1980's summicron, fogging?

[nick_baker]

<p>Hi I know that older Summincrons are predisposed to fogging of internal elements. I have just received a Made in Canada Summicron 50/2, manufactured in 1980 according to its serial number. When I shine a flashlight through the lens from either side, or when I shine the flashlight into the lens from the rear, I see a cloudy internal surface. Are summicrons of this vintage also prone to fogging?<br>

In case you wonder, I've had no time to shoot film yet, and have very little time to do so before leaving on a trip.</p>

<p>thanks<br>

Nick</p>

[dhbebb]

<p>Summicrons of any vintage are not ESPECIALLY prone to fogging, but all lenses are susceptible as a function of increasing age and storage conditions (it can be a great idea to keep lenses not used every day in a sealed bag with a couple of sachets of silica gel).<br>

In your case, if you bought the lens on e-bay as being "clean" or "mint", you can certainly nail the seller for misdescription and get a refund, otherwise you'll be needing a CLA. If you buy another lens, chances are it won't have fogging, this is ususual on Leica lenses which are "only" 30 years old (apart from the 50 mm 2.8 Elmar, in which oil vapor very commonly condenses on the back of the front element).</p>

[alan_chan4]

<p>I am no expert of Leica lenses, but if the fogging is visible only under a flashlight, perhaps it's just haze which can be cleaned.</p>

[nick_baker]

<p>thanks for the replies. Sine I am going away, I have a short window to decide whether to return the lens. I thought that a summicron from the 1980's would be OK. I have two Elmarit-R lenses from the same period which are clear as a bell.</p>

[keith_b1]

<p>Many of the 1979-design 50/2 lenses have a faint haze that's visible only with a fairly intense beam of light shone through the lens. It's usually invisible to the eye when looking through the lens w/o flashlight. I always assumed it's the cement gluing the the 4 plano-elements together. If you can see it w/o the flashlight, it's worse than normal...and, a good candidate for return.</p>

[nick_baker]

<p>Keith</p>

<p>It's not visible without a flashlight. It does look like something in a single plane of the lens. I would not call it 'faint': with a flashlight, you can clearly see that the lens is transucent (milky).I have an Elmarit-R 35F2.8 and Elmarit-R 60F2.8 of similar age and these are completely transparent, even with a flashlight. I have not got a more recent summicron for comparison.</p>

<p>Nick</p>

<p> </p>