SteveYork Posted August 26, 2006 Share #1 Posted August 26, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) Two of my Leica lenses are very stiff focusing -- a 50mm Summilux ASPH and a 90mm Elmarit. What, if anything, can I do about that? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 26, 2006 Posted August 26, 2006 Hi SteveYork, Take a look here Stiff lenses. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
cbretteville Posted August 26, 2006 Share #2 Posted August 26, 2006 Steve, My 90 Elmarit-M is stiff at a certain point when focusing. Has been that way since I got it (2nd hand). I beleve we need to send them in for a CLA to get back that butter smooth focusingI have on all my other lenses. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted August 26, 2006 Share #3 Posted August 26, 2006 Steve When I sent my 50mm Summilux ASPH back to Solms for coding, I asked them to have a look at the focussing because like yours, it was difficult to focus, especially with the finger grip and it seemed to get stuck at infinity. They fixed it and now the lens is silky smooth from end to end, a complete transformation. No idea what they did but it certainly worked. My Elmarit focusses fine, but I recently had it CLA'd by Solms and it came back like new. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted August 26, 2006 Share #4 Posted August 26, 2006 My 28 Elmarit-R ROM went back to Leica Milton Keynes in the spring as it was binding at infinity. They did a great job for around £100 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilfredo Posted August 26, 2006 Share #5 Posted August 26, 2006 My 90mm Elmarit is somewhat stiff although it doesn't really bother me. I'm wondering what it costs to have it made smooth again (CLA) by Leica USA? Wilfredo+ Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_n Posted August 27, 2006 Share #6 Posted August 27, 2006 I have 24mm and 90mm ASPH lenses with stiff focus. I guess they don't make them like they used to... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k_g_wolf ✝ Posted August 27, 2006 Share #7 Posted August 27, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) Exercise them ! When you watch TV nxt time get your camera and lens and move the focusing ring of the lens for a while. As soon as the grease in your lens gets softer, your problem might be solved. Best Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbretteville Posted August 27, 2006 Share #8 Posted August 27, 2006 Karl Georg, I've tried that with the 90, hasn't helped. There is also a distinct sound of air being forced out when turning the ring. I think its time it took a trip back home for a tuneup. While there I might as well have it coded for use with the M8. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k_g_wolf ✝ Posted August 27, 2006 Share #9 Posted August 27, 2006 > Carl maybe that´s best, indeed. When you get it coded, describe your complains exactly and you will get the lens back in perfect order. Since it´s such a new lens they won´t even charge for it ... Best Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k_g_wolf ✝ Posted August 27, 2006 Share #10 Posted August 27, 2006 Sorry, Carl, your´s is the older lens, mixed it up with the ASPH. above. So I can´t say anything about the costaspects here. Just try. Best Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbesz Posted August 27, 2006 Share #11 Posted August 27, 2006 Funny thing, I have a similar problem with a 20-year old 35mm Summicron R lens I bought on ebay not so long ago, otherwise it is perfect. Such is life! K.G., should I bring it next month? Do you think Solms can fix it in a day or two? Regards, William Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k_g_wolf ✝ Posted August 27, 2006 Share #12 Posted August 27, 2006 > William That´s close to PHOTOKINA time, and I don´t think they can manage. It takes a couple of hours to dismantle a lens, lubricate and (perhaps) collimate it again. Most likely they will have to send the thing to Australia after two weeks or so. I would bring the lens along for a try and leave it if necessary. It´s worth while, you can enjoy the lens for years afterwards. Same happened to my s/h SUMMICRON-R 35 mm some time back. I sent it to SOLMS and had it relubed. AlthoughI have three zoomlenses incorporating the 35 mm I use the SUMMICRON very often because of f2. The f4- zooms just do not get there ... ----------------------------------------------------------- By the way, I have already made an appointment with LEICA bei Meister - a new posh LEICA- shop near Kurfuerstendamm - for you. So be prepared not open your wallets too far until then. Best Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbretteville Posted August 27, 2006 Share #13 Posted August 27, 2006 Sorry, Carl, your´s is the older lens, mixed it up with the ASPH. above. So I can´t say anything about the costaspects here. Just try. Best K.G., I knew that , its a 3898xxx and came in a white box. Got it from a fellow on PNet about a year ago. Very happy with the results, some times I long for the 'cron, but in general the 90mm Elmarit-M is a great compromise between quality, weight, size and VF blockage. They have a set price for an M body CLA, so I expect iot to be the same for a lens. I'll write them and see what they say. