a._cook Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 <p>Very soft, plus when focusing the double image moves a little bit to the right or left, and not sure that focus is right.<br> On a M8, checked with more than 20 shots.<br /> What's wrong?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_shriver Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 <p>What aperture? In period catalogs, Leitz recommended that you stop down the 35mm Elmar and 28mm Hektor several stops if you wanted sharp results. The wide apertures are for "emergencies."<br> The Tessar formula is not well-suited for a wide-angle lens. (The Elmar 35mm is a Tessar.) It doesn't have a reputation as a sharp lens, the 35/2.8 Summaron is really Leica's first very sharp 35mm lens.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_elwing Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 <p>Aren't there problems fitting the 35 Elmar on an M without the focusing lever wanting to foul? It was a problem for some of these lenses.<br> Well, it's old & maybe loose with very thin lube; that may affect RF movement? Optically, maybe scratched on surfaces and/or hand polished. Uncoated lenses knock contrast a bit, and if it's coated, that may be rubbed, scratched.<br> I understand they varied a lot in character, but many(?) had a curved field which brought closer objects into focus along with distant centre. They were sharp enough when they were new.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a._cook Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 <p>Yea I know summaron, three times the price. <br /> I happen to like Tessar, this the reason I got this one, knowing it is soft. <br /> Perhps I haven't made my self clear enough. Pretty much James understood correctly more than I wrote on the lens. Tried it on a M8. Different apertures, up to 9-11. Yea it was sharper then, but it was also a matter of focusing right. Can't compare it to modern lenses, and sharpness isn't the reason I bought it, character it was. Soft is OK, but "soft" as in out of focus because it is not easy to focus is another. I also have an old summar, and even though not much more resent than the elmar focusing is a lot easier. Any way I love small lenses, love Tessar, and I am going to have someone look at it. Thought there might be a specialist on the forum, like an experienced repair man who has dealt with focusing issues after years of use on this lens. Glass seems to be with out scratches fungus or naked eye detectable fog. Thank you both people.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_elwing Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 <p>Get it done by someone good who can collimate it at the same time. I find most of these old lenses fairly accurate unless they have been fooled around with too much.<br> Yes, someone here will know who to send it to. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charles_stobbs3 Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Ken Rockwell's write up on the Elmar - http://www.kenrockwell.com/leica/50mm-f35.htm - . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mukul_dube Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 <p>The range-finder of the M8 is what you focus with, and that ought not to be affected by any problem with a lens -- unless there is something wrong with the surface of the cam. Does the lens seat well in the M adapter and does that seat well in the camera body? On an M8 it will be difficult to tell if the cam and the cam follower are making contact as they should.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lazzari Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 <blockquote> <p>"unless there is something wrong with the surface of the cam" <em><strong>Mukul D.</strong></em></p> </blockquote> <p>I agree, <strong>the lens</strong> also has it's machined "cam" surface. <br /> If it has picked up some hardened contamination etc., it is possible that the Leica M8 RF will do a bit of a "dance". <br /> Check to see that both the camera roller cam and the lens mating surfaces are smooth & free of debris/contamination...</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a._cook Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 <p>thanks for your responses. Will check as soon as I get beck from work.<br> I did an experiment. I kept the double moving image a little bit to the left and everything came in focus, like a Leica is supposed to be. <br> The M8 is checked with the same LTM to M Leitz expensive adapter with both a summar and an Industar 35mm same focal as the ELAMR 35MM And of course as I mentioned before not any problems. <br> So it s between what you say, having picked up some residue on the lens metal, or a calibrating issue that the lens has. <br> The focused pictures are worth it, even if I have to guess the correct focus. Ken hasn't got any articles on the 35 Elmar, just the 50 collapsible. I got the 40mm Summicron C for sharp results, the Elmar 35 will be one of my favorites.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a._cook Posted October 10, 2015 Author Share Posted October 10, 2015 <p>John Shriver,<br> who would be a good technician who could repair the focusing problem the lens has,<br> calimate and align the focusing mechanism? I don't know what "calimate" is. <br> Is there in Europe, even better in Greece? One technician who's supposed to know Leica kept a couple of slr bodies I wanted to have serviced for a year, so I am not going back to him.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a._cook Posted October 10, 2015 Author Share Posted October 10, 2015 <p>Sorry "collimation", read something about it. I think it just needs to its focus corrected, like I see when focusing with the moving double image set a little bit to the left inside the vf.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mukul_dube Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 <p>The double image in the finder of the M8 has nothing to do with "correct" focus of the lens. The link between lens and body is mechanical. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a._cook Posted October 10, 2015 Author Share Posted October 10, 2015 <p>Why then to get a focused shot I don't coincide the double image, actually leaving the two images separate? Sorry, not able to understand, not experienced in mech issues.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mukul_dube Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 <p>For an object at any distance to be in focus, the cam follower in the camera body must be pushed in by a specific amount. It may be that in your lens the relation (ratio) between object distance and cam projection is incorrect. Gus has already dealt with another possibility. I do not think that further discussion on this forum can help.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a._cook Posted October 10, 2015 Author Share Posted October 10, 2015 <p>I think we should let other people decide about what they can contribute, things will take their course this way.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamie_robertson2 Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 <blockquote> <p>Why then to get a focused shot I don't coincide the double image, actually leaving the two images separate?</p> </blockquote> <p>If other lenses focus correctly on the M8 using the same adapter then the fault has to be with the cam on the lens. I cannot see any other likely explanation. The lens needs to be looked at by someone who knows what they are doing.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mukul_dube Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 <p>"I kept the double moving image a little bit to the left and everything came in focus, like a Leica is supposed to be." Then either camera or lens is out of adjustment. If the M8 focusses correctly with other lenses, it is likely that the Elmar 35 has been reassembled incorrectly.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a._cook Posted October 11, 2015 Author Share Posted October 11, 2015 <p>Thank you</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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