Rangefinder slightly off at infinity.

[jip]

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Hey guys,

 

I've been enjoying my Leica M (Typ 240) for a while now but noticed all my lenses don't focus for infinity ACCORDING to the rangefinder.

 

The problem:

 

Lenses actually focus perfectly fine when set to infinity, but the rangefinder says I'm focussing a bit in front of it. So it doesn't reach infinity anymore.

 

Is this easy to adjust myself? 

 

The vertical alignment is fine, just not the infinity horizontal alignment... meaning I'm always backfocussing slightly. It's fine with 35mm or shorter even from up close, but not with 50 or longer.

 

Thanks! 

 

P.S.

 

I've ruled it out to be the lenses because the lenses work just fine on my partner's M240. 

Edited May 1, 2015 by jip

[jaapv]

Worth trying: 2 mm Hex (Allen) key and a miniscule twist to the roller on the follower in the camera mouth should do the trick.

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[Maarten]

Jip, i've sent you a pm.

[jip]

Hey Maarten,

 

Ik zag het! Maar ik ben verhuisd naar Rotterdam!

[Maarten]

Hi Jip, buy yourself a 2mm 'inbussleutel'.

Find a place where you find detail at a large (> 1km) distance, in Rotterdam cranes and chemical facturies on a bright day will do fine.

Turn the screw of the roller and check if you reach infinity in the finder. The small detail of the cranes/factories will help you to find the setting with the highest contrast.

You will need ten minutes before you're done.

I use to check with my 50mm lens because the helicoil is 1:1 meaning it is the most simple construction.

Wish you success!

 

Maarten

[jip]

Hey Maarten,

 

Thanks for the detailed description.

 

This is the view from my windows, so plenty of stuff at infinity!

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[FlashGordonPhotography]

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Personally, I find it better to do the adjustment on a focus point of about 20 meters away and use infinity as a confirmation.

 

Gordon

[jack-tucker]

Hi,

As Maarten said, make sure you are trying with an subject far enough. Once I tried with the view from my roof and found that, focus ring on infinity, distanced objects where out of focus. Later at night, I focused on the moon which appeared completely sharp. I guess, infinity means really far away, not just 50 meters or so.

Regards,

Florian

[jip]

I think for me the rangefinder should think 1km is infinity, since I rarely focus at something further like the moon. So I'll adjust to something across the river here.

[rsolomon]

Does anyone know of a solution ... or is there a solution, i am having this problem as well.  i have it on both lenses (35 f 2.0 and  75 f 2.0) is there an adjustment Leica can make ?  thanks for any insight 

[FlashGordonPhotography]

The rangefinder is fully adjustable. Leica can do it. Or if it's only the infinity that's off then you can do it with a 2mm allen key (2mm hex key). If the rangefinder is falling short of the infinity position then it's a very slight turn toward the lens relese button. If it's overshooting then it's front focusing and it's a slight turn toward the main vf window.

 

If you turn your camera upside down with no lens mounted you'll see the hex nut at the top (bottom if the camera is upside down) just inside the lens mount. Small movements and lots of patience.

 

Personally I find it MUCH easier to calibrate to a point about 15 meters away and then use infinity as a double check rather than trying to calibrate at infinity.

 

If you get the mid or infinity right and there's still something off at other distances only Leica can make the complex adjustments of throw distance and curve on the M240.

 

Gordon

 

Gordon

[rsolomon]

I'm impressed 

 

I Visited Leica in New Jersey today - no appointment, they made the infinity focus adjustment, while there they checked the camera overall, validated metering, cleaned the sensor, checked my lenses  all while i waited.

 

 My 35  f/2.0 was clean,sharp, accurate on testing ( i love that lens).

 

My 75 f/2.0  had some dust specs and will be cleaned, and tested and shipped to me --

 

All this  free of charge .  Leica folks are extremely pleasant as i just walked in with no appointment.  

[indergaard]

I'm impressed 

 

I Visited Leica in New Jersey today - no appointment, they made the infinity focus adjustment, while there they checked the camera overall, validated metering, cleaned the sensor, checked my lenses  all while i waited.

