Summilux 50mm 1.4 non asph focus issue

[hutchinson14]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I have the chance to by a 50mm f1.4 non asph summilux M lens. When trying at infinity on my M9 the image does not quite line up in my viewfinder. Also the white dot in front of the aperture ring does not align up with depth of field scale white mark at the rear of the lens. Do you think this can be cured with CLA?

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[luigi bertolotti]

Welcome to the forum !!

Yes, the misadjustements of the Summilux you quote can be fixed by an expert lab (or at the factory, even) : indeed, such issues on a rather "modern" lens like the Summilux 50 make to think that the lens has been heavily used with not so much care... are the other details all OK ? (helicoid movement, f stop ring clickings) ; and, above all, does the glass look well clean and unscratched, with even look of the coating ? Summilux is a fine lens, devoted to a usage which requires it is in full shape.

[hutchinson14]

Thank you for your reply. Yes it may have seen some heavy use but the optics seem ok except for one or two dust spots, no scratches or marks on the glass, focus ring seems ok. I have taken some photos with it and they look fine. I sent it back to the shop were they tested it on a M8 and they said they were no issues with focusing.

[jaapv]

Lining up at infinity is a bit of a lottery. Some lenses will not do so all the way despite focussing perfectly. I would not worry about it as long as your images are sharp.

[Dan Bachmann]

I had something like this happen with a Summilux 50mm 1.4 pre-asph also. It was fine, then it would no longer allow focusing up to infinity, yet the images seemed fine. It was tried on another body and it demonstrated the same problem and my other lenses still went to infinity, so it wasn't the rangefiner in the camera.

 

It was like this way about a month. I took it on the trip to Copenhagen and from then onwards, it's been fine ever since! I've heard there was Leica magic in the lenses, but I was expecting something different.