Noctilux-M 1:1.2/50 ASPH Lens shade issue

[Edgar1920]

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Hi folks.

Having purchased the reissued 1.2 Noctilux 3 months ago I found that the lens shade is  very loose, once clipped on the lens: you can pull it off easily without pushing the release tabs.

A comparison to many older clip on hoods (50/2 rigid, 50/1.4 pre ASPH, 35/1.4 pre ASPH, 90/2.8) showed that unusually you can lift the camera with lens on the mounted hood. Also the force required to push completely the release tabs is considerably higher e.g on my 50/2 lens shade (twice stronger).

Of course I asked for a replacement. And received it nearly 3 months later just one week after losing the shade in a shopping mall - but with the same issue. As Leica Switzerland cannot provide another 1.2 Nocti for comparison test I wonder if somebody of the other 1799 proud owners of this amazing lens has stated the same issue. 
 

i suspect may lenses have not been purchased for serious use, but maybe some of the user-owners are not entirely happy with the lens shade that sometimes even falls off once you touch something or someone while carrying your camera below the right shoulder.

Leica asked me to be patient now for the next reply. Seems to be difficult to Analyse a problem on a limited edition lens as no more lenses are available for comparison. 

Thank you for any feedback.

[a.noctilux]

No new 'not fallen hood' then, since this thread here

 

[ldhrads]

I intend to use mine seriously! But what happened was I brought it to the attention of the dealer, who after discussing with the Leica rep told me to send it to Leica NJ.  When it got there, I was then told that there was no "repair" and the whole thing was sent off to Wetzlar!  Haven't gotten any response since so I've got no hood or lens!!!!

 

[Danner]

36 minutes ago, ldhrads said:

I intend to use mine seriously! But what happened was I brought it to the attention of the dealer, who after discussing with the Leica rep told me to send it to Leica NJ.  When it got there, I was then told that there was no "repair" and the whole thing was sent off to Wetzlar!  Haven't gotten any response since so I've got no hood or lens!!!!

 

Did you also have to send the lens to NJ as well?

[ldhrads]

Just now, Danner said:

Did you also have to send the lens to NJ as well?

Yes, the whole thing, lens, box, shade. They didn't have the tools to fix it. is what I was told. That's why it got sent to Wetzlar. I just got off the  phone with Leica NJ and they are following up for me.

[Edgar1920]

vor 6 Stunden schrieb a.noctilux:

No new 'not fallen hood' then, since this thread here

 

Thanks. Didn’t catch this thread. Well at least it seems to be evident that their reply in May (translated from German): “we suppose that this is a unique case and apologize…” was bulls***.

[Edgar1920]

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vor 3 Stunden schrieb ldhrads:

I intend to use mine seriously! But what happened was I brought it to the attention of the dealer, who after discussing with the Leica rep told me to send it to Leica NJ.  When it got there, I was then told that there was no "repair" and the whole thing was sent off to Wetzlar!  Haven't gotten any response since so I've got no hood or lens!!!!

 

Well maybe the trashy hood that I have received this week was yours. This would explain why

1. it took 11 weeks to get er to Switzerland

2. there is no improvement in function

Sorry, you probably won’t get it back 😉

[Edgar1920]

Thank you all about sharing your experience. I’m curious about the official reply. As I’m pretty sure that the reply will be deceiving I prepare myself to have several exchanges with Leica until I can consider myself a satisfied customer.

As product design is my job I was already thinking to redesign the lens hood … just well working and make it manufacture im China just to embarrass Leica and scratch a little bit their blown up ego. And of course have a working hood.

I propose to create a list with concerned owners. If somebody is interested please PN me your name, e-mail and SN of the lens. Maybe a grouper complaint will make them move a bit more. Or at least when manufacturing several lens hoods the price can be interesting.

If I would not really love this lens I would already have forced them to take it back.

[ldhrads]

16 hours ago, Edgar1920 said:

Thank you all about sharing your experience. I’m curious about the official reply. As I’m pretty sure that the reply will be deceiving I prepare myself to have several exchanges with Leica until I can consider myself a satisfied customer.

As product design is my job I was already thinking to redesign the lens hood … just well working and make it manufacture im China just to embarrass Leica and scratch a little bit their blown up ego. And of course have a working hood.

I propose to create a list with concerned owners. If somebody is interested please PN me your name, e-mail and SN of the lens. Maybe a grouper complaint will make them move a bit more. Or at least when manufacturing several lens hoods the price can be interesting.

If I would not really love this lens I would already have forced them to take it back.

Here is the official reply from Leica. I spoke with Leica NJ about this after I got it and asked them to clarify with Wetzlar.

Dear Leica Customer,
The lens hood is modeled after the original design from the 50s to be as historically correct as possible. For this reason, the lens hood can be rotated and is not fixed in any particular position. We cannot change anything about it

[Gobert]

4 hours ago, ldhrads said:

Here is the official reply from Leica. I spoke with Leica NJ about this after I got it and asked them to clarify with Wetzlar.

Dear Leica Customer,
The lens hood is modeled after the original design from the 50s to be as historically correct as possible. For this reason, the lens hood can be rotated and is not fixed in any particular position. We cannot change anything about it

There must be a lucky guy (girl) here with an original one from the fifties. Let’s compare it!

