Question: 90mm 2.8 Elmarit

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I recently bought a used 90/2.8 and I an quite happy with it. However, there is a bit

of rotational play when the aperture ring is turned..minimal front to rear play on the

focusing threads. The rotation play seems a bit excessive but it's no big problem.

I was just wondering if this is normal or may need a bit of adjustment? Thanks

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[delander †]

Mine has no rotational play in the aperture ring, all the clicks stops are distinct but you can rotate it a fraction past f2.8 and f22. Focusing is smooth and free of any play.

 

Hope this helps,

 

jeff

[luigi bertolotti]

Seems to me you describe two distinct plays :

1) Aperture ring : if the f ring has a bit of play moving from one "click" to another, it is rather common on the first lenses with click stops (I suppose you speak of a Elmarit 90, the first, with vulcanite ring, not Tele Elmarit 90 nor the last Elmarit M 90, right ?).

It is not a real issue... btw, can be the aperture ring has been sometimes stressed when one unscrews the lens' head (which is possible on the old Elmarit, for Visoflex usage), and this can be a factor in the surgence of the play.

2) Focus helicoid : this could be a certain problem if the play is along the lens' axis, i.e., a small movement along the length without moving the focus ring: it would mean some looseness in the assembly, which, if worsens, can cause uncertainesses in focusing; otherwise, in some old lenses I observed, sometimes, a bit of play in the rotational movement of the focus ring... : this is, I think, caused by small irregularities in the microlayer of lubricant onto the matching helicoid's surfaces, and, again, it does not gives a specific problem, unless it is so significant to forbid fine adjustements of the focus (I had a very old Summicron 90 in screw mount which had this issue... it was fixed by a local lab).

 

Anyway... if all those plays are little, is uneven they really compromise the image quality : if your glass is good, probably the lens works fine in practice, and even if a fix could be not too costly, it maybe doesn't worth for a lens that is not so rare and valuable, and you took for using.