Focus ring setting for storing - does it matter?

[Casey Jefferson]

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I'm new to rangefinder system despite having 8 years of photography experience as an amateur. With the lens mounted on camera, does it matter if we move the focus ring to MFD or infinity before putting it back into the camera bag? I can imagine setting the lens at one end will inevitably put the spring to the max tension all the time, so just wondering. Tried to google this forum and everywhere else, came out nothing.😳

Thanks in advance and have a nice day!

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[wda]

For compactness, I normally set my lens focus to infinity. That is near to where I shall next need it.  I know of no detrimental reason why any setting should be advocated other than it living in a tight case..

[250swb]

The sorts of springs you have in a simple manual lens aren't the type that get wound up or used to increase or decrease resistance, they are constant pressure springs to keep things like shims or washers under the correct pressure or keep the aperture ring clicked into the position you set it. So as David says set it to infinity because that makes the lens it's smallest, but it doesn't make any difference mechanically.

[Casey Jefferson]

Thanks for the replies, I was thinking about the rangefinder mechanism side of things, I'm not worry about the lens though. I watched videos where the RF lever was spring loaded it seems. Just something came out of my mind but not too much of a concern though.

[jaeger]

Put lots of silica gel bags for storage.

Edited June 5, 2020 by jaeger

[jdlaing]

23 minutes ago, Casey Jefferson said:

Thanks for the replies, I was thinking about the rangefinder mechanism side of things, I'm not worry about the lens though. I watched videos where the RF lever was spring loaded it seems. Just something came out of my mind but not too much of a concern though.

Makes no difference what position it’s stored in.

[FrozenInTime]

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I would set to a bit less than infinity as I've experienced slight binging of the focus ring to the infinity stop, with a noctilux when mounted on a camera when bumped around in a camera bag.

[Lelmer]

Storing a Leica lens?...what a shame 😀

[250swb]

Too many fake rules and conspiracy theories abound with Leica cameras and lenses, and all of them are recent, it's a new age problem with new owners. Once upon a time a Leica rangefinder was just a camera that did certain job, and they were used like any other camera. And they are no different today, except the owners have changed and it's a worrisome age with social media pressures and almost too much information wanting to wade in with warnings and possible catastrophies over any slight thing. And then there are people who feel they've over extended themselves and almost daren't use their camera because it's an 'investment'.

Leica have NEVER issued warnings about where to put the focus ring if storing the camera, or warnings about where the focus cam sits. It's an idea so absurd that it would make the camera unusable and would bring the company down in warranty claims if such false news was real. In a film Leica the important spring is the one that cocks shutter, yet there is NO recommendation either way whether it is stored cocked or uncooked, because the camera has been designed so it makes NO DIFFERENCE.

[evikne]

There was recently a similar thread about what aperture one should leave the lens at when stored. 😆

[jdlaing]

52 minutes ago, evikne said:

There was recently a similar thread about what aperture one should leave the lens at when stored. 😆

Wide open to trap as much light as you can for when you need it.

[Casey Jefferson]

Lol thanks for the reply guys, very entertaining 😁 I'll just use it and stop worrying 

[Casey Jefferson]

7 hours ago, evikne said:

There was recently a similar thread about what aperture one should leave the lens at when stored. 😆

Well it seem in the film industry it's a standard practice to put the lens at infinity and wide open before putting it back into the bag. But with that kind of lens and the size/weight, it probably matter.

[colint544]

I recall way back in the eighties that some people thought automatic diaphragm lenses such as Canon FD or Nikon AIS lenses should be stored set to their widest aperture. Theory was that if you stored them, say, at f22, you'd put some tension on the tiny spring which always wants to snap the aperture wide open, and maybe make it less effective over time. 

But with a Leica M lens, there is no spring or tension on the diaphragm. Similarly with the camera body. The springs on the shutter are massively over-engineered. I'm pretty sure you could store a Leica M with its shutter tensioned for years, and it would make no difference. As someone above points out, a Leica was always just a good camera, designed to be used.

 

[Michael Geschlecht]

Hello Casey,

Welcome to the Forum.

Many early & some more recent Leitz/Leica lenses are made with "Infinity Locks" which hold the lens barrel in place after it is rotated to Infinity. The barrel then remains locked until the "Lock Release" is activated while turning the focusing barrel. This locking in place holds the rangefinder cam against the spring loaded roller when the spring tension is at its greatest. Some people might think that this might make the rangefinder & the lens itself more protected from inadvertent impact.

best Regards,

Michael

 

[adan]

Leica (and probably most camera-makers) do know engineering, and design their products as consumer-usables, and thus there are not many places in the construction where setting, or leaving, something at an extreme of a range also puts any springs at the extremes of their compression or extension.

The built-in limits are hard stops, that are reached long before the springs reach their limits, for storage or otherwise.

E.G. the shutter springs are always slightly one side or the other of half-tensioned, whether "cocked" or "uncocked." The same for the little springs that drive the framelines or parallax correction, and so on.

For mounting and unmounting lenses, but having nothing to do with storage, some people recommend setting the lenses to close-focus, to move the lens cam out away from the camera as much as possible, to minimize interference/blockage/friction between the lens cam and the camera roller, as the two are mated and the lens is twisted into place.

Personally with the M system I don't find that a problem - however with the mechanically-different arrangement of my 6x6 Mamiya 6, it is definitely harder to seat the shorter lenses (50 and 75) if they are set to infinity. I am fighting asymmetrical spring pressure on one side, which tries to make those lenses tilt sideways and seat at an angle. And jam sometimes.

camera|°/lens

 

Edited June 7, 2020 by adan

[Casey Jefferson]

8 hours ago, Michael Geschlecht said:

Hello Casey,

Welcome to the Forum.

Many early & some more recent Leitz/Leica lenses are made with "Infinity Locks" which hold the lens barrel in place after it is rotated to Infinity. The barrel then remains locked until the "Lock Release" is activated while turning the focusing barrel. This locking in place holds the rangefinder cam against the spring loaded roller when the spring tension is at its greatest. Some people might think that this might make the rangefinder & the lens itself more protected from inadvertent impact.

best Regards,

Michael

 

 

4 hours ago, adan said:

Leica (and probably most camera-makers) do know engineering, and design their products as consumer-usables, and thus there are not many places in the construction where setting, or leaving, something at an extreme of a range also puts any springs at the extremes of their compression or extension.

The built-in limits are hard stops, that are reached long before the springs reach their limits, for storage or otherwise.

E.G. the shutter springs are always slightly one side or the other of half-tensioned, whether "cocked" or "uncocked." The same for the little springs that drive the framelines or parallax correction, and so on.

For mounting and unmounting lenses, but having nothing to do with storage, some people recommend setting the lenses to close-focus, to move the lens cam out away from the camera as much as possible, to minimize interference/blockage/friction between the lens cam and the camera roller, as the two are mated and the lens is twisted into place.

Personally with the M system I don't find that a problem - however with the mechanically-different arrangement of my 6x6 Mamiya 6, it is definitely harder to seat the shorter lenses (50 and 75) if they are set to infinity. I am fighting asymmetrical spring pressure on one side, which tries to make those lenses tilt sideways and seat at an angle. And jam sometimes.

camera|°/lens

 

Those were immensely informative to a completely new Leica M owner like me. Much appreciated!