Leica lens dot color?

[lylezanca]

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So I just purchased a really nice copy of a V5 Summicron-M 50mm and I noticed the lens mounting dot is orange, not red.

 

A friend of mine had a spare lens dot from Leica sitting around and I checked it out and the spare dot is red, not orange.

 

This lens is the black version so do the black lenses have orange dots?

 

See the picture for the comparison, the orange dot is fixed to the lens the red dot is a spare.

 

https://flic.kr/p/qq3GsH

 

Any insight into this would be great. Thanks!

[lct]

Mine has a red dot. Perhaps yours is a collectible, i don't know.

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[Exodies]

Is it my imagination or is there a white circle visible in the photo where the original dot was attached?

[Bill W]

I would say just a batch of slightly off color dots. I can recall seeing some from my R days that were not exactly red. Not a big deal.

[Orient XI]

The colour could have faded in the sun.

[james.liam]

The colour could have faded in the sun.

 

...which might be an indication of how careful it was stored.

[billo101]

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Fake...

[lylezanca]

Is the possibility of this being a fake real?

 

What other things can I look for that would tell me if it is fake?

[250swb]

It is very hard to tell real dots from fake dots, so most people don't even give it a second thought.

 

Steve

[lylezanca]

I assumed fake lens, not fake lens dot. (much less of a concern). I was going to say, this is a very convincing fake lens!

[james.liam]

On eBay, some dude is selling knock-off dots. Orange-ish in appearance. The original may have been lost

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Edited January 6, 2015 by james.liam

[ho_co]

Lyle--

You can contact Leica. They have replacement red dots.

 

That orange one does look funny.

[adan]

Well, Lyle, in your very first sentence you said you'd "just purchased a really nice copy of a v.5 Summicron-M 50mm."

 

...so you were expecting the real thing?

________

 

Just kidding. Faked versions of the major components (lenses and bodies) of the Leica M system are virtually unheard of.

 

Probably because the expense required to machine even a fair fake would cost so much that there would be no profit in selling it. Not as easy as taking some orange cloth and putting an "Hermès" label on it, or sticking a "Rolex" label on a generic "manly-man" wristwatch.

 

Lots of fakes (of varying quality) of the old screw-mount Leicas, thanks to Russia's 1930's spy chief setting up an entire factory for the job and producing thousands of real cameras. Which were then, post-collapse of the USSR, available ready-assembled at $20 each for relabelling.

 

The only thing approaching a "fake" of the Leica M system was the Chinese "Red Flag 20" copy, produced in very limited quantities for Chinese photojournalists in the 1970's, with a set three lenses. And rather obviously labelled in Chinese characters:

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MqIk1ZTSnAA/UH74EK1c3eI/AAAAAAAADP0/y2z0_Ln1yA4/s1600/Shanghai-Camera-.jpg

[lylezanca]

Thanks for the advise everyone.

 

I have a spare dot, only problem is i can't seem to get this orange one off...

[250swb]

Only two abrupt posts without any backup research to suggest it might really be a 'fake' red dot, out of fourteen posts on the subject, and now the slightly orange dot is being prised off the lens.

 

 

Steve

[k_g_wolf ✝]

Thanks for the advise everyone.

 

... problem is i can't seem to get this orange one off...

 

 

Present the lens to the experts in N.J. when you are in the area. They will do it for you while wait

I think. And most likely free of charge. A DIY job can easily end with a scratch on the lensbarrel

and in the end you loose more than you gain.

 

The LEICA dot is made of glass and doesn´t come off easy.

 

 

Best

GEORG

[adan]

The LEICA dot is made of glass and doesn´t come off easy.

 

The ones my Leica rep carries around for quick replacement are definitely plastic, as supplied by Leica. As was the replacement I got direct from Dave Elwell at Leica USA parts & service dept.

 

They may have been glass at sometime in the distant past.

 

The "red" of the red lens dots has also varied a lot over the decades, and different factories (Germany/Wetzlar, Germany/Solms, Canada, Portugal). From deep ruby red on some 1960's lenses to "almost orange."

 

The dot on my early 1970's 135 is dark red (and smaller than today's); the dots on my early-80's Canadian 21 and 35 are firey red. As I recall, the Summarit dots are back to a deeper, less orange red (but won't know until my 75 f/2.5 arrives tomorrow).

 

It's not like the exact color (or material) is "mission critical," either as to operation or supplier over the years.

[luigi bertolotti]

....

The "red" of the red lens dots has also varied a lot over the decades, and different factories (Germany/Wetzlar, Germany/Solms, Canada, Portugal). From deep ruby red on some 1960's lenses to "almost orange."....

.

 

I confirm : I have a nice variety of M lenses with dot, and hue isn't constant... and I have also the evidence that some "orangish" dot was absolutely original (my Elmarit 21 asph, for instance). Clearly, differently from the Ferrari Red, is not a patented hue and they don't care so much about...

[jdlaing]

I confirm : I have a nice variety of M lenses with dot, and hue isn't constant... and I have also the evidence that some "orangish" dot was absolutely original (my Elmarit 21 asph, for instance). Clearly, differently from the Ferrari Red, is not a patented hue and they don't care so much about...

 

+1.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Bill W]

I confirm : I have a nice variety of M lenses with dot, and hue isn't constant... and I have also the evidence that some "orangish" dot was absolutely original (my Elmarit 21 asph, for instance). Clearly, differently from the Ferrari Red, is not a patented hue and they don't care so much about...

Same here, I looked at all of my lens array and the color of the dot varies widely from red to slight orange.