Just got a new 35mm Summilux ASPH, but I have some concerns

[ho_co]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Howard I think that Lars may have meant me! ...

Geoff, probably so. I'm honored to be confused with you. But poor Andy! He shouldn't feel left out!

 

Some things just can't be approached with logic or analogy, and we get misled.

 

There's nothing wrong with having the concerns the thread originator has. And there's no way you or Rick or Lars or I can explain why these concerns seem so wrong to us. One day it'll be clear, with or without our clear elucidation.

 

I mean no disrespect to any of the posters. But the analogy of buying a car seems to me particularly apt.

 

Not just here, but everywhere in the forum, people seem IMHO to be coming up with concerns that are real to them but nonetheless solidly off-topic.

 

It's as if I went to the Ferrari dealership and the salesman said, "Here it is! We waited nine months and had to pull a lot of strings, but there's your baby!"

 

And I responded, "What? You expect me to take delivery of that? Why, the wheel insignias don't all face the same way. For this kind of money, I want perfection."

 

There's a lot of knowledge that goes into understanding what makes Leica special, and maybe the only way to gain it is experience.

[lars_bergquist]

Yes, Geoff, I meant you. My mistake. To lazy to go back and check. Errare humanum est, perseverare diabolicum -- and I hope I am innocent of the second.

 

The slightly confused old man

[lars_bergquist]

There's a lot of knowledge that goes into understanding what makes Leica special, and maybe the only way to gain it is experience.

 

Very true. And somebody coming from a world of haphazardly slapped-together plastic gear has landed on a different planet when he first encounters a Leica M lens. But I was born here.

 

But seriously: Ranma, our motoric system -- the guiding nerves and the actuating muscles -- cannot work with precision unless it gets a certain amount of sensory feedback. Therefore, a controlled amount of friction (damping) in the focusing mechanism is really necessary. In the lenses for the S2, e.g., which are autofocus with optional manual focusing, Leica have gone to great lengths to build in just that mechanical feel into the action. Without the damping, manual precision focusing would be impossible.

 

And that, by the way, is the real reason why aperture rings have clickstops -- we like our fingers to tell us what they are doing. Welcome to the mechanical universe.

 

The old man from another galaxy very long ago

[myshkine]

[quote name=

 

It's as if I went to the Ferrari dealership and the salesman said' date=' "Here it is! We waited nine months and had to pull a lot of strings, but there's your baby!"

 

And I responded, "What? You expect me to take delivery of that? Why, the wheel insignias don't all face the same way. For this kind of money, I want perfection."

 

There's a lot of knowledge that goes into understanding what makes Leica special, and maybe the only way to gain it is experience.

 

Got the point. I'll probably be in a position to participate in this forum in twenty years or so, after having shot a million or so photos with my (only) M6. What i meant is that some newcomers to the M system get a feeling that only a happy few can talk here, the other's opinion being irrelevant or ridicule.

[ho_co]

mysh, I don't mean to be harsh and I'm not subjecting anyone to ridicule.

 

Your and Ran's points are justified and you should definitely be sure that you're getting what you want. I'm just saying to be sure you're checking the right things. You said exactly the same when you said you got a cosmetically perfect lens that was mechanically unusable: Check the right things.

 

The problem that some of us have (including me) is that it may be obvious to us that someone isn't checking the right thing--but the reason he isn't checking the right thing is that it isn't obvious to him. Only experience helps there.

 

BTW, I don't accept the argument that "For X amount of money, I want it to...." Every item has a price. I can't afford to buy Leica, but I do because I've owned the competition. I'm not always completely satisfied with the product, and when I'm not, I get it fixed. But I'm the one who decided to pay that price, so I've got no business trying to subject any product to my ego. If I thought it wasn't worth $7000, I shouldn't have bought it.

 

Not easy to explain, but don't try to make the manufacturer responsible for not building what you really wanted.

 

Leica is as cost-conscious as any company out there. If a new lens is going to cost more than its predecessor, its performance must be better to the same degree. The commonly mentioned example is the current 50 Summicron: It's extremely good, but going to an aspherical design could make it a little better. However, since the optical improvement wouldn't be commensurate with the increase in cost, Leica hasn't seen fit to replace the stellar performer it now has.

 

The same argument was applied to the 28 Elmarit with the opposite result: The current version is optically improved over the predecessor, but lower in price.

[hoppyman]

Howard your Private Message box is full.

[adli]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Aperture blades being visible is rather common, especially with the faster wide-angles. Leica builds the opening a bit oversized and then adjusts the blades in each individual lens to exactly f/1.4 or f/2 or f/2.8 - which may mean they are slightly visible at the "real" maximum aperture.

