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Summicron 35 mm in pieces


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Hi everyone,

 

I know it hurts but my Summicron 35/2 pre-ash fell on the ground and broke in two pieces. Is there any chance that this can be repaired or should I 'give' it away for spare parts?

 

Regards,

Bart

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I know a semi-retired Leica trained camera repairman here in Adelaide, Australia. I have the same lens as yours (exactly- with the same focus lever- how unusual is that lever BTW?) and the other day we were discussing it. He was talking about how the part that is broken on yours (I can't remember what it is called?) was made of plastic.... and how he felt that was a bit cheap of Leica.... but that it was well made plastic...

Then he mentioned (out of the blue) that he had a 'new old stock' replacement part hidden away somewhere.

 

All this was in the context of a chrome Summilux he was repairing for me- he was extolling its mechanical virtues compared to later Leica lenses....

 

 

I am not at all sure if the part is identical to your lens- or if there is other damage on yours that cannot be repaired. But if you have no luck anywhere else I will be happy to pass on these photos and ask Charles about the possibility of repairing your lens...

Edited by jaques
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Blasphemy!

 

I am sure even in half that lens has more value than as a paperweight curio... I imagine the lens elements would be worth a reasonable bit of coin to someone...

 

AS IS- I would guess that lens would fetch at least 200 USD on the bay of evil... If I was pushed for an exact estimate it would be 324USD- as is...

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Sorry for your misfortune.

 

This issue was discussed at photo.net by Gus Lazarri, a Leica repair guy. Apparently Leica used plastic lens block for a batch of Summicron 35 v4. You can identify that batch easily by the thin screw notches on the name/identity plate. The metal ones have thick and flat notches, in comparison. See the following link to the original post by Gus:

 

Plastic "King of Bokeh" - Photo.net Leica and Rangefinders Forum

 

I am sure Solms will happily repair it for you.

 

Cheers,

 

Koray

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Guest Ron (Netherlands)
Thanks all for yours thoughts and Koray for the link! The glass is as new and maybe I should try Solms and see what happens. I'll let you know.

 

Regards,

Bart

 

Did have a look at the hyperlink, made me wonder: is (or was) yours a Canada made lens?

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Guest Ron (Netherlands)
Hi Ron,

 

It was made in Canada. Nr 3061917. I'm still not sure to send it to Solms because I'm almost sure the repair costs will be too high.

 

Regards,

Bart

 

Indeed might be too high. Would advice to get the broken piece out and then ask Solms to send a spare part which you can fit in yourself. The part that is broken is the inner f-stop ring that is connected to the outer aperture ring. It is made of a kind of metal alloy.

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FWIW, I have also had serious problems with a 19mm Mandler Elmarit-R, where the front lens assembly is also unfortunately made with the nasty black/grey plastic. The retaining threads (very thin and unwisely machined from this cheap material) became damaged when it was being dissassembled for a service (by a very well-known repairer I may add), and there was no way of ensuring refitment without resorting to glue as the plastic components were no longer available.

 

This is a lens which should be avoided, and it rather surprised me how much demand from the Far East has pushed up their prices over the past year.

 

It would be interesting to discover which other lenses made heavy use of these nasty plastics, as these will eventually be at risk of becoming irreparable as the plastic nears the end of it's useful service life.

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