Older Lenses Going Out Of Calibration While Not In Use.

[Santos]

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Dear All,

Yesterday I Pulled Out My 90mm F2.8 Brass To Shoot A Bit. A Month Ago I Took It On A Few Shoots With No Issue. Note That It Is Stored In A Leica Glass And Metal Container, Hence No Movement Occurred Of That I'm Sure. I Noticed After The First Shot It Front Focused. Did More Tests, And Unmounting/Remounting A Few Times, Also Separating The Lens Rotating The Focusing Ring More Times Than What Would Be Considered Kosher. 

The 90mm Was Tested With 3 Bodies, M9/M10M/M10D And Against Three Lenses 50mmF1.2/75mmF2/135F3.4. Anyone Else Notice A Similar Issue (Maybe With Heavier Older Lenses) I Dread Sending It To Germany For The Wait Time (They Still Have My 28 Lux Now That I Think Of It).

Anyone Know A Solution? If I'm Going To CLA It I Might Be Willing To Try To Accidentally Drop It On A Carpet And See If That Works. On A Serious Note, Do You Think Cameras (Mind You All Of Mine Are Pretty Well Calibrated) Could Cause This? Or Just A Ghost Of The Previous Owner?

All The Best,

Santos.

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[a.noctilux]

🤥GHOST !

Sorry ...

[Thury]

Apart from the grease aging in the helical, I do not see what could produce this result.

[spydrxx]

Perhaps thermal expansion/contraction. It will probably self correct.

[lct]

Your lens is not calibrated for digital i suspect. My Elmarit 90/2.8 v2 (11807) had focusing issues too. It is now perfect after 6-bit coding and a CLA at Wetzlaz.

[jdlaing]

The only way I know of a lens developing calibration issues on its own is if it tried to commit suicide and jumped off the shelf on to a concrete floor.

[Herr Barnack]

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Just now, jdlaing said:

The only way I know of a lens developing calibration issues on its own is if it tried to commit suicide and jumped off the shelf on to a concrete floor.

My pre-ASPH Summilux 50 did that once, jumping out of a non-closed up Billingham bag onto a tile floor.

Fortunately it survived the attempt.

[jdlaing]

2 hours ago, Herr Barnack said:

My pre-ASPH Summilux 50 did that once, jumping out of a non-closed up Billingham bag onto a tile floor.

Fortunately it survived the attempt.

That wasn’t suicide. That was pre meditated murder. You knowingly left the bag open.

[pippy]

2 hours ago, jdlaing said:

That wasn’t suicide...

No; otherwise it would have succeeded - it's a Leica! - and, if in earnest, would not made such a complete hash of things in the first place. I think it was a Cry For Help...

As for the OP? Lenses, when unused, don't simply go out of calibration (miniscule changes connected to thermal expansion / contraction excepted) on a whim of their own. As you have now resorted to "Separating The Lens (and) Rotating The Focusing Ring More Times Than What Would Be Considered Kosher.."  I suggest that now would probably be a very good time to hand it over to someone who knows what they're doing.

Good luck!

P.

[Rupert Greenwell]

I was told by the Leica repair specialist Malcom Taylor that the grease in a lens that has not been used for a good length of time can slowly settle. This can be enough to affect the calibration of the lens. He said that the Noctilux was quite prone to it as a number were often bought and put straight into a display cabinet where they would sit for decades !