leica lens build suspect

[stump4545]

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Are there any modern/ vintage Leica lenes that are known to have build quality issues?

 

Not vintage glass from say 1960's of older, but are there any lenses from the 1970's or later that has a history of not being built well?

[marknorton]

Others will have a better historical perspective than me, but the lens which stands out as not up to scratch is the previous 35mm Summilux ASPH which exhibits pronounced focus shift as you stop down from f1.4 to f2.8. Since replaced with the FLE version, it's a frustrating lens to use until you can put it on an M240 when Live View allows you to focus accurately.

 

It's interesting that it's rare, if ever, for lens complaints to be about problems with the glass itself, cemented groups, coating and so on.

 

The complaints are almost always about the lens mount - sticky, backlash, incorrectly aligned plus of course focussing problems brought about by incorrect coupling with the camera rangefinder. The problem of course is that the lens mounts have been getting more and more complex to meet the demands of the optics and in the case of the 50mm Summilux ASPH, it's all crammed into a tiny space. Turn the focussing ring of a 21mm Summilux ASPH and 3 things happen - the lens barrel moves out at one rate, the focussing cam at a second and the lens close focus correction at a third. It's no wonder the lens is complex.

[adan]

I've run across three that have various problems, known or not-so-well-known.

 

35mm Summicron-M pre-ASPH (so-called v.4 or king of bokeh). Front elements and aperture ring are attached to the back of the lens with (descriptions vary) epoxy or a plastic lock ring that is prone to break if one gets in the habit of using the rectangular lens hood as a grip when mounting/removing the lens (thus applying torque on the front of the lens rather than the middle of the barrel) - allowing the whole front to unscrew. It screws right back in - but often when tightened well, leaves the lens hood canted out of alignment with the camera body (cosmetically unpleasant, since the rectangular shape of the hood makes the misalignment very obvious, but functional).

 

This also mis-alignment can also happen with the current ASPH 35 Summicron, although I don't know if from the same reason - http://static.photo.net/attachments/bboard/004/004i2B-11821484.jpg

 

90 Tele-Elmarit-M - very early copies (pre-1980) have been prone to a crazing disease of the rear element glass or coating (NOT fungus, but something more like a chemical reaction, some speculate with vapor from the lens lubricants). Rear elements were installed as a sealed unit, and the whole unit must be replaced - and there are no more spare units. It is assumed, though, at this point, that any lens likely to develop this already has.

 

180 Elmarit-R - lighter-weight 67mm filter-size design: I've seen one where the entire focusing ring had come loose from the mechanism - spinning freely without moving the focus. Also one where the barrel between the aperture ring and focus ring was coming loose somwhere inside and wobbling a bit. Both dated from the early 1980s.

 

All of these date from an era when Leitz was engineering to reduce costs (for the nearly-defunct M line) or weight/size (for the R line). It should be noted that I personally use one each of the first two lenses mentioned - and love 'em - and just keep an eye on them and handle with care.

[algrove]

These latest reports will send many of us to the lens cabinet tonight. Glad I'm 5000 miles from my cabinet.

[egrossman]

There is a problem with the 28mm Summicron and the way the front ring is secured to the lens. Rather than rehash what has already been described, you can read more about it here: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/customer-forum/234708-28-summicron-lens-hood-movement.html

 

Erik

[pgk]

There is a problem with the 28mm Summicron and the way the front ring is secured to the lens.

Erik

There can be problems with other 28mm lenses which have lugs onto which the hood locks - again the front ring can work loose over time (they are relatively 'old' lenses) and re-tightening this can be problematic I am told.

[lct]

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...35mm Summicron-M pre-ASPH (so-called v.4 or king of bokeh). Front elements and aperture ring are attached to the back of the lens with (descriptions vary) epoxy or a plastic lock ring that is prone to break...

Same with the "thin" Tele-Elmarit 90/2.8 (below). Suffice it to screw the "head" in both cases and it works fine again.

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[elgenper]

Same with the "thin" Tele-Elmarit 90/2.8 (below). Suffice it to screw the "head" in both cases and it works fine again.

 

Oops! Never seen this with my TE 90. Almost looks as if there might be an adapter for Visoflex use. None of the Viso manuals mention this lens, however. Anyone who has tried?