Digilux 2 and worn aperture numbers on ring

[ravduc]

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Does anyone else have this problem with numbers on the aperture ring wearing off? I purchased a D2 last week and the A, f11, and f8 have almost totally worn off. Is this a common problem with this camera? Otherwise the camera looks great.

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[wparsonsgisnet]

R, mine does not show that wear yet, but you can't use those apertures anyway without a lot of diffraction. They might as well remain secret.

[John Thawley]

Mine look as good as new. My problem is the lettering wearing off around the buttons for EVF/LCD and DISPLAY -

 

JT

[farnz]

I remember a number of threads about the same topic a couple of years ago and it seemed quite common with heavy use of the D2.

 

Pete.

[stuny]

Mine is like John's.

[John Thawley]

Mine is like John's.

 

John just got another one... factory refurb with a warranty and PRISTINE!!! Now to get it wrapped in tobacco colored leather with a matching braided strap. LOL - If you can't shoot at least look good, right?

 

JT

[elgenper]

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Mine has seen quite heavy use for more than 4 years, and all numbers and markings, both on the rings and beside the buttons, are still like new. Suppose the durability varied from batch to batch.

 

However, mine shows rather heavy wear around the right strap lug (I use a Konermann Sling), and the rubber coat is quite loose where my fingers grip the body. A user camera *ought to* show wear - it´s not kept behind glass, but has a history....

[Alberto]

I have the same problem, no white marks on the lens settings since almost new, my lovely Digilux 2 but no CCD sensor problems yet.

 

Photos by Alberto Quintal - photo.net

[ravduc]

I am glad to hear that I am not the only one. It seems to vary depending on how we hold the camera, use the buttons, and probably the weather. Alberto lives in Merida, which probably explains why the numbers faded so quickly. I have never seen numbers on a lens wear off like this before. I have several lenses which even date back to the 1930's and a lot of old German, Russian and Japanese lenses, and never have I seen this before. I think that Leica should be more careful with this and probably even repair this at no charge when the sensors are being changed. This is not suppose to be a cheap camera. I have only had this camera used camera for one week and everything else about seems to be excellent. I have only printed one 8x10 inch print so far, and the quality is excellent. I will have to compare the results with my Digilux 3 and Olympus E cameras. What are your opinions on this?

[chouhsin]

Mine was worn off several years ago.

But when I send my D2 back for the sensor replacement, this problem was solved.

 

I've heard that the sensor of D2 is attached to the lense. To change the sensor, they litterally have to change the whole set of lense.

 

My advise is : use as much as possible. One day, the defacted sensor will burn out and you'd get a new lense. )

 

 

Hsin

[audidudi]

I've heard that the sensor of D2 is attached to the lense. To change the sensor, they litterally have to change the whole set of lense.

 

I'm not sure how this rumor started, but although the imaging sensor is indeed attached to the lens by three screws, this is by no means a permenent setup and the sensor can easily be removed from the lens by simply removing the screws. (That said, however, there are shims under between the sensor mounting plate [the large aluminum piece] and lens to fine-tune the alignment of one with respect to the other and I'm fairly sure that if either one of them is replaced, different shims will be required.)

 

See the photo below, which was taken when I was converting one of my LC1s to IR-only operation (which works very well, btw.) FYI, the camera was disassembled to this point in only 10-15 minutes and with just a single screwdriver ... it's amazing how easy these are to work on!

 

[John Thawley]

I'm not sure how this rumor started, but although the imaging sensor is indeed attached to the lens by three screws, this is by no means a permenent setup and the sensor can easily be removed from the lens by simply removing the screws. (That said, however, there are shims under between the sensor mounting plate [the large aluminum piece] and lens to fine-tune the alignment of one with respect to the other and I'm fairly sure that if either one of them is replaced, different shims will be required.)

 

See the photo below, which was taken when I was converting one of my LC1s to IR-only operation (which works very well, btw.) FYI, the camera was disassembled to this point in only 10-15 minutes and with just a single screwdriver ... it's amazing how easy these are to work on!

 

 

Hmmm... this begs the question; a.) can you buy just parts? And b.) Would be equally as simple to replace the metal frame around the preview screen?

 

Thanks,

 

John

[Riley]

audi you seem to have all the good ideas

do you think an AA less LC1 would be a good proposition ?

 

[Riley]

Hmmm... this begs the question; a.) can you buy just parts? And b.) Would be equally as simple to replace the metal frame around the preview screen?

