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It's my biggest disappointment with my SL 75 . . . one would think for a lens at that price, manual focus would be buttery smooth.  Its not.  It is stiff and not only stiff but moving in and out of focus is a jerky and non-reproducible experience.  Massively expensive lens - the MF is a technical failure as far as I am concerned.  Otherwise, of course, stellar lens.  How could they get this so wrong?

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  • 2 months later...

Today I tried manual focus for the first time since I bought the 35mm APO-Summicron-SL one year ago, and I couldn't do it. The focusing ring doesn't turn at all. Stuck! Is it supposed to be like this? 

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See my post #3. The SL 90 was returned by Wetzlar to Leica London, who decided, without checking with me, that it still wasn't fixed, and sent it back again. I received it back home a couple of weeks ago, and it is now fine.

Leica must know this is an issue. If it's a problem with your lens, send it back under warranty.

Edited by LocalHero1953
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On 1/1/2020 at 7:41 PM, Daniel81 said:

It's my biggest disappointment with my SL 75 . . . one would think for a lens at that price, manual focus would be buttery smooth.  Its not.  It is stiff and not only stiff but moving in and out of focus is a jerky and non-reproducible experience.  Massively expensive lens - the MF is a technical failure as far as I am concerned.  Otherwise, of course, stellar lens.  How could they get this so wrong?

Check my earlier post in this thread.  It’s a problem Leica seems to have fixed. I’ve had 4 of the 50 APO SL’s.  The last two were acceptable and both manufacturer dates were after Early November 2019.  

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I was trying a demo SL 90mm Summicron in a dealer, who himself commented how stiff the manual focusing was and the lens might need to be sent in for fixing. Hopefully it was just a teething issue, but now recognised and fixed in later production cycles, rather like the flare was on the initial M 50 APOs? Disappointing nonetheless, I’m always amazed these things don’t get resolved in beta testing.
 

Edited by Jon Warwick
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  • 2 months later...
On 12/31/2019 at 11:20 AM, Jeff S said:

I’m waiting for the body to arrive, but just playing around with the focus ring on my SL75, I notice that it’s much stiffer than the two longer SL zooms, which focus very smoothly. Troubling.

 

Update... my SL75 started focusing very smoothly after a few outings. Superb optics, no complaints.

Jeff

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I am having issues with the zoom ring of the 24-90 . it gets stock sometimes and doesn't go in any direction.. focus still ok.. 

so disappointing. got the lens used and didn't the day I got it. I don't ever want to send in because it is going to take so long to get the lens back

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1 hour ago, Photoworks said:

I am having issues with the zoom ring of the 24-90 . it gets stock sometimes and doesn't go in any direction.. focus still ok.. 

so disappointing. got the lens used and didn't the day I got it. I don't ever want to send in because it is going to take so long to get the lens back

Did you buy it from a reputable dealer, with warranty or return policy?  

Of course up to you, but for me, a zoom lens that doesn’t zoom would warrant immediate attention.

Jeff

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 3/8/2020 at 1:08 PM, NRKstudio said:

Check my earlier post in this thread.  It’s a problem Leica seems to have fixed. I’ve had 4 of the 50 APO SL’s.  The last two were acceptable and both manufacturer dates were after Early November 2019.  

For those that thought the manual focusing was overly stiff ....were your lenses all pre Nov 2019?

I am looking to get a 50 SL - and want to ensure that I get an unproblematic sample in this regard.

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Crazy ! Thanks for sharing the issue.

Summilux-TL 35 and APO-Macro-Elmarit-TL 60 have buttery smooth focusing ring. They are both made in Wetzlar too. 

What's the problem ? Made in Germany TL lenses have aluminium focusing ring. But APO-Summicron-SL have rubber ring. Is that the problem ? 

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I had an early Apo Summicron SL 90 for testing, it was stiff with a strong stick&slip effect and slight squeaking.

I am pretty sure it's an issue with the rubber sealing, newer lenses I tested were just fine.

The ring underneath the rubber is aluminium as well, but the sealings are a big difference to TL lenses.

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SL 50 APO - date of manufacture 29/11/2019 - smooth and quiet

SL 90  APO - date of manufacture 15/06/2018 - absolutely dreadful, stiff and noisy - impossible for MF - will be heading to Wetzler when things calm down.  

 

 

 

 

Edited by Boojay
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