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Anastigmat (0-Series Replica) Fun...but FLARE!


M9reno

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I have been playing with a newly-purchased 0-series replica (first version, with crosshairs viewfinder) and enjoying its idiosyncratic features:  non-self-capping shutter, slit-width and mid-curtain speed setting, arms-length shooting.  It is seriously primitivistic fun, requiring total concentration - so much so that one begins to get used to performing the critical tasks of focusing and exposure by guess-work alone.  So, aside from being a beautiful little device, and finely crafted, it is a demanding teacher of the essential photographic skills.

 

Now, the lens fixed on this camera is a reputedly state-of-the-art, coated and re-computed 50mm Anastigmat, and I expected it to perform flawlessly from the get-go.  So I was surprised to find, on the first roll I put through (Ektar 100, Tetenal developed) that it showed terrible veiling flare rather unpredictably, just on some frames, and on others not at all.  One can even observe remarkable resistance to flaring on some shots shot against the light, and an equally remarkable propensity to flaring on shots pointing away from the light source.

 

At first I thought my mistake was simply shooting without a hood, so I stuck on a FISON hood and went out for a second test-drive of the lens.  Results were equally puzzling:  again occasionally massive veiling flare, even aiming away from the sun, and occasionally none at all, even when tempting the lens to flare.  This second roll was Ilford HP5, DDX developed.

 

Both rolls home-developed.

 

My guess is that there is something wrong in the interior of the lens, which will probably need fixing.  Maybe nothing more than a baffle, or blacking, needed?

 

Thanks for looking, and I would appreciate to hear your thoughts on this problem!

 

First, no flare visible:

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Edited by M9reno
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More with NO flare.  The second was a conscious attempt to 'tempt' flare.

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And finally two more with NO flare:

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BUT... here comes flare-city:

 

 

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And more central veiling flare, though less noticeable (or am I imagining it?):

 

 

 

 

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Finally:

 

 

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The irony that the same problem appears in Leica's recreation of a simple 1924 design and the latest 50mm APO is almost wonderful, if it were not so annoying.

 

I assume my copy of the Anastigmat, like your APO, is not alone in having this problem, but I've not been able to find much on-line discussion of the former.  Presumably because hardly anyone uses an 0-series replica... or else because the flare goes unnoticed behind all the other errors one is prone to commit when using this camera?

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Thanks.  No, I've not spoken with Leica, Wetzlar.  Since I bought the camera from Leica Shop Vienna, and not that long ago, I suppose that they are the obvious party to contact.  That said, it might be simpler and faster (and not that expensive) just to have it done by Malcolm Taylor.  But I admit I don't know what the elimination of veiling flare entails, in terms of repair.

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The 50 Summicron (non-APO) and Tri-Elmar at the 50 setting are also noted for their propensity for veiling type flare so the Anastigmat is simply part of an illustrious Leica club. :)  I have an 0 replica like yours. I have hardly used it but don't remember this kind of flare being a problem (my biggest problem has been forgetting to cap the lens between shots and fogging half the proceeding frame. Your post is a reminder that I ought to stick a roll of film in it and give the '0' another whirl.

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my biggest problem has been forgetting to cap the lens between shots and fogging half the proceeding frame

My suggestion is to repeat to yourself constantly as you hold the camera:  "I will cap the lens, I will cap the lens..."

 

Framing is my biggest problem.  I have found that trying to compensate for parallax for close subjects results in chopping off the bottom of the frame.  It seems that the crosshairs are designed for accuracy at this distance, so that compensation (by slightly lowering the camera) should be for subjects 2m to infinity.  The instructions say nothing about this, of course, but then again the original 0-series presumably had no instructions.

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The veiling here is much more pronounced than in wattsy's example (and not a very nice picture), but there are certain similarities in the foliage, at least to my eye.  The camera here is pointing south, with the sun setting almost perpendicular to the right of the frame. Speed is 1/100 sec. and aperture is 4.5 or so.  Perhaps the obvious cause is shooting wide open, though there are other examples (like the biker or the punters above) where the same settings were used and the issue was not present or so apparent.

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Edited by M9reno
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The veiling here is much more pronounced than in wattsy's example (and not a very nice picture), but there are certain similarities in the foliage, at least to my eye. 

 

I rather like this photograph of your's and probably largely because of, rather than in spite of, the flare.

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​When I bought my Leicaflex SL in 1969, a couple of shots on my first roll of Kodachrome with the 50R Summicron had similar significant central flare. May indeed be a family characteristic! I stuck with the camera and learned how to avoid it... mostly.

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