[Ecar]

5 hours ago, ldhrads said:

Here is the official reply from Leica. I spoke with Leica NJ about this after I got it and asked them to clarify with Wetzlar.

Dear Leica Customer,
The lens hood is modeled after the original design from the 50s to be as historically correct as possible. For this reason, the lens hood can be rotated and is not fixed in any particular position. We cannot change anything about it

Mmm... Stronger springs? I don't particularly mind as I don't use the supplied hood, but I can smell horse manure... 

[Edgar1920]

vor 6 Stunden schrieb ldhrads:

Here is the official reply from Leica. I spoke with Leica NJ about this after I got it and asked them to clarify with Wetzlar.

Dear Leica Customer,
The lens hood is modeled after the original design from the 50s to be as historically correct as possible. For this reason, the lens hood can be rotated and is not fixed in any particular position. We cannot change anything about it

Well, that I can be rotated makes totally sense as all hoods at that time were round. But I am sure that professional photographers who were probably the initial purchasers of the famous Nocti 1.2 would have lost confidence in Leica after loosing the hoods. At that era I think Leica was known to have an ear for their customers’ needs.

The reply from Wetzlar on the description of the situation was that the hood should be fixed strong enough so that ist is possible to pick up the camera on the hood. They did not tell me “salads” but they did not deliver me a better hood, too.

I can hardly accept that after purchasing one of the world’s most expensive lenses, the manufacturer does not provide a solution if something  has gone wrong. The quality system has failed at several stages wir the production of this lens.

And relaunching a historic lens does not mean to report dice eventual weaknesses. They don’t grind the aspherical by hand any more now. Abs I suspect that the optical performance of the re-edition is more consistent and higher in average it the produced batch batch.

In addition I would have strongly appreciated if the hood would e.g. modified in the way to snap it in the lens in the adverse sense for transporting the camera in the pouch, as they did later with most of the clip-on hoods.

So one more reason for a good redesign 😉

[a.noctilux]

Jim Lager related a nice story of E39 thread added to threadless 35mm Summicron

(some decades back 😇)

[T25UFO]

My lens hood has been in the box since I bought the lens a couple of weeks ago - I rarely use a hood.  Just tried it on the lens and it does rotate freely but the clips work fine and no suggestion of the hood falling off; in fact, it won't pull off unless I press the two clips firmly.  Maybe I am just lucky 🙂

[Edgar1920]

vor 34 Minuten schrieb T25UFO:

My lens hood has been in the box since I bought the lens a couple of weeks ago - I rarely use a hood.  Just tried it on the lens and it does rotate freely but the clips work fine and no suggestion of the hood falling off; in fact, it won't pull off unless I press the two clips firmly.  Maybe I am just lucky 🙂

And this is the proof that they can maKe lens and schade as it should be. Thanks you for checking and posting. 

[T25UFO]

2 hours ago, Edgar1920 said:

And this is the proof that they can maKe lens and schade as it should be. Thanks you for checking and posting. 

Just to add, I also have the Retro 50mm APO, which has the same design lens barrel and clip on hood.  That one fits perfectly, no movement at all, so it can’t be that difficult to manufacture.

[a.noctilux]

As side idea, as user of old lenses and old(er) hoods for so long :

When the 'lazy' pins occur on the hood, one of my in-the-field solution are rubber band in the lens groove, or a dab of nail polish to thicken the pins.

Not Leica-like solutions, but it works for me.

This was before replacing the hood, of course.

[Edgar1920]

vor 13 Stunden schrieb a.noctilux:

As side idea, as user of old lenses and old(er) hoods for so long :

When the 'lazy' pins occur on the hood, one of my in-the-field solution are rubber band in the lens groove, or a dab of nail polish to thicken the pins.

Not Leica-like solutions, but it works for me.

This was before replacing the hood, of course.

In any case better than Leica-no-solutions. This will be then the world’s most expensive rubber band ever sold 😉

If you send me a picture I will launch an official request to Weggis as intermediate hot-fix (joking).

[a.noctilux]

😇

I just tried to be positive as oldtime user.

Maybe my positiveness as user is not useful to another user.

In my long experience with Leitz/Leica, they will work it out, just take a bit more time.

They always have solutions for me, in the past.

That's life.

...

Hood

another butchering with rubber band inside 🙃

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by a.noctilux

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Edgar1920]

vor 24 Minuten schrieb a.noctilux:

😇

I just tried to be positive as oldtime user.

Maybe my positiveness as user is not useful to another user.

In my long experience with Leitz/Leica, they will work it out, just take a bit more time.

They always have solutions for me, in the past.

That's life.

...

Hood

another butchering with rubber band inside 🙃

 

Don’t worry. I didn’t pick it up negatively. Anyway humor - sometimes as black as my MP - is the best way to deal with inconveniences in life. And a faulty hood on a 7000€ lens is an inconvenient, nothing else.

We don’t have to seek very far away from our home to find people that have real problems. 
 

Reading you hood butchery experience I was just thinking it the username The HoodButcher is already taken in this forum 😉

What deceives me about Leica in this situation is just the extremely unprofessional warranty management. If I would treat my own customers like this I would be bankrupt one day…

Have a nice day and thank you for sharing your experiences in so many threads in this forum.