DR Summicron 50mm lens completely out of focus

[MCF74]

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A strange one this...

All my recent DR Summicron 50mm lens shots are completely and utterly out of focus. I shoot with a Leica MP only and bought this lens a few months ago. It worked fine, with goggles too, and have pics all in focus. However, I went on a recent trip to the Lake District with the MP and three lenses. All shots with the DR 50mm are well and truly out of focus. I don't mean slightly off. I mean f0.95 BOKEH out of focus on absolutely every part of the image. 

The weird thing is, there appears to be no apparently indication as to what the problem is. The rangefinder and lens are coupled correctly and correspond to nearest focus distance and infinity. The lens is rotating and moving backwards and forwards through the barrel. It's an absolute mystery. It's nothing to do with being 'accidentally' in close focus mode either, as far as I can tell. 

Has anyone had similar problems with this lens before?

(Example scan attached. Definitely some Lake District mountains in the background, for sure.)

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[jaapv]

There might be an element that has worked loose inside.

[spydrxx]

If all your other lenses are fine, then it is time for your 50 to make a trip to the lens doc! 

[MCF74]

Thanks for the reply. Yep, I think it can be the only conclusion to draw from this. Without opening up the lens barrel (which I won't do), I'll presume a lens has slipped/shifted. 

[Charles Morgan]

Just checking - the lens elements can unscrew from the barrel if you twist the front of the lens anti-clockwise. I doubt you'd not notice it but check it's fully tight. 

 

Edited August 25, 2020 by Charles Morgan

[MCF74]

Yep, all checked and fine. It was the first thing I considered – thanks all the same

[carbon_dragon]

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Will Leica still service a DR?

[MCF74]

Dunno, I'll be taking it to Newton Ellis in Liverpool, which is 45 mins away for me.

[Charles Morgan]

Ian there fully restored my DR which goggles were totally out of alignment. They are chock a block with work, so will take some months, but I can't think of anyone better to work on it here - the lens came back as though the factory had made it just then.

 

[MCF74]

Yep, I've had Ian work on stuff in the past, he's great. I need my goggles realigned too (tried myself which was temporarily successful), so good to know he's done that in the past. Cheers.

Edited August 25, 2020 by MCF74

[Charles Morgan]

11 minutes ago, MCF74 said:

Yep, I've had Ian work on stuff in the past, he's great. I need my goggles realigned too (tried myself which was temporarily successful), so good to know he's done that in the past. Cheers.

Or he might run screaming from the building and never be seen again. My goggles could not possibly work as they were entirely unshimmed, so needed that done perfectly to get them in alignment. He did it quite brilliantly, but boy did it take a long time. Hopefully yours will be far easier!

[MCF74]

Oh, mine just need the rangefinder glass on the goggles (right hand glass) repositioned and secured (the round silver cover can be unscrewed and the glass moved around to refocus). The actually goggles are aligning correctly on the lens and body.

Ian has recounted many a Leica nightmare job to me previously – he never mentioned a DR lens nightmare though, so I think there's been worse than your's  

[MCF74]

A quick update about this issue...

I popped into RealCamera in Liverpool and they figured out that the back lens element was installed back-to-front. Not wanting to check themselves for fear of damaging the lens (the Liverpool brand don't do repairs to Leica lenses), we wondered if all the elements were present and correct underneath.

I went home and released the lens element on the back, and turned it back over the correct way and reassembled the lens. I tested the lens on a digital Leica (M10) for expedience and, whilst the image was focusing, it was still out of focus (but not as it was when the lens was incorrectly positioned, obviously).

So, I don't know if there's a critical element missing according the DR diagrams (there's three elements at the back according to the diagrams: two cemented together, one bigger one at the back). However, my version has one black ring with what I think is all those three together, but it's hard to tell. Can anyone shed any light?

Also, I'm not entirely sure the M10 is capable of focusing the DR lens at all, from accounts I've read, so could it simply be the M10? 

[Guest Nowhereman]

^ If the focusing ring on the DR Summicron can be be turned all the way to infinity on the M10, there are no problems with focusing the DR Summicron on the M10, in either of the of the focusing ranges, that is, with or without the goggles. If your DR Summicron cannot reach the last bit to infinity, you can easily file down the cam, slightly, yourself, as shown in this post — I didn't file, but used a sharp chisel. You can read the rest of the linked thread for more information.
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