Haze query Summitar

[philipus]

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Hi everyone

 

I've seen at Marco Cavina's site that there are a few different lens layouts of the Summitar. My Summitar is from 1950 according to this list which would seem to suggest it is built like the right-most image on Cavina's site.

 

My lens has a tiny bit of haze in one of the front elements and I read on various sites that the Summitar is fairly easy to unscrew and clean.

 

I unscrewed the two front-most parts - on this image you see the lines quite clearly where the lens separates, on either side of the vertical f number indicators.

 

However, the elements thus exposed are clean and haze-free.

 

I've therefore realised that the haze must be located between the front-most two elements, that are cemented. Cavina's site indicates that there is a space between these lenses.

 

Is it possible for a technician to clean haze in that area? Is it even worth it?

 

Cheers and thanks in advance for your help

Philip

[luigi bertolotti]

A delicate job that some "gnome" could even do... but I doubt is worth: the front 2 elements are, as you say, cemented, and their separation is possible (there had been even some thread showing how to do it) but all in all is a long work to be made. Keep in mind that the version with the 2 front elements spaced, displayed in the excellent Marco' site, is the rare Summitar "star" (*) = Summicron prototype, rare and tasty collectors' item (it even exists, ultrarare, with Compur shutter)

[gyoung]

If the front pair are cemented there should not be a space between them, Malcolm Taylor can do recementing and others too may do so. It was worth doing on my 3.5/50 Elmar, not too expensive

 

Gerry

[earleygallery]

Are you sure it's haze. Could be separation?

 

If it is haze, and only slight as you say, I would leave it alone, you aren't going to notice any effect on the images.

[philipus]

Thanks very much for your replies.

 

I'm sure mine isn't a "star" - it doesn't have a star after the serial number (or anywhere else for that matter). It's got a circular aperture (ten blades) and blueish coating.

 

I'm quite sure it is haze. Here are two images of the front-most lens group which I removed.

 

The first image is from the front and the second from the back. On both are visible out-of-focus dust specks on the "outer" (closest to the camera) surfaces.

 

So the haze is inside this two-element group (even if there's no "space" between the lenses, I guess there's enough room to fit the haze).

 

It's pretty evenly distributed and not very dense so I think I'll leave it as is because it doesn't seem to impact the images much, perhaps a tiny bit of softness but not much.

 

cheers

philip

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[kokoshawnuff]

I've had a number of Summitars over the past few years and all of them have had some bubbles in the glass (the larger spots; I see one in the upper right of you first image), and they have also had (to varying degrees) the little evenly dispersed specks you mention. I always assumed them to be minor separation and degradation to the cementing, but perhaps it could be haze....Either way I always get the unique (but nice for the age) results as to be expected from this lens, and have never had one cleaned.

[lars_bergquist]

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Early production of high-index glass did always produce minor bubbles in the mass of the glass itself. Both Carl Zeiss (which controlled the Schott Glassworks in Jena) and Leitz did often point out in their literature that a small bubble or two did not adversely affect lens performance, so this was not really a fault. There were even Zeiss-connected writers who claimed that the presence of such bubbles were actually a quality guaranty – it proved that high grade glass had been used!

 

The old man with strong eyeglasses