SJP Posted December 10, 2009 Share #21 Posted December 10, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 10, 2009 Posted December 10, 2009 Hi SJP, Take a look here Are modern Leica lenses too stiff to focus. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
lars_bergquist Posted December 11, 2009 Share #22 Posted December 11, 2009 Unlike my 28 cron asph and 35 cron asph, each of which has a tab only, my 50 lux asph has both a tab and a knurled ring. I like the 2 options, as the ring is often more to my liking for fine focusing.[ ... ] Jeff The problem with the above reasoning is that, (a) the knurled ring is too narrow, and (, the tab is in the way of a comfortable two-finger grip. The 'tab criterion' that Leica uses is mainly the possible depth of the focusing ring. If this would be too small for a comfortable grip, a tab is used. There are indeed limiting cases like the 50mm Summicron: V. 1 (collapsible) had it. V. 2 (rigid) had it. V. 3 had none V. 4 (first mount style) had it, but V. 4 (current style) doesn't. You cannot apply controlled muscular force to a tab as you can with a double-sided 'precision grip' as inherited from our ape ancestors. So tab-focusing lenses have to have a light focusing action. Unfortunately, many specimens of the current 50mm Summilux do not. The old man from the Age of Craftsmanship Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted December 11, 2009 Share #23 Posted December 11, 2009 I hear there are 3 ladies in Solms to check on this. Jeff rotflmao Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted December 11, 2009 Share #24 Posted December 11, 2009 ...tab-focusing lenses have to have a light focusing action. Unfortunately, many specimens of the current 50mm Summilux do not... A drop of WD-40 cured the stiffing issue with mine but focusing motion remains a bit 'sticky'. Never got those problems with Mandler lenses. After 30+ years of use they feel as silky smooth as the first day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darvin2138 Posted December 11, 2009 Share #25 Posted December 11, 2009 Send it back with a complaint while the guaranty lasts. It will likely not get better with the next five or ten years of use. The old man Oh, I thought it will be better the longer I use it...now I have a problem because sending back will be a lot more trouble...hay i need to find out on how to send it back to Germany..just imagine I bought it in Hong Kong and now Im using it here in Manila.... Thanks for the advise the "Old Man" BTW, i know it is not proper to ask the age of person..but most of your answer from the forum you have a trade mark of "The Old Man from..blah blah blah. do you mind if I ask how really young are you? It's ok just PM your years of experience.. Thanks... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted December 11, 2009 Share #26 Posted December 11, 2009 ...You cannot apply controlled muscular force to a tab as you can with a double-sided 'precision grip'... Depends on the lens and the way one is holding it IMHO (50/1.4 asph). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabasis Posted December 11, 2009 Share #27 Posted December 11, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) My 35 'cron-M ASPH is great, the 90-Elmarit-M is a bit stiffer but not overly so. For R- Glass they are all great, with the Telyt-Modulars being best, followed by the 90mm-Cron 3-cam. The 35-elmarit has issues but due to damage from a previous owner. The 180-Cron is smooth, but a bit looser due to the IF mechanism. The 21mm Angulon is probably the worse focuser of the bunch and is sticky at the extreme ends but it is also the oldest lens. JCA Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted December 11, 2009 Share #28 Posted December 11, 2009 You cannot apply controlled muscular force to a tab as you can with a double-sided 'precision grip' as inherited from our ape ancestors. But, maybe different if the ape had a tab in its toolshed...In the Tool Shed, Apes Plan Ahead | LiveScience Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhild Posted December 11, 2009 Share #29 Posted December 11, 2009 I have removed the tab from my 50 lux and greased the rangefinder helical with a different grease. Much better now. Jo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcoombs Posted December 11, 2009 Share #30 Posted December 11, 2009 I hear there are 3 ladies in Solms to check on this. Jeff In my dreams...:D Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsambrook Posted December 11, 2009 Share #31 Posted December 11, 2009 Can't speak about the current lenses, but going back 45 years Leica lenses were variable in their focusing feel. Collapsible 90mm Elmars were, I think, the ones with the greatest variety, and seeing them secondhand over the years they were usually (repeat, usually) either dry or very stiff indeed. My Tele Elmarit was silky smooth when I bought in in 1965, but my chrome 35mm Summilux bought soon after was so stiff and dry as to almost unusable. Both Canadian, same vintage, vastly different. Why do Leica lenses have this variety? It was a ridiculous situation in the 60s, and it's even more so now. Maybe they should write to Pentax and ask them to dig back in their workshop files for their recipe for making and lubricating focusing mounts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neli Posted December 13, 2009 Share #32 Posted December 13, 2009 I have removed the tab from my 50 lux and greased the rangefinder helical with a different grease. Muchbetter now. Jo how did you do that? any instructions? is it difficult? getting mine next week i hope. many thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwelland Posted December 13, 2009 Share #33 Posted December 13, 2009 As a corollary to the lens focus feel, I've noticed that the aperture ring feel can be significantly different between lenses, ranging from smooth and silky with soft detents through to rough dry ball bearing on spring feel. A while back I had a Leica specialist adjust & lube all of my lenses to feel the same. It seems that you can adjust the spring tension & lube to do this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted December 14, 2009 Share #34 Posted December 14, 2009 The only stiff Leica lens I have is a chrome 50 Lux ASPH. All others turm smooth and even. Even with the stiff focusing the 50 Lux is still my favorite lens. