xiaubauu2009 Posted August 3, 2015 Share #1 Posted August 3, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Seems like there's a lot of AF motor drive problem with Leica S lens being mentioned in the forum. I am wondering how long since purchased/use before the problem occured, and how heavy a use (how many frame a week or so...) I am just wondering what kind of return rate these lens has. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 3, 2015 Posted August 3, 2015 Hi xiaubauu2009, Take a look here Leica S Lens AF issue. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
ravinj Posted August 3, 2015 Share #2 Posted August 3, 2015 Doubtful if there is any correlation to usage versus failure rate in these cases. At least not in my case. My S 120 AF failed with minimal use. Twice. Minimal in my case is just that - I would say under 200 shots or so. I also had the S 35MM with same issue, i.e, failed AF. Cost to repair was $750. I sold it after repair. On the other hand, my 180mm and 70mm are going strong. So far. I got my S2 and lens system at much lower than retail, so not too worried. But for those who paid retail $$ or close to it, the concerns around reliability are valid. No one wants to end up with a 2lb, $7000 brick of a lens. I can deal with failed AF by using manual focus and I did that with my 120 for a few weeks as I did not have a way to send it for repair on my trip. But I have also seen reports of stuck aperture and given that these are all electronic, there is no way around it other than getting it repaired. I am now appreciating the all manual R lenses like the 180 and 100 APO even more. Nothing to go wrong there. Absolutely stellar on my Sony A7 and I think they have enough reserve to do justice for the 42MP A7RII. Not MF, but they hit it out of the park when used properly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiaubauu2009 Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share #3 Posted August 3, 2015 Doubtful if there is any correlation to usage versus failure rate in these cases. At least not in my case. My S 120 AF failed with minimal use. Twice. Minimal in my case is just that - I would say under 200 shots or so. I also had the S 35MM with same issue, i.e, failed AF. Cost to repair was $750. I sold it after repair. On the other hand, my 180mm and 70mm are going strong. So far. I got my S2 and lens system at much lower than retail, so not too worried. But for those who paid retail $$ or close to it, the concerns around reliability are valid. No one wants to end up with a 2lb, $7000 brick of a lens. I can deal with failed AF by using manual focus and I did that with my 120 for a few weeks as I did not have a way to send it for repair on my trip. But I have also seen reports of stuck aperture and given that these are all electronic, there is no way around it other than getting it repaired. I am now appreciating the all manual R lenses like the 180 and 100 APO even more. Nothing to go wrong there. Absolutely stellar on my Sony A7 and I think they have enough reserve to do justice for the 42MP A7RII. Not MF, but they hit it out of the park when used properly. Did Leica tell you what is wrong with the lens? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiaubauu2009 Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share #4 Posted August 3, 2015 Doubtful if there is any correlation to usage versus failure rate in these cases. At least not in my case. My S 120 AF failed with minimal use. Twice. Minimal in my case is just that - I would say under 200 shots or so. I also had the S 35MM with same issue, i.e, failed AF. Cost to repair was $750. I sold it after repair. On the other hand, my 180mm and 70mm are going strong. So far. I got my S2 and lens system at much lower than retail, so not too worried. But for those who paid retail $$ or close to it, the concerns around reliability are valid. No one wants to end up with a 2lb, $7000 brick of a lens. I can deal with failed AF by using manual focus and I did that with my 120 for a few weeks as I did not have a way to send it for repair on my trip. But I have also seen reports of stuck aperture and given that these are all electronic, there is no way around it other than getting it repaired. I am now appreciating the all manual R lenses like the 180 and 100 APO even more. Nothing to go wrong there. Absolutely stellar on my Sony A7 and I think they have enough reserve to do justice for the 42MP A7RII. Not MF, but they hit it out of the park when used properly. Does R lens have enough resolution to resolve the 42mega pixel??? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jip Posted August 18, 2015 Share #5 Posted August 18, 2015 Does R lens have enough resolution to resolve the 42mega pixel??? I you read the lens specifications the 100 APO Macro Elmarit has more than enough resolving power for a 42 mega pixel sensor. Read it in Erwin Puts his lens compendium for example. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoppyman Posted August 18, 2015 Share #6 Posted August 18, 2015 Doubtful if there is any correlation to usage versus failure rate in these cases. At least not in my case. My S 120 AF failed with minimal use. Twice. Minimal in my case is just that - I would say under 200 shots or so. I also had the S 35MM with same issue, i.e, failed AF. Cost to repair was $750. I sold it after repair. On the other hand, my 180mm and 70mm are going strong. So far. I got my S2 and lens system at much lower than retail, so not too worried. But for those who paid retail $$ or close to it, the concerns around reliability are valid. No one wants to end up with a 2lb, $7000 brick of a lens. I can deal with failed AF by using manual focus and I did that with my 120 for a few weeks as I did not have a way to send it for repair on my trip. But I have also seen reports of stuck aperture and given that these are all electronic, there is no way around it other than getting it repaired. I am now appreciating the all manual R lenses like the 180 and 100 APO even more. Nothing to go wrong there. Absolutely stellar on my Sony A7 and I think they have enough reserve to do justice for the 42MP A7RII. Not MF, but they hit it out of the park when used properly. If your lenses were purchased new from an authorised Leica dealer then any fault after minimal use should have been a warranty repair. If your lenses were purchased at much less than retail is it possible that they were not new stock from an authorised dealer? New or used of course no-one wants to have problems with expensive equipment. Incidentally, regarding the use of Leica lenses on the Sony A7 cameras, a professional fashion photographer that I know (sponsored by Hasselblad) showed me his Noctilux and the APO 90 that he uses on his Sony A7. