Summicron Dual Range "Eyes" Problem

[tigerchick]

Hello,
wondering if some kindly person might be able to help... I have an early DR 50mm Summicron (with only the meter scale) for my M7 and have for ages wanted to get hold of some eyes for it. Well I eventually found a pair the other day (i believe they are the right ones with the E. Leitz Wetzlar logo) and now I'm having trouble getting them to stay firmly on the lens.

I mount the lens first (at infinity) then turn the focussing whilst pull the barrel out and letting it back in again after it passes over the little tab. At this point of course it is possible to push the ball bearing in and slot the eyes into place (I have removed the plastic post thing on the back of the eyes so that it can mount on the m7. The problem is then that I cannot turn the focussing barrel any further into the close range. It seems stuck. So I take the eyes off again and fiddle with pushing the ball bearing in and out and then I hear a little click and I am able to move the lens through the close focus range. If i turn it back again to towards the tab as soon as it hits the tab, another little click nd it won't budge again without fiddling the ball bearing which sometime works and sometime not. If I have the eyes mounted once I have persuaded the lens to move in the close focus then they are not held tight but wobble about because the ball bearing does not pop out properly to hold it unless I put the lens into the far focussing range (which is completely pointless obviously!)

Help ! Am I doing something really stupid or is my lens knackered in someway?
Thanks

[wizard]

Welcome to this forum! Seems as if you got the wrong eyes for the particular lens you have (there were at least two versions of the eyes, and it is always difficult to match eyes to the lens if the original eyes are lacking for whatever reason).

Your way of operating the lens is quite correct. Once you have moved the focussing ring into the near range, i.e. past that little tab, the focussing ring is 'stuck'. It is meant to be released by sliding the eyes completely onto the lens, as the eyes in their fully mounted position will depress the ball, allowing to turn the focussing ring again.

Have you tried to firmly push the eyes onto the lens? If that doesn't work, chances are you have the wrong eyes. Good luck!

Andy

[tigerchick]

Thanks Andy,
just to be sure, are the eyes meant to be held firmly in place by the plate of the mount on the lens fitting stiffly into the groves of the mounting slot on the eyes? Or is the ball bearing meant to pop up again, having been depressed in the mounting position, to held the eyes firm? If it is the former then I think I do have the wrong eyes as they are quite loose and wobbly in the mounting slots. I wonder if I might be able to fix this though by applying something in the grooves to make a snugger fit? What do you think?
Thanks again, Michael
Great forum by the way!

[wizard]

Micheal, the eyes should have a snug fit in the mounting grooves of the lens, certainly no wobbling should occur. I will check with my own lens if the bottom of the eyes has some sort of cavity, which allows the ball to pop up again, at least slightly. I believe this is the case. However, the ball should not be allowed to fully pop up again, as only the slightly depressed condition of the ball (in which it will be held by the mounted eyes) will release the focussing ring.

Andy

[jothiratnam]

Hi, I just checked my 50 Summicron DR (it's a 1958 model) on my M6. I have to dismount it, switch over to the close-focussing range, re-mount it, and then clip the spectacles on (I cannot switch over to close-focussing with the lens mounted). The spectacles click on firmly though, and do not wobble at all. I too understand that there were different versions of this lens made, and some function differently from others. Furthermore, the spectacles are not always cross-compatible. Try my method of mounting though, and see if that works for you. Good-luck. Jothiratnam

[bill]

The DR Summicron is not designed to mount on the M7 or M6TTL. Both these bodies have a slightly higher top-plate than their predecessors, to make room for the additional electronics. If your spectacles have a little black tab at the top, on the side that faces the camera body, it will foul on the taller top-plate and prevent you pushing the specs all the way back. You must remove this tab and then you can push the specs all the way back.

This is exactly what I have done with my M7/DR combination and it works fine.

Regards,

Bill

[tobey bilek]

The early DR with the bright chrome needs the eyes with the logo. The later satin chrome models take different eyes.

An early lens with the wrong eyes will not frame properly, but they should mount and be tight in both cases and the lens will be functional.

If you can hold the ball down and the lens works and focuses through the close range, I would guess the wobble is because you have not forced the eyes over the ball. Later models have a taller top and the plastic tab will interfer with complete seating of the eyes and holding the ball down.