Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 11301 "STEEL RIM" reissue QC problems

[Al Brown]

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20 minutes ago, Leslie22 said:

Just back from Europe (to Australia)

5 weeks , some 3,00 plus shots with the steel rim re issue ….. Zero problems

Just saying 

 

Lucky you, the QC department folks were present when assembling your lens.

[hjddd]

5 hours ago, 69xchange said:

为什么不直接要求更换而不是通过保修？假设您是在徕卡经销商处而非灰色市场购买的？

 

在我看来，每个人都应该对有缺陷的镜头要求更换/退款（如果没有可用的更换），而不是将其寄回保修。也许这样一来，徕卡就会失去利润，并得到这样的信息：他们的 QC 是垃圾，有大量有缺陷的二手补发钢圈库存，他们将不得不在维修后以折扣价出售。这对我们消费者来说是双赢的局面，不是吗？

The guarantee for Chinese retail will cover all the fees.  I'm satisfied with it, no need to get a new one(it may have the same problem)

 

[Al Brown]

Just spoken with Wetzar Customer Care and Service Department, no newly calculated hoods yet in the nearest future.

[mdg1371]

If it’s any consolation, the original OLLUX leaps off the lens if you merely glance at it with a hard look.

[Fred Miranda]

10 hours ago, Smudgerer said:

This lens-hood / filter vignetting problem that I have just discovered after processing a number of rolls shot last week with the "Classic" and a ND filter is truly a PITA. Four rolls with pronounced vignetting on every frame.

What the hell were Leica up to with this in the design and testing stage? Forget film users who have to wait to discover the issue after processing it is glaringly obvious on a digital M body with Live View or Review. Didn't anyone at Leica think to check for vignetting when the vented lens hood was in the design stages or used, the one that they say "enables the use" of a screw-in filter?

This really pisses me off, it's quite astonishing that this seems to have completely blown by Leica, ( and I was never told of it by the Leica dealer I bought the lens from ), and I may just return the lens even though I do truly like it's results, either way my dealer and I are going to have a chat tomorrow.

 

I purchased and tested a copy from the initial batch last year, and I reported this issue in December. Given the ample amount of time that has passed since then, I expected Leica to have rectified this drawback, so I must admit I am somewhat disappointed that it's taking this long.

 

Edited June 19, 2023 by Fred Miranda

[darylgo]

15 minutes ago, Fred Miranda said:

 

I purchased and tested a copy from the initial batch last year, and I reported this issue in December. Given the ample amount of time that has passed since then, I expected Leica to have rectified this drawback, so I must admit I am somewhat disappointed that it's taking this long.

With Leica repair times of months and often-times repeated attempts at proper repair extending to nearly a year my expectations are set very low.  It makes me sad to say this, Leica makes beautiful products that are a joy to use and deserve high praise, however repairs and such are a failure so often.  

[Smudgerer]

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10 hours ago, Fred Miranda said:

 

I purchased and tested a copy from the initial batch last year, and I reported this issue in December. Given the ample amount of time that has passed since then, I expected Leica to have rectified this drawback, so I must admit I am somewhat disappointed that it's taking this long.

 

Thank you for this Fred, I will hopefully be talking to my dealer today about these filter and hood issues with the 35 Summilux 1.4 Classic which I am somewhat disappointed that he neglected to tell me about despite my long relationship with that particular Leica Store.

That Leica is re-issuing modern day builds of some of their classic and revered products is admirable, but to stick slavishly to reproducing some original design faults too is dumb.

As I do have the 35 Nokton 1.4 II as well it is apparent that that lens has a far better engineered filter and hood solution, the filters screw into the front of the lens and the hood goes over the filters to lock onto the lens barrel with a good positive bayonet mount and no vignetting occurs, Leica should have done something similar with the Summilux 35 Classic re-issue instead of creating this mess...........Couple that with the fact that Leica itself didn't catch these simple and very obvious faults before going into production is a real concern regarding their current product design and development teams.

So we owners of this lens are stuck with not being able to use any filter, ( not even a clear or UV filter for the protection of the front element or an ND when you want to be able to shoot at 1.4 in daylight ), whilst mounting either Leica supplied lens hood.

[Al Brown]

2 hours ago, Smudgerer said:

I will hopefully be talking to my dealer today about these filter and hood issues with the 35 Summilux 1.4 Classic which I am somewhat disappointed that he neglected to tell me about despite my long relationship with that particular Leica Store.

There is a high chance your dealer is not even aware of these issues.

 

2 hours ago, Smudgerer said:

As I do have the 35 Nokton 1.4 II as well it is apparent that that lens has a far better engineered filter and hood solution, the filters screw into the front of the lens and the hood goes over the filters to lock onto the lens barrel with a good positive bayonet mount and no vignetting occurs, Leica should have done something similar with the Summilux 35 Classic re-issue instead of creating this mess..........

While technically very well controlled, latest Voigtladers have notorious issues for lens decentering and RF miscalibration. 3 out of 5 Voigtlanders I have purchased recently brand new had one or the other issue.

[lct]

Zero QC issue on my dozen Cosina made lenses, bayonet hoods are sturdy and don't wobble at all. The days when Leica was held up as an example are long gone.

[Smudgerer]

3 hours ago, Al Brown said:

There is a high chance your dealer is not even aware of these issues.

