 Posted June 13, 2012 Check the repair sticky at the top of the page. I got quotes from a couple of them and it varies wildly so here's the link: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/customer-forum/176369-repair-specialists.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pragmatist Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share #9 Posted June 13, 2012 Thanks for all the input guys!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darylgo Posted June 13, 2012 Share #10 Posted June 13, 2012 Some people are under the false impression that Leica calibrates your lenses to "match" your specific body, which is absolutely false. Leica calibrates rangefinders and lenses to a standard, so that lenses and bodies are completely interchangeable with all the other bodies and lenses in the world. To do otherwise would be chaos, and would mean a return to the long retired practice of having bodies and lenses with matching serial numbers that could only be used together. My apologies if your OP was just a suggestion to have your favorite equipment regularly checked, but I agree that "if it ain't broke then don't fix it..." Calibrate to a standard makes perfect sense Stephen, that would mean each calibrated separately would give ideal calibration together. If not what does Leica do? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted June 14, 2012 Share #11 Posted June 14, 2012 .... Leica will adjust any lens to M8/9 standard...... I also believed this to be the case, but my dealer sent a 135mm Tele-Elmar lens to Solms this year for recalibration for use on an M9 and had it returned saying that it was not possible to recalibrate that lens. I later found another version which focused perfectly. Perhaps it has to do with original tolerances. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 14, 2012 Share #12 Posted June 14, 2012 No, that has to do with the mechanism. That lens is a dog to adjust, to put it mildly. If you have to have it done by Leica at their prices and overhead it is better to buy another one. I had mine done by Will van Manen, and he (although he does not like doing these lenses) got it spot-on. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted June 14, 2012 Share #13 Posted June 14, 2012 How long does a lens calibration take? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 14, 2012 Share #14 Posted June 14, 2012 Depends on how busy people are... It is not a very time-consuming job. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christoph13 Posted June 14, 2012 Share #15 Posted June 14, 2012 I had two lenses calibrated by Will van Manen and another one repaired. Another satisfied customer Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted June 14, 2012 Share #16 Posted June 14, 2012 on average for Leica Solms for something like a 75 Summilux? are we talking more than 2 weeks? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
espresso Posted June 14, 2012 Share #17 Posted June 14, 2012 How long does a lens calibration take? it took the solms hq 2 months to calibrate my m9 and 50 lux asph. express within 1 week or so is possible but even more expensive. i´m completely happy with their work. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 14, 2012 Share #18 Posted June 14, 2012 Will is a lot faster in my experience. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christoph13 Posted June 14, 2012 Share #19 Posted June 14, 2012 None of my lenses that I sent to Will took longer than a week plus shipping but maybe I was just lucky. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocaburger Posted June 14, 2012 Share #20 Posted June 14, 2012 I also believed this to be the case, but my dealer sent a 135mm Tele-Elmar lens to Solms this year for recalibration for use on an M9 and had it returned saying that it was not possible to recalibrate that lens. I later found another version which focused perfectly. Perhaps it has to do with original tolerances. That may be true of the last version (e46 filter, telescoping shade), but the earlier version is most definitely possible to recalibrate, credited to the fact the lens head is meant to unscrew for Visoflex use w/ a short focus mount. I did mine myself. At the rear of the lens head are male threads which screw into the focus mount, and beyond those threads is a flat landing about (If memory serves) 3mm wide. Depending on whether the lens needs to be positioned farther away from or nearer to the focal plane, that landing area must either be shimmed or milled-down, respectively. Mine required the latter, certainly the more difficult of the two, but with careful measurement and incremental progress I was able to nail it spot-on. After shimming or milling, the thread timing will be slightly different, so the aperture index/focus index/DOF scales will need to be re-aligned, which is a matter of loosening three very tiny grub screws, rotating the tube, and re-tightening the screws. If I could DIY it in an hour, then a Leica specialist with his specialist tools and experience should be able to do it in ten minutes. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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