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50mm summicron v5 - is this normal?


kuchars22

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I’ve bought said lens and the focus ring goes beyond 0.7m, ie it doesn’t fall over the centre scale of the aperture range. Rather the “0.7” falls in the right side of the scale between the 8 and 16 marker. Is this normal? 

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Don't worry, most M lenses (Leica, CV, Minolta), including Summicron 50/2 v4 and v5, are more or less like that. Only exceptions i know of are Zeiss ZM lenses and Konica M-Hexanon, as far as my copies are concerned at least. The M-Hexanon 50/2, for example, is very close to the Summicron 50/2 v5 but its focus ring has a stop at 0.7m. Great lens BTW.

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11 minutes ago, Huss said:

It is 0.7m MFD where the rangefinder can focus to.  Closer than that it disconnects, even though the lens focuses a little closer.

Depends on the camera. On my M11 the RF doesn't disconnect so goes down to 0.65m more or less.

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3 hours ago, kuchars22 said:

So it would still be 0.7m MFD?

Hello kuchars22,

Welcome to the Forum.

You can accurately measure distances using the engraving on a Leitz/Leica "M" lens. The engravings are correct distances.

The distance measured is from the film/sensor image plane to the point focused on.

Many "M" cameras focus a little closer than the stated close focus distance..

Why not try an experiment:

Put a meter/yard stick under your camera/lens & set the lens to 1 meter/3 feet. Then put something on the stick/on the end of the stick at 1 meter/36 inches. Then slide the stick so that the 2 rangefinder rectangles match with the camera/lens on top of the stick. This will also show you where the film/sensor plane is.

Then slide the object down to 0.7 meters/28 inches & refocus to see if it measures correctly. Then turn the LENS to the closest distance that it will focus to & slide the focusing object to the point where the 2 rangefinder rectangles match & read the distance.

And, please let us know what it reads.

Best Regards,

Michael


 

Edited by Michael Geschlecht
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7 hours ago, lct said:

Don't worry, most M lenses (Leica, CV, Minolta), including Summicron 50/2 v4 and v5, are more or less like that. Only exceptions i know of are Zeiss ZM lenses and Konica M-Hexanon, as far as my copies are concerned at least. The M-Hexanon 50/2, for example, is very close to the Summicron 50/2 v5 but its focus ring has a stop at 0.7m. Great lens BTW.

 

9 hours ago, Jean-Michel said:

Hi,

This is perfectly normal. The rangefinder works all the way to the hard stop. If you have an EVF or live view on your camera you can verify that for yourself.

Yes I have the evf2 and not had problems focusing at near hard stop distances. 
 

The reason for my question is that i just bought it from ebay, the focus ring is a bit rough at the wider end, as if it’s going over a few bumps. Its more noticeable when the lens is upside down so the aperture distance gauge is pointing downwards. So as i was videoing the fault for the seller, I then noticed the 0.7m wasn’t lining up. 

 

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9 hours ago, kuchars22 said:

 

Yes I have the evf2 and not had problems focusing at near hard stop distances. 
 

The reason for my question is that i just bought it from ebay, the focus ring is a bit rough at the wider end, as if it’s going over a few bumps. Its more noticeable when the lens is upside down so the aperture distance gauge is pointing downwards. So as i was videoing the fault for the seller, I then noticed the 0.7m wasn’t lining up. 

 

The rough focus is much more of a concern.

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2 minutes ago, kuchars22 said:

In your experience what does this suggest?

Mine is perfectly smooth.  It is actually the nicest feeling lens that I have, and from what I have seen, this is how the Summicron V is.

It’s one reason why we buy Leica lenses!  Even my old Summicrons from decades ago are smooth.  I don’t know what is up w yours but I wouldn’t want it.  Is there any sign of impact damage?  Perhaps the previous user used the focus ring to grip the lens to release and attach it to the camera.

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Just now, Huss said:

Mine is perfectly smooth.  It is actually the nicest feeling lens that I have, and from what I have seen, this is how the Summicron V is.

It’s one reason why we buy Leica lenses!  Even my old Summicrons from decades ago are smooth.  I don’t know what is up w yours but I wouldn’t want it.  Is there any sign of impact damage?  Perhaps the previous user used the focus ring to grip the lens to release and attach it to the camera.

possible. the red dot is missing but i’ve seen that before, and some anodising off the aperture ring. It’s hardly noticeable when the lens is in the normal “upright” position, but more noticeable when pointing down or upside down, not that i would photograph inverted, but proves that the problem exists when weight of the helicoids press up against each other in certain positions. I got it cheap (£700) and is still very useable, so will get it serviced anyhow. 

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  • 5 weeks later...

When I bought a new v5 Summicron the focus had quite a rough feel over part of the range, unlike the v3 I had used for decades. I remembered a Leica rep back in the 1960s say that the thread clearance on Leica lenses was much tighter than other makes (which used thicker grease so you wouldn't feel the slop), and that many Leica lenses needed to be exercised a lot to "wear in" the helicoids. So I spent a few evenings constantly moving the focus back and forth through the range. It became perfectly smooth and light.

OTOH, I also have a used v1 Summilux that is quite smooth in normal (horizontal) hold, but had a definite "catch" with the camera held in vertical format. Otherwise the lens is fine, so I decided to live with it rather than invest in a CLA. (I don't use the Summilux much.) Since yours is a used lens I'd suspect something similar - but you can try exercise and see if it helps. 

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