thpeters Posted March 30, 2007 Share #41 Â Posted March 30, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Did you get it fixed? If so, is the focusing better? Â Hi Jennifer, Â I have my camera not back yet, but Robert Fisk from Leica told me they working on it to solved it. The viewfinder of my camera was also not correct, but I have trust in Leica that they fix it and I hope to have it soon back. I have read all the advise, to help you, but phone Tony Ross from Popflash or Phone Robert Fisk from Leica. If you have the camera from Popflash maybe they can give you a replacement and let the dealer sorten it out with Leica, that is what suppose to be done. Not you as client have to wait for a fix. Â Leica NJ, admit that there are camera's out the box defective from day one with a back focus problem, my camera was. Â Theo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 30, 2007 Posted March 30, 2007 Hi thpeters, Take a look here My used 35 lux is back focusing. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Crazy Cat Lady Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share #42 Â Posted March 30, 2007 Thanks everyone for your help. I contacted Tony at Popflash and he said not to worry about it, that we will work it out. He really is a nice guy and I am so ever thankful that he is willing to give me more time to sort this out. Â So, this weekend I am going to do some infinity tests and take it outside for a bit. Also, I am going to try to look for a diopter. I was also thinking maybe I can find someplace that rents out leica lenses around here in Michigan, so I can test something besides a 35. Â Thanks everyone I really do appreciate it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nscali Posted March 30, 2007 Share #43 Â Posted March 30, 2007 For what it's worth, I just received my 1.35 magnifier from Dirk and oh my!! What a difference it makes! It is very clear now how easy it is to slightly misfocus. Particularly considering how small the margin of error would be on a larger lens, wide open. Nicky Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsmith Posted March 30, 2007 Share #44  Posted March 30, 2007 You're obviously posting in good faith but you've not read the detail: this is about two luxes and one cron on three bodies, with another couple tested at the dealer's and with confirmation from Solms and plenty of other users.  We all know that some examples of these lenses don't 'do it' but it is quite clear that an awful lot do.  I will pay you full list price plus 20% for your lens, provided that I can test it first and post the results here.  Tim  Thanks for the offer Tim but it's my favorite lens. If you could only have 1 lens, that's it. I'm even afraid to send it to Leica for encoding. I really think a lot of these recent lens problems are the result of Leica changing the flange with a 6 bit one and the focus calibration gets thrown off. Leica NJ told me you cannot just remove the screws and swap the flanges because it throws the focus off when removed. So maybe post mis-calibration is happening. Also a lot of the "new" lenses were non-6 bit sent in by dealers for 6 bit. It's really ridiculous to have to exchange a $3000, 0r $4000 lens 2 or 3 times to find one that focuses correctly. This is happening all over the country. Jennifer was asking about lenses and I didn't want her or anyone to be afraid to buy this wonderful lens. Maybe a used lens is better right now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tashley Posted March 30, 2007 Share #45 Â Posted March 30, 2007 Thanks for the offer Tim but it's my favorite lens. If you could only have 1 lens, that's it. I'm even afraid to send it to Leica for encoding. I really think a lot of these recent lens problems are the result of Leica changing the flange with a 6 bit one and the focus calibration gets thrown off. Leica NJ told me you cannot just remove the screws and swap the flanges because it throws the focus off when removed. So maybe post mis-calibration is happening. Also a lot of the "new" lenses were non-6 bit sent in by dealers for 6 bit. It's really ridiculous to have to exchange a $3000, 0r $4000 lens 2 or 3 times to find one that focuses correctly. This is happening all over the country. Jennifer was asking about lenses and I didn't want her or anyone to be afraid to buy this wonderful lens. Maybe a used lens is better right now. Â Â That's why I want to buy yours... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
carstenw Posted March 30, 2007 Share #46 Â Posted March 30, 2007 Tim, you should find someone who has a known good copy, and just meet up, to try it on your camera... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tashley Posted March 30, 2007 Share #47  Posted March 30, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Tim, you should find someone who has a known good copy, and just meet up, to try it on your camera...   I'm meeting Jono today but damn his eyes, the 35 lux and cron are about the only two lenses he doesn't have! But if anyone in the south of England has one, I'll travel - with both M8 bodies!  Best  Tim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbretteville Posted March 30, 2007 Share #48 Â Posted March 30, 2007 C, With respect, wide open is not a problem for anyone. Nice coffee cup, lovely light, but the issue is focus shift at mid-apertures. Â I wasn't aware of that, I just asumed that it would be more pronounced up close and wide open as the dof is at its minimum. My bad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tashley Posted March 30, 2007 Share #49 Â Posted March 30, 2007 I wasn't aware of that, I just asumed that it would be more pronounced up close and wide open as the dof is at its minimum. My bad. No probs! Â The ususal problem is that as you stop down, between one stop tighter than wide open and then about f5.6 or 8, worst at f4, the plane of focus shifts backwards by more than the DOF improves, leading to objects at the centre of the fram going OOF. Give it a go and let us know! Â Tim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
