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50mm Apo Summicron- Is flare problem resolved after service?


stalker

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I am one of the early adopters of 50mm apo who was disappointed with the flare problem of early production runs. I had the lens serviced at Wetzlar when Leica announced the solution to the problem. My question is to those who had the same problem and had their lenses serviced. Has the flare problem you experienced before service disappeared after the service? 

In my case I am not sure whether the problem is resolved. 

Thank you for your comments.

Edited by stalker
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Got mine after the CVF debacle sorry but specific issue was central veiling flare at f/16. Looked like one pale spot in the center of the frame. What i did when i got mine was to check if i can reproduce it on dark trees with brighter background like in the pics below. All rights of the authors melantye and rickleica expressly reserved. Now fixed 50/2 apo copies are not flare free otherwise so i would not worry if your copy doesn't behave like a Zeiss lens, it cannot do that. 

 

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Edited by lct
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I ordered my Apo-Summicron-M 50 mm Asph right after the issue came up and then had to wait one full year while Leica Camera stopped production in order to evaluate and to fix the issue. When my copy finally arrived, the first thing I did was to test for the inclination to flare in exactly that kind of situations shown in lct's post above. I wasn't able to reproduce the problem so I stopped worrying. It has been my most-used M lens for four years now, and I never had any undue flare problems.

 

Later, I asked a Leica representative what they did to fix the flare issue. They did not change the optical design; basically they added a few more light traps inside the barrel and improved internal stray light suppression.

 

As far as I know, early copies sent in to Customer Care for the flare issue will get the same improvements. So in practical terms, it shouldn't make a difference whether you got a late copy or an early one that got fixed.

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I have an early copy but never had the CVF issue. I tried to induce it but it would only flare when you expected that it would. I have now had my 50 APO for I guess 7 or 8 years and it is what resides on my M10 90% of the time. 

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Later, I asked a Leica representative what they did to fix the flare issue. They did not change the optical design; basically they added a few more light traps inside the barrel and improved internal stray light suppression.

 

Wish they'd do that with the 135 APO:

 

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/245402-135mm-apo-telyt-flare/

 

But I guess flare in a $8000-$9600(LHSA) "premium" lens caused Leica more panic than in an "ordinary" $4000 lens. <_<

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Mine flared badly, to the extent that images would appear washed out.

Not just the centre; sometime almost the entire image.

My dealer sent it back for correction,

Now, after correction, it demonstrates no flare.

 

When it was returned after correction, the edge of the last (innermost) glass element had been coated black.

Previously this edge was uncoated, and the metal that it was bonded to would shine clear and bright.

At the time I found it odd that Leica had neglected to deaden something so bright and reflective.

I even asked my dealer about this and he was as puzzled as I was, but we both presumed that Leica knew what it was doing.

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  • 11 months later...

This doesn’t really answer the OP’s question, but I had a 50 APO, produced in 2015 so after the flare issue was resolved, and found it near impossible to get to flare in any situation.

In comparison, my Non-APO 50mm Summicron v5 had constant veiling flare - ie, white’ish low-contrast patches bang in the middle of the frame, even in cloudy overcast conditions, which would be very noticeable when photographing dark foliage. Drove me nuts.

Edited by Jon Warwick
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On 6/22/2019 at 7:18 AM, Twasi said:

Does anyone know what serial numbers were affected? I recently got an Apo Summicron used copy and haven't noticed the issue.

I believe it affected the first year's production in 2013-14, probably serial #'s below 423xxxx or thereabouts.

Edited by james.liam
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Do not recall when I bought mine  exactly but it was new and they were very hard to find at there time. I ran across it by accident in a shopping Austin, TX. Serial 416xxxx. Mine never exhibited the flare issue. 

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