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted December 14, 2009 Author Share #35 Posted December 14, 2009 As a corollary to the lens focus feel, I've noticed that the aperture ring feel can be significantly different between lenses, ranging from smooth and silky with soft detents through to rough dry ball bearing on spring feel. A while back I had a Leica specialist adjust & lube all of my lenses to feel the same. It seems that you can adjust the spring tension & lube to do this. Graham, About 3 years ago I bought a new Elmar 50 Collapsible by mail order from overseas. It was a nice little lens but the aperture ring felt like it had been made by Holga. It was loose, vague and floppy. I was going to send it back but I went down to see the ever helpful people at Arta Photo in Nice. I got them to get another new Elmar 50 out of its box and it was just the same. I sold it after I got the 50 ASPH Lux, which it turns out I did not like and sold sometime later. I now know not to sell Leica stuff in haste, as you will probably regret it later. I have kept my M8 on this basis and just as well, as I have now acquired a mint Visoflex III (virtually unused), which will sit nicely on the M8. All I need now is a Telyt 280. I have a un-screwable T-E 135 for the moment. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mongrelnomad Posted December 14, 2009 Share #36 Posted December 14, 2009 All my older lenses have smooth focus and I now mostly have ASPH lenses that are smooth too. The one exception is my Summilux 50 which is the LHSA version. It isn't stiff, I would describe it more as "sticky". Anyway I'm thinking of sending it to DAG because I'm just not using it in this condition. I had the same problem with my 50 'Lux LHSA (Chrome MP-3 set) - it 'stuck' around the infinity mark. I sent it back to Solms and it came back... ...exactly the same. Now I usually use my 'Cron. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_n Posted December 16, 2009 Share #37 Posted December 16, 2009 Mine is sticky all over the place. A pity because it's an absolutely fantastic lens but it's unusable. I'm sure DAG will be able to fix it. Luckily I also have another excellent 50 otherwise I would be in trouble. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlorianM Posted January 1, 2012 Share #38 Posted January 1, 2012 I just got my new chrome 50 lux before Christmas (yaay!) and the first impression are that it requires noticeably more effort to focus than my other lenses, and it does have a tiny little bit of stiction. The lens is otherwise absolutely superb in all respects (except weight, lol), I really am nitpicking. Keep in mind the following about me: I use 50mm lenses almost exclusively, the Sonnar before and the Lux now, so I got used to the greater effort. I only notice it now when I change lenses. Also, I'm a new Leica user, my other lenses are Zeiss 50mm Sonnar, 28mm and CV 15mm. I've never used any other Leica lenses on a regular basis. I love the tab, it helps a lot, much more than the Zeiss "nub". I use both the tab and the ring simultaneously, something like in the picture lct posted above. Other than that, I'm enormously happy with it, I don't feel I need another lens. All I want now is a chrome M10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted January 2, 2012 Share #39 Posted January 2, 2012 Well, here's a thread from 2009 that has suddenly come out of its suspended animation. Stange beasts, computers. But I contributed way back then, so here is my progress report. The 50mm Summilux ASPH, after its trip back to Solms for massage (by those three ladies, I presume) has got steadily better. It does still need a bit more force than average to focus it, but the action is smooth, and I do love this lens. Last year I received one of the first 35mm Summilux ASPH FLE lenses, and it was just right out of the box. I do also own amongst other glass two Zeiss lenses, one 25mm and one 18mm. While the 25mm is also just right, the 18mm is actually a bit too smooth – the friction is so low that it sometimes makes me worry. A RF camera needs a firmer focusing action than a SLR does, because there is very little visual feedback to show you that the focus is off. The old man from the Age of Craftsmanship (class of 1936) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdriceman Posted January 2, 2012 Share #40 Posted January 2, 2012 For what it's worth... My 35 Summicron ASPH has been a bit stiff from day one with one spot where it is slightly stiffer. It had a back focus issue so I sent it to NJ with a note that I felt it was stiffer than it should be and stiffer than my other lenses. It came back perfectly calibrated, but with no change in stiffness. It is slowly getting smoother. Apparently Leica NJ didn't agree with me on the stiffness of the lens! I recently acquired a 50 Summilux ASPH which has been perfect out of the box as was my previous 50 Summarit. So, of 3 new Leica lenses in the past year (50 Summatir, 35 Summicron, 50 Summilux). 2 have been smooth, 1 has been stiff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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