Numbers Posted February 24, 2014 Share #1 Â Posted February 24, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) I was testing my 3 lenses, shooting them on a ruler and it seems my 35 mm summilux asph FLE, back focuses about 2 cm. I tested it against my summicron 75 and my sem 21 and they are both spot on, so I assume the problem is with the 35 mm lens and not the rangefinder. It is a bit of an issue for me and annoying for closeup portraits, when I want to take advantage of the shallow depth of field this lens has. the lens is about 8 months old. Is this an issue that will be solved under Leica warranty or am I being too 'anal' about it? How do Leica view this? Â I would appreciate advice from those who have experienced a similar issue. Â thank you, in advance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 24, 2014 Posted February 24, 2014 Hi Numbers, Take a look here summilux off by 2 cm - acceptable or expect warranty service?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
lct Posted February 24, 2014 Share #2 Â Posted February 24, 2014 ...How do Leica view this?... I would ask them but they will probably advise to send the lens in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted February 25, 2014 Share #3 Â Posted February 25, 2014 If it's an issue, send it in. If it's just one lens they may just ask for that one but they may well well ask you to send all your lenses AND body in so they can all be calibrated to the standard. Â I t was the latter with me, I sent it all in and everything camera back dead on and was well worth the effort and time away. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stein K S Posted February 25, 2014 Share #4  Posted February 25, 2014 If it's an issue, send it in. If it's just one lens they may just ask for that one but they may well well ask you to send all your lenses AND body in so they can all be calibrated to the standard. I t was the latter with me, I sent it all in and everything camera back dead on and was well worth the effort and time away.  Hi Just curious about the cost of doing something like that? How many lenses did you send along the camera and what did you pay? I do assume that this do not require full LCA?  Thank you for all feedback!  Regards, Stein Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted February 25, 2014 Share #5 Â Posted February 25, 2014 It was under warranty so cost nothing via Leica Customer Care. I just phoned them up and they took care of it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenPatterson Posted February 25, 2014 Share #6 Â Posted February 25, 2014 OK, let's break this down... Â You state that your 21SEM focus is spot on. Well, at 21mm and f/3.4 I would hope you wouldn't have any focus issues, as they would likely be masked by DOF. Your 75 Summicron is a better test at f/2 and 0.8 meter, but I would still do more testing and find another Leica owner or Leica shop where you could try the 35 FLE on a second body and see if the front focus was still present. Â Leica never calibrates lenses to a specific body, so sending in all of your lenses will not give you a "matched set", but rather every piece will be checked to the standard. If you can determine where the problem lies beforehand it will save unnecessary shipping and potential loss or damage. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted February 25, 2014 Share #7 Â Posted February 25, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) I don't have the luxury of being able to go without my kit and I only had problems with one lens. It was Leica who requested me to send it all in. Â Also, I was told by Leica that they wanted to make sure my Noctilux was specifically calibrated to my body, so that is not my experience there. Â Just because the other 2 lenses seem spot on, doesn't mean they are in fact out, along with the body. You can send everything in once or a few things spread out over a longer period and a whole lot of frustration. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenPatterson Posted February 25, 2014 Share #8 Â Posted February 25, 2014 Also, I was told by Leica that they wanted to make sure my Noctilux was specifically calibrated to my body, so that is not my experience there. Â Ultra shallow DOF lenses like the Noctilux and 90 APO Summicron really push the limits of a mechanical rangefinder, so in order to make sure that the camera and lens are not at extreme opposite ends of the tolerance band Leica will often request that a customer send in all their kit. Otherwise a user could still find his focus off by several millimeters, even though all components are in tolerance. This is quite different from specifically calibrating a lens to a body, which Leica has not done since the late 1920s. Â Sending in all your kit at once also saves the factory considerable paperwork, as Leica doesn't believe many users can determine whether a focus error lies in the camera or lens and they would rather just process a single return authorization rather than multiple ones. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted February 25, 2014 Share #9  Posted February 25, 2014 Sending in all your kit at once also saves the factory considerable paperwork, as Leica doesn't believe many users can determine whether a focus error lies in the camera or lens and they would rather just process a single return authorization rather than multiple ones.  Hmmm….there was a lot more paper work given I sent off 7 items instead of one. The shipping and insurance would have been more and they had to find a loaner kit too. There was a week of back and forth communication so that took much more time and cost more money.  No one can be sure wether the body or lens is out, other than Leica with their service equipment. Your body may appear calibrated with one or more lenses but the lenses can be out the same amount as the body.  Perhaps when you express the importance of the issue they are simply willing to help you out? Leica do receive a lot of criticism, some of it may valid, but one thing I have found is their customer service, in my experience, has been first class. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted February 25, 2014 Share #10 Â Posted February 25, 2014 There's no point saying your lens is off by 2cm if you don't also say at what distance. 2cm off at infinity is quite acceptable, 2cm off at 70cm is probably less so but the rangefinder is always going to struggle with fast longer lenses, wide open, close up. Take any one of those away and you are in better shape, providing of course the lens is correct at infinity. Â It is true that you can only tell whether it's camera or lens by a kind of majority voting system - more lenses at fault points the finger at the camera, a single lens at the lens. Â I think Leica must rue the day - though they would never admit it - the rangefinder was invented because of the amount of non-chargeable work it's created in the digital world. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbers Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share #11 Â Posted February 25, 2014 thank you for all your replies. I will progress with the matter and consult with Leica CS to get their opinion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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