Summarit, the sucessful outcome (as if I didn't know anyway)

[huw_finney]

A few posts ago Stuart asked how to remove the optical head of a

Summarit. After a few emails twixt him and me this is just to let all

you anti DIY Leica servicing folks know, Stuart has cleaned his iris

sucessfully (which is what he wanted to do) with a great saving on the

usual scaredy cat route.

 

Which leaves him at least $100 better off and a great feeling of 'I

did that myself', what next I ask a shutter CLA ($150 at least) RF/VF

clean etc. (another $200) and voila $450 to spend on film and/or gear.

 

Go on, do your own servicing and repairs, feel smug, save money (well

that never works, it just gets spent somewhere else) you know it makes

sense. After all the Leica is one of the very few cameras still

DESIGNED to be serviced these days. I love them to bits (pun intended).

[huw_finney]

My subscription push, if my advice saves more than a hundred bucks or so, subscribe (non compulsary).

[craig_zeni]

As you know Huw I'm not too shy about disassembling cameras and have taken apart a

couple of Canon lenses to clean their innards. But how does one clean oil off of

diaphragm blades?

[Jochen_S]

I'm interested too. - Acetone?

[crackers_.]

Use acetone only for glass, never letting it run freely - just on a q-tip/cotton ball. An iris assembly can be dunked in naptha/lighter fluid and will thoroughly dry. Blades can even be assembeled with grease as a 'glue', then dunked for cleaning.

[eliot_rosen1]

This thread is the best advertisement for buying Leica new rather than used. :-)

[stuart_richardson]

This reminds me, I bought a 180 elmarit R, and it looks like someone has gotten into it.

There are bright marks on the retaining ring (holding the lens elements together), and if

you look at it at a certain angle, you can see what look like wipe marks on the second

element in. You cannot see anything from straight on, but if you tilt it they cover the whole

element. The lens is still extremely sharp, but I wonder if it is hurting performance. In any

case, I imagine that these streaks were left by the previous owner who tried to clean out a

speck of dust or something. It is very odd though, as the lens is practically brand new. So

my roundabout question is how easy is it to leave cleaning streaks when you clean the

elements yourself? And assuming you do so, is it worth it to have them removed by

someone who knows what they are doing (either you, having learned your lesson, or a

professional). Thank you for tolerating my thread hijacking.

[dan d. chang]

Can you post how he did it step by step?

[eliot_rosen1]

Internal lens elements do not have hard coatings (Leica didn't intend them to be opened and cleaned by their owners) and may not even be coated at all, if this is not necessary for the optical design of the lens. Lenses should only be disassembled and cleaned by experts. Damaged small screws are a surefire sign of someone trying to gain entry into the lens improperly. Wipe marks on internal elements are another sign.

[monkey]

<i>Can you post how he did it step by step?</i><p>What? How to subscribe to pnet? Of course we can. <P><B>: </b>)<p

[monkey]

Here you go: <a href="http://www.photo.net/photonet-subscriptions">Click me</a>

[johnny massey]

Monkey, I tried subscribing by PayPal and it wasn't interested. Brian Mottershead did me the service of studying the log to find out why and it said something like 'please use some other form of payment'. I later bought a camera off e-bay where PayPal happily extracted the money from my (overdrawn but a grand under limit) bank account. Now to try with my only plastic - a 'Maestro' debit card, usually not an option, ho-hum. They might as well have gone the whole hog and called it an Austin Maestro, it really is that useful.

[johnny massey]

Chug, chug, black smoke.

[huw_finney]

For deep cleaning of elements I use Opticlean(sp) a funny thing you paint onto the lens and peel off in 5 minutes, it works. Otherwise a microfibre cloth, luckily the works stock the Pentax supaclean variety in a selection of patterns.

[mark cortella]

I have 2 Leica microfibre cleaning cloths,with a little red Leica logo dot in one corner,with cases,which I was given,free,when I visited Leica in Solms. Free! Opti Clean website= http://www.opticlean.com Also,you may want to look at this = http://www.ROR.com My Uncles friend,who works in Paris,France,loves guys like you-he repairs Leica's and other cameras that have been "repaired" by amateurs like you. Without proper tools,or parts,or training.

[mark cortella]

So very sorry;that should have been dot net,not dot com correct link for ROR lens cleaner= http://www.ROR.net Admin,could you please put in a way to edit your own posts,so we can fix mistakes like this? Please?

[stu weinstein]

Huw is one of the few people on the forum that doesn't give you the stock "send it to Don, Sherry, FocalPoint" answer. It seems whenever someone asks for tech help they get their teeth kicked in. Recently a forum member wanted to know how to remove the top plate of an "M" to repair a dent that annoyed him. Boy, did he get his butt kicked. I'm sure he'll never ask another question like that again. I secretly e-mailed him a diagram on the top plate removal I found somewhere on the net. I think it's up to the individual to determine whether or not a repair is beyond his/her capabilities. I myself can completely disassemble a Zeiss lens in about 10 minutes. Something you pick up when you own about 10 Contax rangefinders, so I'm certainly not going to send one to Henry Scherer for a CLA. I would, however, send him a IIa for repair. I realize that cleaning the aperture blades in place is not the ideal way to do it, but the minute amount of oil didn't warrant sending out the lens for a complete overhaul, and I probably bought myself a couple of extra years before I'll have to. Thanks Huw for your help. Stu

[crackers_.]

I have to wonder what some of you do with a flat tire. Do you send the whole car back to Detroit?

[eliot_rosen1]

Sending the car back to Detroit is a pretty silly analogy. By that logic, why not operate on yourself to remove your appendix, a comment that is just as silly.

 

Leica lenses are precision optical products made to be disassembled by someone who has training and the proper instruments. Including the special wooden tools to remove the tiny screws without damaging them, the equipment and reagents to clean the glass or diaphragm, and an optical bench to reassemble the lens in a properly collimated fashion. Focal point can do that, most people who post on the internet do not have the skill or training. I've seen a lot of damaged lenses from improper cleaning by people who should have known better.

 

Stuart, there is a reason for that stock answer and I stand by it. Clint Eastwood once said "a man's got to know his limitations". Apparently, a lot of people around here don't. :-) But no harm done when you ruin your own lens, except for the sucker who buys it from you.

[andy m.]

Good luck to anyone that wants to open up their <i>expensive</i> gear and have try at repair/service. <p>I don't doubt that it is possible for those suitably gifted, with the right knowledge (like Huw and others). <p>I also know how many watches I totalled as a child, after opening them to 'find out how they worked';-)

[love4leica]

How about DIY surgery. Extract your own tooth? Repair your own nernia. Imagine how much you will save for a minor discomfort and bearable pain.

[owen w.]

Frankly, I think the real issue here is when will Huw be awarded his very own Hero Icon? He represents the best of photo.net, and has always been generous with his technical advice and in the documentation of those marvelous MAD projects!

[dan d. chang]

Afzal Ansary , sep 30, 2005; 01:44 p.m.

How about DIY surgery. Extract your own tooth? Repair your own nernia. Imagine how much you will save for a minor discomfort and bearable pain.

 

Yes, I did once, I remove a tumor from a gold fish.

The problem is Summarit, the rear group elements are difficult to disassemble even skillful repairman. remove the head is as easy as open a soda bottle. some thing you can do, but different people have different limits.