 

 My 35  f/2.0 was clean,sharp, accurate on testing ( i love that lens).

 

My 75 f/2.0  had some dust specs and will be cleaned, and tested and shipped to me --

 

All this  free of charge .  Leica folks are extremely pleasant as i just walked in with no appointment.  

 

It's good to hear that Leica treats people very differently, based on where they live, if they show uf physically, and other things.

Show up physically and boom, you bypass the 2-3 months waiting time for the people that actually don't live near a leica service center.

 

That's a great policy right there. Let anyone that are willing to show up physically bypass the huge waitinglists! I'll try the same at the grocery store tomorrow and see how it works out.

 

Any other camera manufacturers service center treat everyone equally, wether they show up or not. Personally I would appreciate if Leica adopted the same policy.

Edited May 14, 2015 by indergaard

[BerndReini]

I completely disagree. If you go to a government office in person, sometimes you can get things taken care of immediately. I am personally glad that you can still get results through personal interaction. Yes, it is an advantage for people who live closer, but come on, a rangefinder adjustment takes a few minutes and if you walk in telling a person that this is what it is, it really isn't that big of a deal to fix it. You will get preferred treatment at your local Leica dealer as well.

 

I hear what you are saying about this being somewhat unfair, but "the squeaky wheel gets the oil."

[rsolomon]

to be clearer service was excellent,

 

As mentioned the adjustment took only minutes , my 75 f/2 with dust  is still in NJ to be cleaned with the normal turnaround. So in the end they did the quick simple adjustment and quick sensor cleaning in the most pleasant manner BUT where detailed technical work was needed to be done i received nothing extra,  My lens will be shipped to me when its ready - i was told up to 8 weeks.  

 

Overall  i saved the time of shipping to Leica NJ (which could be a while depending on shipping method,origin, and how long it hangs around the dealer prior to shipping).  i may also have saved time on any processing they do on "shipped in" equipment (i had to fill out paperwork). 

 

Being closer is an advantage  in that there are people you can ask any leica technical question to -  the engineers themselves available if your willing to wait for them.  

 

A better comparison would be to compare which goods would you have sooner:  ordering merchandise from the grocery store vs going and picking up the merchandise yourself. 

[mirekti]

One part is not perfectly clear to me. There are two spots/screws on the mechanism which one can use to adjust the rangefinder.
One is for adjustment of front/backfocusing, and the other is for adjusting the infinity. So what exactly is one doing when adjusting it for infinity? Does one need to set the lens to infinity, and then turn the screw so the object in distance is in focus (has higher contrast) in the patch?

Would the proper way be to adjust for the infinity first, and then adjust the other screw at let's say 2m distance for any potential front/back focusing?

[microview]

If you are in Chicago, would not Tamarkin be the best place to go – and let an expert fix your camera?

[mirekti]

47 minutes ago, microview said:

If you are in Chicago, would not Tamarkin be the best place to go – and let an expert fix your camera?

I had no clue, moved in area two years ago. Certainly I can go there, and most likely will.

...but adjusting the rangefinder sounds easy, and there’s that feeling of accomplishment if you do it yourself.

[marchyman]

See this thread for background: 

 

Yeah, it's for an M9 but my M262 is quite similar and the adjustment principles are the same.

Edited January 13, 2020 by marchyman

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[jaapv]

On 5/14/2015 at 3:04 PM, indergaard said:

 

It's good to hear that Leica treats people very differently, based on where they live, if they show uf physically, and other things.

Show up physically and boom, you bypass the 2-3 months waiting time for the people that actually don't live near a leica service center.

 

That's a great policy right there. Let anyone that are willing to show up physically bypass the huge waitinglists! I'll try the same at the grocery store tomorrow and see how it works out.

 

Any other camera manufacturers service center treat everyone equally, wether they show up or not. Personally I would appreciate if Leica adopted the same policy.

They have huge waiting lists at your grocery store?