 

While technically very well controlled, latest Voigtladers have notorious issues for lens decentering and RF miscalibration. 3 out of 5 Voigtlanders I have purchased recently brand new had one or the other issue.

You are right, the Leica Store dealer said this was the first that he's heard of this issue. I sent him links to Fred Miranda's page and examples plus the Leica Rumors website where they mention the problem and say that Leica will be making corrections with a revised vented lens-hood that when it appears will be sent to all purchasers of the lenses a replacement for the present vignetting one...............If we live long enough.

The store says that I can return the 35 Summilux Classic for a full credit if I wish, so I am now struggling with whether I want to do that or not.

And like lct in the previous post I've yet to have a problem with a VC lens and I have owned quite a few. The Nokton 35 1.4 SC is a really nice lens and I find it's ergonomics a little better than the 'Lux and image-wise I found it close to the Summilux Classic  in most aspects which surprised me.

Edited June 20, 2023 by Smudgerer

[Al Brown]

Just now, Smudgerer said:

The Nokton 35 1.4 SC is a really nice lens and I find it's ergonomics a little better than the 'Lux and image-wise I found it close to the Summilux Classic  in most aspects which surprised me.

No surprise there, they have super similar formulas, dimensions and form factors and Cosina definitely was mucho inspired by the old 35 Steel Rim.

[Huss]

22 hours ago, Al Brown said:

Just spoken with Wetzar Customer Care and Service Department, no newly calculated hoods yet in the nearest future.

They are selling every one they make.  They’re not working on anything.

[jaeger]

I am not surprise to see that...  this kind of report is all over the internet. 

[Vlad Soare]

Received mine (actually, my wife's) yesterday. The focus ring is butter-smooth over the entire range, and there's no wobbliness whatsoever in the aperture ring. It looks and feels just like one would expect a Leica lens to look and feel.
I don't know about back or front focus. That remains to be seen.

 

Edited June 21, 2023 by Vlad Soare

[Smudgerer]

27 minutes ago, Vlad Soare said:

Received mine (actually, my wife's) yesterday. The focus ring is butter-smooth over the entire range, and there's no wobbliness whatsoever in the aperture ring. It looks and feels just like one would expect a Leica lens to look and feel.
I don't know about back or front focus. That remains to be seen.

 

Congratulations, I know that they are in short supply, and it really is a wonderful lens despite my bitching about the lens-hood / filter use issues which hopefully with enough "squeaky wheels" going on about the faults Leica will address. It's a lens that begs to be used wide open to appreciate it's character, wide open to maybe one full stop down after which it behaves very much to my eyes like a V2 35 / f2 Summicron and how bad is that?.............

[Vlad Soare]

Thank you. They do seem to make them quite slowly. I think I had the stock alert set up for at least three months before it finally triggered. By contrast, another stock alert, which I had set for an M6 and couldn't be bothered to cancel for some time, used to fire every three weeks or so.
After I placed the order the lens was still shown as being in stock and could still be ordered for at least a couple of hours, so they probably release them in small batches rather than individually - hence the long wait, I suppose.

My wife intends to use it wide open as often as possible. She's looking for some ND filters now to help with that. She does love a vignette - her other lens is a 28 mm Summaron, which vignettes like hell, and she loves it.

I didn't expect it to be that small. I knew it would be smaller than its modern counterparts, but not by that much. It's a gem.

Edited June 21, 2023 by Vlad Soare

[Al Brown]

The rattling f-stop rings seem to be from late 2022 batches.
B&H still (after 8 months of its issue) lists this lens as "New item - coming soon" and most EU and UK stores list it as "PREORDER" or "Out of stock".
 

 

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Edited June 21, 2023 by Al Brown

[RexGig0]

A problem with being on a B&H stock-watch/waiting list is that the entire world orders from B&H, so, their waiting lists are of epic length. The same situation seems to exist with Adorama. Most manufacturers allocate their stock shipments equitably, among their various official/authorized dealers. A store/dealer with less of an internet presence may well have a much shorter waiting list, or may simply not maintain a waiting list.

The Leica USA site has shown the Steel Rim Re-Issue as being in-stock, with no waiting, at least once, during the time that I have been paying attention. 

Edited June 21, 2023 by RexGig0

[Al Brown]

Just now, RexGig0 said:

A problem with being on a B&H stock-watch/waiting list is that the entire world orders from B&H, so, their waiting lists are of epic length. The same situation seems to exist with Adorama. Most manufacturers allocate their stock shipments equitably, among their various official/authorized dealers. A store/dealer with less of an internet presence may well have a much shorter waiting list, or may simply not maintain a waiting list.

99% sure that 99% of Europe does not order from BH or Adorama. Why would we pay import taxes and fees?

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[RexGig0]

14 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

99% sure that 99% of Europe does not order from BH or Adorama. Why would we pay import taxes and fees?

Well, Europe has its own excellent distribution networks, but much of the world tends to order from B&H.

Edited to add: I am not shilling for B&H or Adorama. I tend to support my local pro-oriented camera store, Houston Camera Exchange, in Texas. I am not certain, but I think I remember that when I bought my new M10, in April 2018m at HCE, the M10 was still not available, for immediate sale, from the big internet sellers, such as B&H and Adorama. The same situation existed, when we had bought my wife’s D850, from HCE, in March 2018, when HCE had three of them, on the shelf.

Edited June 21, 2023 by RexGig0