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbesz Posted August 27, 2006 Share #14 Posted August 27, 2006 K. G., thanks for your reply and most interesting too that you had a similar experience with an older Summicron-R 35 lens being stiff to rotate. Yes, it will be great to visit Berlin before Solms and Photokina. Just out of interest, I only once visited Berlin (when newly married and with my wife) when the wall was still standing, and crossed over to the East for half a day. My main purpose to travel to this region of Europe was to fly a glider from a hill called Wasserkuppe, the so-called birth place of gliding. This 950 meter hill is about an hours drive East from Frankfurt. I flew to the East and West border (and before being shot down ), returned to land on top of Wasserkuppe hill again. Now many years later I am visiting because of Leica camera! Cheers, William Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveYork Posted August 27, 2006 Author Share #15 Posted August 27, 2006 Exercise them ! When you watch TV nxt time get your camera and lens and move the focusing ring of the lens for a while. As soon as the grease in your lens gets softer, your problem might be solved. Best That's what I initially thought, and there's been some improvement over the last year, but not much. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_n Posted August 27, 2006 Share #16 Posted August 27, 2006 Yep me too. I have exercised the 90mm madly but to no avail. I'm sending that one back because its under warranty. The 24mm is going to DAG. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbesz Posted August 27, 2006 Share #17 Posted August 27, 2006 "That's what I initially thought, and there's been some improvement over the last year, but not much." Hi Steve, if it's any help I decided to ring up a local camera serviceman who's experience I respect to make comment on the question of lens stifness. He tells me that the only way to rectify this problem is to dismantle the lens and remove the hardened lubricant in an ultrasonic cleaner (in solvent), and even then it sometimes requires scraping off. He also tells me the lubricants vary a lot due to many reasons such as metal types, tolerants between surfaces etc., and keeps a stock of about 30 different types. Cheers, William Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k_g_wolf ✝ Posted August 28, 2006 Share #18 Posted August 28, 2006 > William The Berlin-Wall can still be visited, at least very tiny bits of it, compared to it´s original size. No problem to stroll around the area, Check Point Charly i.e. Have not been to the >>Wasserkuppe<<, paragliding always was too risky for my liking. Esp. since my barber/ coiffeur crashed on a holiday in Croatia, broke both legs, and had a very hard time to recover to take up his job again. Nearly went bankrupt ... Best Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest leica_mage Posted August 28, 2006 Share #19 Posted August 28, 2006 [...] Very happy with the results, some times I long for the 'cron, but in general the 90mm Elmarit-M is a great compromise between quality, weight, size and VF blockage. [...] Carl, I have it too, and I agree with you on all counts. I, too, sometimes long for the AA - but then again the Elmarit's signature is very like my 50mm 'cron (IV)'s, which I really like. It treads a fine line between the older and new generations. I sometimes tell myself that I would regret changing to the AA because I suspect its signature is on the clinical side compared to the 'rit's. About lens stiffness, I worked it out of my 35mm ASPH 'cron, but there's no way it's going from the 90mm 'rit. As you say, you can also hear the air being forced out. I have a sneaky suspicion they actually designed the lens this way, because it's a 90mm. The most gorgeous, perfect focusing action I have is on my 50mm 'cron. Just right. I focus it as if it had a tab, so smooth is it! Cheers, Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotografr Posted August 28, 2006 Share #20 Posted August 28, 2006 The Leica Repair facility in New Jersey currently has my 50 ASPH for the same problem--cticky focusing. It worked fine when I got it but developed the stickyness a few months ago. I've heard this is a fairly common problem with the lens but also easy to remedy. I found the focusing on my 90 cron so stiff that I finally got rid of it a few years ago and replaced it with the 90 Elmarit. I've had no regrets about making that change. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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