carstenw Posted March 30, 2007 Share #50 Â Posted March 30, 2007 I went past Leica Berlin today, and they had a 35 Lux Asph in stock. I told them that I knew someone who would buy it if I could successfully run a test on it. They supplied me with a tripod, and we took it outside. I focused on a slanted sign at a distance of 2m, and at f/1.4 it looked sharp at exactly the right point, as agreed by myself and the staff. Then I shot other shots at f/2.8, f/5.6 and f/8. The one at f/2.8 was clearly out of focus. At f/5.6 it was about as sharp as at f/1.4, and at f/8 it was perhaps a little better. Â They were very surprised by the results, and had never heard of this before, but didn't have any complaints about the testing method. Â There seems to be something up with the copies being churned out at Leica at the moment. Anyone wanting one may be better off looking for a used one until this is cleared up. Â . Â Note that this never was a problem with film. The lens tolerances are very tight, and the film is very thick, comparatively speaking. Thinking about this a little more: I presume that many are familiar with the following way to sharpen: open a photo in Photoshop, copy the base layer, apply a blur, and overlay the two with some transparency. In other words, one sharp photo plus one unsharp photo yields one sharper (!) photo. The same happens in film. One sharp layer is moving around somewhere in the film, but there are other unsharp layers in the crystals around, and together they form a sharper impression... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Cat Lady Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share #51 Â Posted March 30, 2007 For an infinity test, do I test all apertures? Or do I set the aperture on it largest setting, 16 being the largest setting? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlesphoto99 Posted March 30, 2007 Share #52 Â Posted March 30, 2007 Mine does that slightly, though it can vary somewhat by the distance. But in no way as what's been reported here. Mine is maybe four -six years old (no way to know as I purchased it second hand about 3 years ago). If anything, my 28 Summicron is worse. It had its mount replaced by Leica last year after an accident. Go figure. Â Bummer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlesphoto99 Posted March 30, 2007 Share #53 Â Posted March 30, 2007 No, test wide open. The extra depth of field will give you a non-answer, and anyway most lenses (and esp Leica) are at their worst performance f11 on up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Cat Lady Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share #54  Posted March 30, 2007 C,  With respect, wide open is not a problem for anyone. Nice coffee cup, lovely light, but the issue is focus shift at mid-apertures.  Tim  I have a problem with my lux ASPH wide open. It back focuses wide open and the higher the aperture the worse it gets Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Cat Lady Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share #55 Â Posted March 30, 2007 I read somewhere that a cloud is a good test for infinity. So, I figured, what have I got to loose. I went out, set the lens to infinity at 1.4. Now, if I understand this right, if my camera is ok, the cloud should be in focus, right? Â Another thing. I went out and took a photograph of a flower that is starting to bloom and it seems that the right side & left side is more in focus than behind the flower (there are leaves behind the flower). Maybe I am doing something wrong. I am so confused..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted March 30, 2007 Share #56 Â Posted March 30, 2007 Jennifer-- Your flower test indicates that the lens is doing what Tim's other thread indicated it would: It shows some curvature of field, meaning in this case that the center is out but toward the edges focus gets better. In other words, the optics of the lens are working according to what Leica says they should. It's the mechanics that are out, IF (as likely in my opinion) the problem is with the lens and not the body. Â Clouds sounds okay. So would a building 1/2 mile away or a cell phone tower or some such. Â --HC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Cat Lady Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share #57 Â Posted March 30, 2007 Jennifer--Your flower test indicates that the lens is doing what Tim's other thread indicated it would: It shows some curvature of field, meaning in this case that the center is out but toward the edges focus gets better. In other words, the optics of the lens are working according to what Leica says they should. It's the mechanics that are out, IF (as likely in my opinion) the problem is with the lens and not the body. Â Clouds sounds okay. So would a building 1/2 mile away or a cell phone tower or some such. Â --HC Â Â The cloud test came out blurry. Which I do not know what that means. But this weekend I am going to test it out on other things. So, if the problem is with the lens, then there is no way to fix it, right? Basically I keep it and live with it, at a steep price or return it. Â ::Sigh:: What a bummer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergiolov Posted March 30, 2007 Share #58  Posted March 30, 2007 I went past Leica Berlin today, and they had a 35 Lux Asph in stock. I told them that I knew someone who would buy it if I could successfully run a test on it. They supplied me with a tripod, and we took it outside. I focused on a slanted sign at a distance of 2m, and at f/1.4 it looked sharp at exactly the right point, as agreed by myself and the staff. Then I shot other shots at f/2.8, f/5.6 and f/8. The one at f/2.8 was clearly out of focus. At f/5.6 it was about as sharp as at f/1.4, and at f/8 it was perhaps a little better. They were very surprised by the results, and had never heard of this before, but didn't have any complaints about the testing method.  