 

Thanks,

 

John

 

i guess you can try

Parts Ordering

[Arman]

I've heard that the sensor of D2 is attached to the lense. To change the sensor, they litterally have to change the whole set of lense.

 

My advise is : use as much as possible. One day, the defacted sensor will burn out and you'd get a new lense. )

 

 

Hsin

 

I don't know if Leica HAS to change the whole lense together with the CCD but they seem to CHOOSE to do so.

My Digilux 2 was sent to Solms this summer for CCD replacement and I'm 100% positive that they also replaced the lense for a new one AND the LCD AND the EVF.

 

Regards

Arman

[John Thawley]

i guess you can try

Parts Ordering

 

I'm looking for Lecia Digilux 2 casing... Panasonic is black, Leica is silver.

 

Thanks

[audidudi]

I'm looking for Lecia Digilux 2 casing... Panasonic is black, Leica is silver.

 

I have no idea how to obtain Digilux 2 parts, but I have purchased parts from Panasonic via their online ordering system without any problems. I sort of like the idea of having a black Digilux 2 and have actually contemplated repainting my accordingly, but in the end, it always seems like too much work, so I skip it. Perhaps the smarter thing to do would be to swap the D2 innards with one my LC1s ... a wolf in sheep's clothing, if you will.

[John Thawley]

I sort of like the idea of having a black Digilux 2 and have actually contemplated repainting my accordingly, but in the end, it always seems like too much work, so I skip it.

 

I contemplated going with black as well. The big hitch, though, is the lettering. And, that's the reason I want to replace the back plate... the lettering is wearing off. But I would love to have one of my Digilux 2s tricked out.

 

I guess I'll see if Leica will sell the part. They want about $350 to replace the whole case.

 

JT

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[audidudi]

audi you seem to have all the good ideas

do you think an AA less LC1 would be a good proposition ?

 

 

Well, so far, so good ... I finished my conversion a month or two ago and have since shot most of a 1GB card of test images with it. Unfortunately, due to some problems with the computer on which I run Photoshop, which for one reason or another I keep putting off addressing, I haven't been able to process any of them thus I haven't done any before-and-after or side-by-side comparisons to determine whether replacing the AA and hot filters with clear glass has also improved its resolution any (for now, I decided to use an external IR filter rather than incorporate this into the internal filter as I wanted to experiment with different bandpass filters to decide which one is the best match for the results I want to achieve. I'm sort of new to all this, as you may have gathered from my previous posts. But once I do decide, I have the materials on hand to make another replacement filter and will incorporate the IR filter into it as well so I can maximize image quality.)

 

I will eventually get around to this, though, so stay tuned. (I'm on a major project at work that has deadlines of the 17th and 20th, though, so it's unlikely to happen before then.) FYI, I'm also tempted to pick up a Panasonic G1 because, it except for the shape of its case, it appears to be exactly what I need to make my poor-man's digital view camera project fully functional, although not exactly as I had originally planned. I can also see it being used as an (effective) 24mm fixed-lens camera for street photography with my 12mm Voigtlander mounted on it, so stay tuned for more about this project as well...

[audidudi]

I contemplated going with black as well. The big hitch, though, is the lettering. And, that's the reason I want to replace the back plate... the lettering is wearing off. But I would love to have one of my Digilux 2s tricked out.

 

As I see it, there are basically two ways to go here (three, if you count just leaving the lettering off and memorizing how the controls function): 1) Have replacement lettering silk-screened onto the body or 2) Have it engraved onto the body. I haven't investigated the former approach, but having some prior experience in the graphic arts industry, I know that it can be done, but I have spoken with a local trophy shop about engraving the letters onto the body and they confirmed it can also be done, although they didn't seem particularly enthusiastic about tackling the project themselves.

 

Unfortunately, while it's possible to paint the body without too much difficultly and likely good results, painting the various switches, knobs, buttons, and hot shoe will be much more difficult and replacing them with black Panasonic equivalents probably makes the most sense, although I shudder to think of what it will cost to do so. I can easily see this whole project costing several hundred dollars before it's done if you want it to be done correctly and I'm not sure it's worth it to me when I can simply swap the guts between a D2 and LC1 in maybe a half hour and achieve much the same effect at no cost. That the swap can also be reversed if/when I decide to sell one or both cameras is another big plus in its favor versus repainting.

 

But each of us see things differently and maybe a few hundred bucks round to zero for you, so if you do decide to pursue this (and someday, I may as well ... you never know!), be sure to post some of photos of how it turns out!