Elmer Posted January 23, 2017 Share #1 Posted January 23, 2017 Advertisement (gone after registration) So - I have acquired an Elmar - R lens. I had planned to use it with my Olympus EM1 with an appropriate adaptor. I acquired an adaptor, but when testing with it, I found that I couldn't get any infinity focus - I couldn't even focus properly on the fence at the back of my garden, which is circa 40 feet. The furthest away objects I can nail focus with are maybe 15 - 20 feet away. I posted my quandary elsewhere, and most people think it's maybe the adaptor I bought which is at fault. However, I managed to get the adaptor tested by someone else who uses Leica - R lenses on their MFT camera - and they had no issue with the adaptor. So - what could be the cause of this? Firstly - I assume that I should be able to get infinity focus - the lens does indeed rotate to the infinity symbol when it's turned, and it turns in a very precise way. Ie - it has a smooth action, (maybe not quite as smooth as my other Takumar manual lenses), but also feels as though when focus is nailed, it won't be thrown of by the slightest movement from my hand. So - what do you nice folk think could be the issue here? The lens seems in decent condition cosmetically - a solid 8 out of 10 in terms of wear - no obvious signs of impact, or anything serious. The lens feels good - so what would screw up the infinity focus like this? Any advice is greatly appreciated. This is my first piece of Leica kit, and as such I have no experience of how it should feel and operate, so I'm completely blind here... Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 23, 2017 Posted January 23, 2017 Hi Elmer, Take a look here Elmar - R 100mm F4 Macro - Helicoid - Infinity focus?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
mark_pw Posted January 23, 2017 Share #2 Posted January 23, 2017 I think you have proved the adaptor has no problem as it worked on other R lenses. The problem is your R lens. The helicoid has multiple threads. I believe it had been dismantled by someone in its history and when that guy put it back together, the helicoid did not screw in the correct thread and you lens become a macro-only lens. It's not a big problem. The lens can be fixed by less than $100. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomB_tx Posted January 23, 2017 Share #3 Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) I dn't know that particular lens - my 100 R is bellows mount. However, for a 100 to be that far off at 40 ft. something in the mount must be pretty far off, either the helicoid assembled off or something in the optical unit. Usually adapter focus past infinity. The sure test would be to try it on a Leica R body, even to see if the viewfinder looks in focus at infinity. As far as comparing feel - the Super Takumars in good shape feel better than almost anything. In 1966 I had a Pentax H1a with 55 f2 Super Takumar, and a Leica M shooting friend said he wished his Leica lenses had that feel! Edited January 23, 2017 by TomB_tx 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elmer Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share #4 Posted January 23, 2017 Ok - so maybe in terms of "feel" this Leica I have is probably about right then? I mean - is Leica/Leitz a similar kind of feel to Takumar, only maybe not quite as slick? Re: further testing - I don't have a Leica body to try, and don't know of anyone I know who has a Leica. FWIW - I did have a brief look before to see if I could work out if anyone had tampered with it, and couldn't see any evidence of it. I'll take a closer look tonight. Is a DIY fix here possible? And if so, does anyone have any pointers/instructions? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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