Lens disassemblies

[movito]

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Hey, how about a thread showing what do Leica M lenses look like when disassembled?

 

I'm sure we're all curious to know what they look like on the inside

 

Here's my Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 asph v1, partially disassembled.

 

Repairing my Summilux by movito, on Flickr

 

I look forward to seeing your disassembled shots!

[tobey bilek]

Easy to take apart. The hard part is together again so it works correctly.

[mikebidwell]

Hey, how about a thread showing what do Leica M lenses look like when disassembled?

 

I'm sure we're all curious to know what they look like on the inside

 

Here's my Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 asph v1, partially disassembled.

 

Repairing my Summilux by movito, on Flickr

 

I look forward to seeing your disassembled shots!

 

'Strange'

I'm very curious as to why you would think I'd want to disassemble any of my lenses. Even If I had a problem I'm sure I'd send it to someone like Malcolm Taylor who knows what he's doing, cos I surely don't.

[marknorton]

I'm not averse to taking things apart but I draw the line at lenses. Those multi-start helicoids are a nightmare and if you don't have the correct instruments to check focus and infinity, there's much trial and error. I did it once with a pre-ASPH 50mm Summilux which only has a single helicoid. Lenses like the one you've taken apart have two, a floating group for close focus adds still more complexity.

 

Thanks for sharing though!

[rramesh]

I think you mistake this forum for the Ikea one. Remember Leica does not ship with assembly or disasembly instructions.

[Paul J]

I actually have as much desire to remove my own teeth than take apart my lenses.

[erl]

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A follow up series of pics would be interesting. One showing it back together again and several showing how it focuses afterwards.

[marknorton]

I think you mistake this forum for the Ikea one. Remember Leica does not ship with assembly or disasembly instructions.

 

Thank goodness there weren't the same idiotic comments when I took an M8 apart.

[wattsy]

It's a good job not everyone is so risk averse otherwise mankind might never have climbed down from the trees, let alone flew to the moon.

[TomB_tx]

I've taken apart many old SLR lenses (Canon, Pentax, Minolta, Nikon), but only to repair problems when the lens value made paying for repair questionable. Most are made so that working on them is not bad. Dry helicoids and sticky auto-diaphragms are the usual issues that are easy to fix. By putting alignment marks on the helicoid parts I've gotten them all back together properly, and practice helps. Much can be done without affecting focus alignment on these - but rangefinder lenses have the cam to consider.

The old 50 Elmars are simple enough to work on, but I've never been tempted to tear into "M" lenses - especially since mine all work fine.

[gyoung]

The key to all this mechanical stuff is knowing your own limitations, alas so many (non Leica) lenses now are plastic held together with superglue, not a problem for me as a production philosophy but simple mechanical dissembly and assembly is not an option.

I too have taken apart old (but interesting) lenses to make simple repairs where the cost of professional repair would be far more than the cost of replacing the lens, but I wouldn't tackle anything like that lens!

 

Gerry

[mmradman]

Hey, how about a thread showing what do Leica M lenses look like when disassembled?

 

I'm sure we're all curious to know what they look like on the inside

 

Here's my Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 asph v1, partially disassembled.

 

Repairing my Summilux by movito, on Flickr

 

I look forward to seeing your disassembled shots!

 

Thank for that.

 

Very revealing how simple outside mechanics really is, i would imagine internal mechanics within optical cell is completely different matter and that is the part to be given to trained specialist.

 

Doesn't look more complex than Leitaxing Macro Elmarit R 60mm.

 

Serrated wheel on the lens barrel is, I assume, aperture ring?

[Erik Gunst Lund]

Leitz 40mm 2.0

I have repaired, modified, cleaned and lubed many lenses.

Mostly manual focus lenses, the new AF are much more difficult to work on especially regarding the electronics, but the mechanical design is very similar for the new AF Pro lenses, they have similar metal design for the internal parts that hold the optics, the outer plastic shell is actually quite clever since it absorbs bumps and springs back into shape, don't get me wrong, I prefer old fashion metal construction....

[darylgo]

This is quite interesting to see. I once diassembled a 135 Tele-Elmar making the mistake of not marking the helicoid. After many hours of failed reassembly attempts I sent the lens to DAG. He was kind and spent hours reassembling, letting me know very politely that it would be best to let him do any diassembly in the future.

[Bill Allsopp]

Just because you can does not mean you should.

[luigi bertolotti]

Nothing bad if someone feels confident to dismount lenses, and I appreciate very much pictures like the 2 above examples; I personally won't do, in fear of reassemblying right, and also for probable lack of certain tools, but in any tech field there is people who have this kind of mech passions, be it on watches or engines or even trains...

[FrozenInTime]

Here's my Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 asph v1, partially disassembled.

 

Repairing my Summilux by movito, on Flickr

 

Your timing is perfect:

My 35mm Summilux has developed a wobble ; the optical cell - aperture forward is loose by a fraction of a mm - but it's enough to clunk around if I'm carrying the camera on a wrist strap. The problem is all lateral no rotation.

 

I was going first to try adding more grease to the helicoid ( it had a lot more when new 15 years ago ).

If if's not that, does the slotted ring lower center of your photo tighten the optical cell against the mount ? ( I think those slots can be seen looking in from the rear of the lens ).

 

Thanks,

Donald.