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertknappmd Posted August 19, 2015 Share #7 Posted August 19, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) I have had two AF failures and both were after exposure to large amounts of dust. They were under warranty and were speedily repaired and have been fine since. The AF failure is an annoyance as you simply have to use manual focus. Leica NEVER tells you what was wrong... I suspect that is part of the mystic! Albert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoppyman Posted August 19, 2015 Share #8 Posted August 19, 2015 Dust is a surprising cause! I was housekeeping my backup files last evening and found that I have made 13600 exposures over the last 12 months with my camera and two lenses without fault. Must be no AF attacking dust bunnies in my part of the world. Well the occasional dust devil does jump onto the sensor when changing lenses. I remember when I initially had only the 70 and never took it off. I made I think several thousand exposures without needing to clean the sensor at all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS Posted September 6, 2015 Share #9 Posted September 6, 2015 Well I guess it was inevitable. My 70mm non CS just shit itself....... Right in the middle of my UK trip Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jip Posted September 6, 2015 Share #10 Posted September 6, 2015 The few members that post here all seem to have problems of some sort, Leica should definitely improve on their AF motors/system. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS Posted September 7, 2015 Share #11 Posted September 7, 2015 The few members that post here all seem to have problems of some sort, Leica should definitely improve on their AF motors/system.+1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
-JV- Posted September 7, 2015 Share #12 Posted September 7, 2015 In other post i was thinking if there is connection between af failures and last firmware update. Last update made af much faster and perhaps that is too much for lenses. My S-180mm broke shortly after update. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
-JV- Posted September 15, 2015 Share #13 Posted September 15, 2015 Surprise surprise! S 30mm lens autofocus broke right after connecting it to S-007! I haven't used it six months or so and last shoot it worked perfectly. I connected it and it did firmware update to lens. During that af motor started spinning freely with different noise. Now as i try to focus, motor keeps running but elements won't move. Wetzlar, here i come! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sortvitt Posted September 16, 2015 Share #14 Posted September 16, 2015 It's the same experience as several others - the AF tend to break after not having been used for a longer time. I sent my lenses to Leica for a preemptive check after two of them failed, I hope they will replace the error prone gear mechanism with a more reliable one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McMaster Posted September 18, 2015 Share #15 Posted September 18, 2015 I think you can scratch that idea, my most used lens (120mm macro no. 4156***) has just lost AF :-( Firmware was updated many months ago with no issue until now.... john Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS Posted September 18, 2015 Share #16 Posted September 18, 2015 I just sent my 70mm back to Germany............I have asked them to upgrade the 70mm to a 70mm with CS. Also due to the inconvenience I want them to send me a new S-007 and once it arrives I will send them back my S-006.................wish me luck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiaubauu2009 Posted September 25, 2015 Author Share #17 Posted September 25, 2015 Right, my 35mm Aperture failed. Will not stop down anymore! Sent it to HK Schmidt to try to get them to send it back to Germany for me, and they said they can't see any problem with the lens. Suggest I reset it by reseting the camera... (what kind of procedure is that), and when it came back, whala! it's broke down completely now. Well back to Germany, I guess. Together with the Contax mount. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom0511 Posted September 25, 2015 Share #18 Posted September 25, 2015 No AF failure/problem with any of my S-lenses so far. Maybe I should have posted this, probably I will have a problem by tomorrow Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynp Posted September 25, 2015 Share #19 Posted September 25, 2015 Right, my 35mm Aperture failed. Will not stop down anymore! Sent it to HK Schmidt to try to get them to send it back to Germany for me, and they said they can't see any problem with the lens. Suggest I reset it by reseting the camera... (what kind of procedure is that), and when it came back, whala! it's broke down completely now. Well back to Germany, I guess. Together with the Contax mount. Sorry to hear that. What happened to the Contax adapter ? -- Yevgeny Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiaubauu2009 Posted September 28, 2015 Author Share #20 Posted September 28, 2015 Sorry to hear that. What happened to the Contax adapter ? -- Yevgeny Well, the Contax Adaptor has not function properly since first acquiring it. It will not recognise the lens if I first turn on the body. I have to take it off and on in order for the body to recognise. And if it wakes from sleep mode, it won't recognise the lens anymore. Anyway, it's a known bug that cannot be fixed by user, and have to send back to Germany for factory update. Anyway, it's a nuisance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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