 

Or so the Leica lore says. You don't get much "extra" aperture - probably about f/1.395 - by going past the dot.

 

The thing with the new 35/1.4, or at least my sample, is that the opening is more than slightly oversized. On mine, it feels as I can rotate the aperture ring about 1/4 stop past 1.4. Have not mesured how much I really gain in exposure though.

[frozenace]

About the focusing ring. I have a 50 lux asph that still feels stiff after a year of usage, I wish it would be as butter smooth as my 35 cron asph...

[Xmas]

Hi

 

Any new lens can be stiff (more stiff then normal) try sweeping it from near focus to infinity about 50 times.

 

If it is still annoying try another lens in the shop.

 

The lens has clearance in the helicoid threads for lubricant, if the clearance is too small or the lube too stiff or you are a whimp, it may annoy. A long deliver flight may stiffen the lube, which may have been ok at factory.

 

I'd imagine the threads are cut by robot miller.

 

Some people like stiff some slack.

 

Noel

[jaapv]

No robot - just a simple lathe. The threads are then selected and fitted together for best "feel", each lens individually, by a group of four ladies.

[Nicoleica]

I'd imagine the threads are cut by robot miller.

 

And I've heard that his brother, Dusty, installs the sensors.

[myshkine]

[quote

Your and Ran's points are justified and you should definitely be sure that you're getting what you want. I'm just saying to be sure you're checking the right things. You said exactly the same when you said you got a cosmetically perfect lens that was mechanically unusable: Check the right things.

 

The problem that some of us have (including me) is that it may be obvious to us that someone isn't checking the right thing--but the reason he isn't checking the right thing is that it isn't obvious to him. Only experience helps there.

 

.

 

Thank you for your honest and kind reply and explanation.

[pico]

No robot - just a simple lathe. The threads are then selected and fitted together for best "feel", each lens individually, by a group of four ladies.

 

Perhaps one of them has the grip of a gorilla.

[Overgaard]

Perhaps for now enjoy the lens and send an e-mail to your dealer and Leica Customer Service pointing out the problem with the paint so it's on record.

 

In some months I would send the lens in for adjustment and get the cosmetics fixed at the same time.

 

Thing is that Leica - apart from fine tuning a lens to 100% focus - can adjust both the focus stiffness/softness as well as the aperture clicks (if it should change aperture with almost no clicks or very stiff clicks). The adjustment is not always a precise science as "what is softer" can vary. But when I have had it done, it has worked flawless to the point I wanted it.

 

Don't let this ruin it for you. As you will see it is a very fine lens and almost a miracle it can perform what it does.

[ho_co]

Howard your Private Message box is full.

 

(Sigh.) You're right. I just keep putting it off.

 

Trying to decide whether to send it to Solms for purging, or to go after it myself with my new "Professional Mailbox Repair Kit."

 

Thanks, Geoff. I gotta get on it.

[andybarton]

And BTW it could have been a fake lens.

 

There are no fake lenses.

[jaapv]

Perhaps one of them has the grip of a gorilla.

Or thinking of strangling her husband?

[pico]

And I responded, "What? You expect me to take delivery of that? Why, the wheel insignias don't all face the same way. For this kind of money, I want perfection."

 

Excellent. I laughed as your point hit home.

 

A chap on that big auction site was selling this Rare 'Headless Man' Volkswagen Hub Cap.

 

 

I looked outside, and sure enough I had one on the left front wheel, but it vanished when I drove it. How mysterious! A defect, certainly!

[northernsea]

hello! last week i got my lux 34 asph fle, i took 2 days from order to lens in my mailbox, crazy!

 

so i have never bought a new one before, and like i see here, my lens is also stiff in the focus ring, totaly different from my lux 50 pre-asph and summicron 28. simmicron 50. and its not in a good way of stiffnes it is the lens design, or just my example, or a new lens behavior?

 

also aperture ring is a different feel then my other lenses, a little mor loose, not så ridgid and nice.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[2eleven]

so i have never bought a new one before, and like i see here, my lens is also stiff in the focus ring, totaly different from my lux 50 pre-asph and summicron 28. simmicron 50. and its not in a good way of stiffnes

 

It seems a few people have complained of extra stiff focus rings in this latest batch of 35/1.4s. I got mine yesterday and it is also very stiff - much stiffer than my 50/1.4 was when it was new (also a floating element). It is also much stiffer than any of my non-FLE lenses (as one would expect). It will loosen up with use, but may never get as loose as I like. My wife will be happy as she prefers a stiffer focus feel. I'm fine with stiffer focus when there is a knurled ring, but with tabs I like them slippery smooth.

 

John