Loose front section on 35mm Lux ASPH

[Rob F.]

Yeah, I know, "Put it in a box and send it to Don/John/Sherry." I'll do that

when I get a round tuit. But here's my point: I think it was all the

removing & refitting of the lens hood that caused the front section to loosen

up. This hood has a fiddly locking ring that you twist to secure the hood.

It takes a bit of fiddling to lock & unlock it. I'm guessing that all that

torsional force, over time, loosened it.

 

So has anyone else had this experience, & suspected the hood? If so, what

have you done about it? What do you think about using a plain generic screw-

in hood instead?

 

I can't prove the hood caused it. I had the same problem with my 11817

Summicron, the hood for which doesn't require any fiddling and twisting. But

that's what I suspect.

 

Anyone?

[eliot_rosen1]

Rob, the hood should not torgue the front section of the lens in normal usage. The only way it could do that is if you grasp the hood rather then the body of the lens in order to twist the lens on and off the camera. But its moot now. If the front section is loose, it's not a DIY repair. You need to send the lens to an expert or to Leica USA. The good news is that it's not a difficult fix for this problem.

 

And yes, I do know that older lenses had threads rather than adhesive holding the sections together, so this sort of thing would not have been possible in the early lenses, but that's life.

[Bill Blackwell Images]

Love the lens; hate the shade. I replaced mine with a 12451 shade (for the current 28mm) lenses ﾖ IMHO, it's much better.<div></div>

[stuart_richardson]

I am just curious, why are you taking off the shade? Do you use a lot of filters? I rarely take

the shade off of mine. Actually, I love the shade and the cap for it, but to each their own.

Perhaps yours was too tight? Mine comes off and on fairly easily. You are pressing in the little

release buttons on the side when you pull it on and off right?

[rgh]

I haven't ever heard of this happening with the 35 ASPH but have wondered for some time

if the new line of lenses had the glue instead of the screwed parts. An easy fix, but the the

time to send it in...

 

This has occasionally happened with some users of the 4th version 35 Summicron, but

after some years of use and travel ( and not delicate handling ) never to me. The problem

may have started with the redesigned 'boxed' hoods that encourage the user to grip the

hood and not the lens body to take the lens on and off. I'm not so sure even the internal

screw design could hold up to that and would cause even more real damage. Round hoods

although not as effective for blocking stray light don't let the user use them as convenient

lens mounting grips.

 

Back to the 35 ASPH... never liked the hood from the start, broke my first one on the first

day out ( those stupid side tabs) and the locking system is a pain. Screw in hoods are OK,

but can also cause damage to the threads if you give it a good whack. So I'm doing two

things lately, one is as Bill above, the clip on 12547 28mm hood style is what the original

35 Aspheriacal Summilux used and is well designed, easy on and off, nice clip in front cap

( that stays on in your bag! ) and does the job of blocking stray side light and protection

well. I'm also going hood-less with this lens for the first time ( usually a diehard 'hooder' )

and with an B+W MRC filter can't say its causing any noticeable problems (still keeping an

eye on things).

 

And back to the front lens coming apart... I'm surprised about the 50mm 11817 you

mention. The front lens element section part of this lens does unscrew [as designed to]

and comes apart from the focus mount for visoflex/enlarger use. But under normal use

this just don't happen with the original round IROOA or 12585 hoods. A really great classic

Leitz lens BTW as you know.

[ronald_moravec1]

You are lucky it is not crooked when in place. Shane for a lens that expensive.

 

I never take my square shades off. Just made a cover from heavy material and elastic.

[john_graham3]

"You need to send the lens to an expert or to Leica USA."

 

Hehe. Good rabbit punch.

[Rob F.]

Stuart: I take the hood off only to change filters.

 

Robert: I think you have the 11817 confused with the Dual Range/Rigid Summicrons. Those are the ones that unscrew. They will not however focus to infinity on the Visoflex.

 

I'm thinking of sending it to John Van Stelten, as he has an optical bench so he can check the alignment after repairing it. I'm not sure if Sherry or DAG have this. Anyone know?

[rgh]

Hi Rob,

 

About the 11817 50mm Summicron, second rigid formula, or '69' as it was introduced in

1969... Not that many people did it but the front optical unit part of this lens does unscrew

just as the earlier first rigid and DR lenses to use in an enlarger and with bellows for really

close focus. Its designed is better corrected than that lens in the close-up range. The next

Summicron with the tab 11819, and the present 11826 with the built in hood do not have

this feature.

[Rob F.]

Hmm, first I've heard of it. Maybe some time I'll try it, but I'm afraid I might loosen it up again in the process. They don't build them like they used to, you know.

[bill_schneider1]

Robert stated:

 

>> Not that many people did it but the front optical unit part of >>this lens does unscrew just as the earlier first rigid and DR >>lenses ...The next Summicron with the tab 11819, and the present >>11826 with the built in hood do not have this feature.

 

Maybe you didn't twist hard enough. My tabbed 11819 cron certain has a threaded optical unit that separates from the focusing mount.

 

Here are some pictures of it unscrewed:<div></div>

[bill_schneider1]

And another...<div></div>

[bill_schneider1]

And how the rear element looks after removal from the focusing mount...

 

 

BTW, the commonly loose v4 35mm Cron front is just one part of the optical unit, and can be fixed by removing the bayonet mount at the rear of the lens, removing the brass plate beneath that, and finding the retaining ring that secures the front assembly.

 

Maybe I'll post a pictorial "how-to" someday when I run across another loose one. It's fairly simple to fix. Don't know about the Lux though.

 

Bill Schneider<div></div>

[wai_leong_lee]

It happens. Get it fixed. Move on.

 

It happened to mine recently. I sent it to DAG. Don said he's seen more lenses coming in with the same problem, and not just 35/1.4 ASPH's. To quote him:

 

"In most cases these lenses get loose from vibration for moving vehicles (if so need to wrap lens in towel) or Leica never tightened these parts tight enough. Since I've had a lot of these lenses come in for the same problem it's more likely that Leica did not tighten some of the parts in your lens as tight as they should have."

 

Cost $50 for the repair.