Lens Calibration & other options

[JeffreyTotaro]

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I received my M9 recently and after some testing at least 3 of my lenses need some focus calibration. I have reached out to NJ about whats next but have not heard back yet. Are there other options as to who can do this work? Also, would I need to send the camera also or is this a standard adjustment. Most lenses are back-focusing. 50 Lux and 90 TE mostly.

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[jaapv]

There is no alternative to sending the lenses in for calibration. It does not neccessarily have to be to Leica. A competent camera repair facility can do this just as well. It should not be needed to send in the camera if that is correctly adjusted. The workshop will use a reference body.

[tdtaylor]

Any thoughts as to the range of costs for this. I only have experience with Nikon.

 

Thanks,

[Alnitak]

Steve Choi in Los Angeles quoted me $180-230 per lens, depending. On what, I don't know. :-)

[jaapv]

Well, I paid 75 Euro at Will van Manen for a 90 AA summicron. It depends on the amount of work I suppose.

[yanidel]

I took a different approach that is I tweaked the M9 horizontal focus myself with the 2mm Allen key. I know this approach has been heavily debated on this forum as by doing so you might actually create new problems at different distances. Yet in my case, I am satisfied with the result I get.

 

The way I approached it is to first understand what each of my lenses was doing (spot on, back focus, front focus, focus shifts ...) through tests. Then I listed the core lenses of my kit and tried to find a compromise that would work for them. As an example, I found

24mm Elmarit -> spot on

35mm Lux Asph -> spot on at F1.4, yet significant focus shift from F2 to F5.6

60mm Hex -> back focus

 

Therefore I basically took the decison to misalign the rangefinder to have it front focus slightly, so I would get the following :

24mm Elmarit -> light front focus yet Dof takes care of it at 2-3 meters, not an issue.

35mm Lux -> object at the end of the in focus plane at F1.4 and when I stop down F2-F4 are now much better (I seldom use F5.6-F8 as F4 is the lens optimum)

60mm Hex -> spot on.

 

Obviously, my other lenses that were spot on are now off, but I will probably sell them anyway with the advantage that those lenses remain unmodified.

 

In you case, if most of your important lenses back-focus this could be a way to go. But again, this is debatable and sending everything to Leica (or a shop) maybe a more reliable alternative, though definitely more costly.