There seems to be something up with the copies being churned out at Leica at the moment. Anyone wanting one may be better off looking for a used one until this is cleared up.  .  Note that this never was a problem with film. The lens tolerances are very tight, and the film is very thick, comparatively speaking. Thinking about this a little more: I presume that many are familiar with the following way to sharpen: open a photo in Photoshop, copy the base layer, apply a blur, and overlay the two with some transparency. In other words, one sharp photo plus one unsharp photo yields one sharper (!) photo. The same happens in film. One sharp layer is moving around somewhere in the film, but there are other unsharp layers in the crystals around, and together they form a sharper impression...   Carsten, I posted a series of accurately made tests with resolution charts and focus test charts on the LONG thread. The lens is a used summicron 35 asph # 3927615. In all tests the lens was in perfect focus from full open to f8 (end of test) while at the same time showing the focus shift that is reported by many. I dare to expose for the last time my conclusions:  All the 35 asph lenses show a focus shift closing down by design. My lens stays perfectly in focus because it is adjusted full open to have the focus plane at the rear of, but inside the, focus area. Full open most of the sharp area is IN FRONT of the subject.(2/3 in front, 1/3 in back) Stopping down, focus plane shifts back, (while DOF increases) but it does not go out of focus because it has space to shift inside the sharp area. At 5,6 we are back to the common situation in which the sharp area extends 1/3 in front and 2/3 on the back of the subject. (this seems an acceptable reasonable calibration compromise to compensate for the design problem)   Clearly, if a batch of lenses has been adjusted by mistake to have the focus plane full open at the standard position of 1/3 in front 2/3 on the back sharp area, stopping down the lens will go out of focus.  My lens is not old, but clearly not of the last batches.  I don't know if my explanation is intellegible, because I proposed it a few times with different words, but got no response other that " Solms said everything is as it should be"  As I said before, if one works, all other are misadjusted.  Sergio Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tashley Posted March 30, 2007 Share #59  Posted March 30, 2007 Jen, let me try to help:  If the lux is backfocussing wide open then it is certainly mis-adjusted, or your rangefinder is mis-calibrated.  To do a proper infinity test, the best way is to set the lens hard to infinity, train the rangefinder on something large and clear AT LEAST SIX MILES away - either a radio mast, skyscraper, or the moon, and fire some shots on a tripod with the lens wide open and maybe just a few at f5.6.  I would do this with another lens first. One that you (or preferably someone very experienced with all this) trusts.  This should establish whether the RF is adjusted correctly at infinity. If it is, two things will happen:  1) The image of the moon/tower will exactly coincide with itself as seen through the RF window, with no overlap or 'double'. 2) The shots will show your subject perfectly sharp when viewed at 100% on screen.  Now, take the 'trusted' lens and shoot images of an object where you can see the foreground and the background with some depth either way, but with the object in the exact middle of the frame. Again, use a tripod. Shoot wide open and at f5.6, with the subject twenty feet away and again at close distance (around 3 feet). These should all be sharp at 100% on screen.  Now do the same thing, but with the 35 lux.  This procedure should help you narrow down the problem to the lens and not the rangefinder but you MUST use a lens that is known to be correctly adjusted.  Please do ask for any clarification.  BTW your results so far are a little confusing but I don't have quite enough info to judge so I would follow the method above and see what happens before any of us can usefully help you any further.  Best  Tim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted March 30, 2007 Share #60 Â Posted March 30, 2007 Jennifer-- Tim posted while I was working on this response. His description of how to test is excellent. Follow his instructions, and use what I say only as fill-in. Â The cloud test came out blurry. Which I do not know what that means. But this weekend I am going to test it out on other things. I don't know about blurry clouds. I prefer shooting fixed and contrasty objects as close to the horizon as you can find. (To me, clouds are already fuzzy.) Â Shoot a utility pole, power transmission tower, building. Technically, the definition of infinity used in optical design is 1000 x focal length. But that is inadequate for the M rangefinder. Just find the furthest thing you can see. Â So, if the problem is with the lens, then there is no way to fix it, right? Leica can fix it and get it back to its new performance, though that option isn't inexpensive. Â Basically I keep it and live with it, at a steep price or return it. If it's not sharp, why "keep it and live with it"? Â --HC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.