50 lux looseness

[bencoyote]

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Been away for the forums for a couple of months. Took my just my M and 3 lenses through 6 countries over the course of two months. It was a great experience. I didn't feel burdened at all and got some great shots.

 

Since I got back my 50 Lux has developed a slight looseness between the focus ring and the aperture ring. I can shift it fore and aft a fraction of a millimeter with an audible sound and even slightly rotate it such that the two rings are no longer perfectly parallel (a fraction of a degree).

 

I haven't been doing a lot of shooting since I got back but I haven't noticed any performance problems. I swung by the Leica shop in SF and they said, "I don't like that but I would keep using it".

 

My questions: what's likely wrong and how big of a problem is it?

What is likely the cause? After 2 months of being out and used continuously without a case I have some places on the body showing the beginning of brassing but I don't remember the camera taking any hard knocks or anything.

 

I'm planning to take the M to Burning Man in a couple of weeks. I don't think that I have time to send the lens off to be serviced before then. After BM, I probably could. How much should I worry?

[hoppyman]

That doesn't sound normal to me. It may or not matter regarding performance and accuracy depending on how critical the setup. It's a valuable lens capable of great performance of course. I would just get it professionaly serviced as soon as possible. Depending on the fault it could be relatively simple to fix or involve essentially rebuilding the lens due to its construction and design complexity (mine was at Wetzlar after I dropped it and its perfect now). They will calibrate yours accurately for you at the same time of course.

Edited August 10, 2016 by hoppyman

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[jim0266]

If the lens is not under warranty give Don Goldberg a call and see if he can turn in around for you in time for Burning Man. At least he may be able to tell you if this is something you can put off until after BM. One other option: Lensrentals is offering 20% off until the end of the month with the code BACKTOSCHOOL if you want to rent a 50 Lux.

[edwardkaraa]

The looseness will affect image quality and will get worse to the point that if its not fixed, the front part will fall down. Do fix it asap.

[bencoyote]

If the lens is not under warranty give Don Goldberg a call and see if he can turn in around for you in time for Burning Man. At least he may be able to tell you if this is something you can put off until after BM. One other option: Lensrentals is offering 20% off until the end of the month with the code BACKTOSCHOOL if you want to rent a 50 Lux.

Thank you. I gave Don a call this morning and I am sending it out to him later today. He thinks he can turn it around in time with no problem.

 

If for some reason, he can't, I think my last resort Plan B is to give into GAS and accelerate my long term lens purchasing plan by a couple of years. One lens I have intended to buy eventually is a 35 Lux. It would just be a few years sooner than I intended.

[bencoyote]

The looseness will affect image quality and will get worse to the point that if its not fixed, the front part will fall down. Do fix it asap.

Thank you.

 

Coincidently or clairvoyantly the night after I discovered the problem I had a dream about the front half of the lens falling off at Burning Man.

 

While on my trip the chromed mount on my 28 Cron started to come loose and could pull away from the black part of the lens. Once I found precision screwdrivers it was a trivial thing to fix by tightening the screws. The lens seems fine now. Is there something that I'm doing wrong with handling my lenses that is causing this or is this just normal?

Notes:

1) both lenses were used when i bought them.

2) 28 and 50 are my two most used lenses one or the other is almost always on the camera.

3) I actually use my camera. Over the past 2 months the camera has always been with me and has never been in a case. I take it backpacking, bike riding, out to restaurants, out dancing at clubs, on trains and planes, up and down endless city streets...

 

So I guess that I'm asking, is this par for the course or do I need some remedial education about camera care?

Edited August 11, 2016 by bencoyote

[edwardkaraa]

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Thank you.

 

Coincidently or clairvoyantly the night after I discovered the problem I had a dream about the front half of the lens falling off at Burning Man.

 

While on my trip the chromed mount on my 28 Cron started to come loose and could pull away from the black part of the lens. Once I found precision screwdrivers it was a trivial thing to fix by tightening the screws. The lens seems fine now. Is there something that I'm doing wrong with handling my lenses that is causing this or is this just normal?

Notes:

1) both lenses were used when i bought them.

2) 28 and 50 are my two most used lenses one or the other is almost always on the camera.

3) I actually use my camera. Over the past 2 months the camera has always been with me and has never been in a case. I take it backpacking, bike riding, out to restaurants, out dancing at clubs, on trains and planes, up and down endless city streets...

 

So I guess that I'm asking, is this par for the course or do I need some remedial education about camera care?

I don't think you're doing anything wrong, except using them

 

Coincidentally the 28 cron is also one of the few M lenses that gets the loose front as well. Lens technicians would normally apply some kind of glue after tightening the screws so that the problem doesn't recur.

[jim0266]

Thank you. I gave Don a call this morning and I am sending it out to him later today. He thinks he can turn it around in time with no problem.

 

If for some reason, he can't, I think my last resort Plan B is to give into GAS and accelerate my long term lens purchasing plan by a couple of years. One lens I have intended to buy eventually is a 35 Lux. It would just be a few years sooner than I intended.

 

Something else to consider. Popflash has the Zeiss 35/1.4 for $1,908 and $1,658 after rebate. These lenses being debate at http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/263421-is-the-leica-35mm-summilux-m-the-quintessential-leica-lens/

[bencoyote]

If the lens is not under warranty give Don Goldberg a call and see if he can turn in around for you in time for Burning Man. At least he may be able to tell you if this is something you can put off until after BM. One other option: Lensrentals is offering 20% off until the end of the month with the code BACKTOSCHOOL if you want to rent a 50 Lux.

 

 

I just got my lens back from Don Goldberg. It is now appropriately tight. He was able to turn it around with plenty of time to spare for me to be able to take it to BM. Everything seems great and the focus seems to be spot on (not that there was a problem with that). 

 

So consider this a positive review for Don's service. Thank you for turning me onto him.