Update for those interested - I finally got my refund. It cost me £18 to send it back to France but seller agreed to add 15 euros, which was very nice of him (of course he could have mentioned the scratch at the beginning!). He told me today that he still does not see any scratch on it! So the lens might go back on ebay with the same description for all I know.
Also glad to hear that. Edgars, you may want to consider buying new. You will get 3 years extended warranty, which is not transferable. I did have to use the warranty twice, for minor focus adjustments on two lenses, so it was fully worth buying new.
I can't really afford it I think. I have not bought a new lens since I bought 85l some 5 years ago - I thought it would serve me for years, but I am glad I sold it to fund my interest in old cameras and lenses. I tend to buy for prices that are below average these days. Maybe when I grow in years and wealth ...
Hi,
I am trying to post everywhere that I can find that pops up in google for ZM wobble!
We have people on here saying that it is difficult to fix the wobble, and I too was quoted over £200 to fix it but the reason for the wobble is incredibly simple to fix if you can get the cover ring out. Take filter ring off, tighten 3 bolts, reassemble. Post of mine copied and pasted from another forum to save me time. Hope I can help some others fix the issue cheaply:
I think I am similar to many here in having had a wobble and not knowing the full reason. I searched high and low on the internet and no-one seems to have opened one (or posted about it). I have a Zeiss zm 50mm 1.5 sonnar, this started to wobble. I left it wobbling and it got very bad indeed (3mm play on one corner!). The front element was solid as most people here.
I went to a local repair shop and was quoted an outrageous amount of money to fix it (over £200) so I took on the repair myself. Needless to say, half an hour later it was fixed.
The construction of the front is that the filter ring is held on to a plastic covered ring by 3 bolts. These are fine. The plastic covered ring however seems to manage to unscrew itself.
The hardest bit of the entire job is to get the cover ring out. Zeiss in their vanity chose to not put any dents etc in it to allow it to be gripped. I read on forums that one can use rubber to grip and turn the ring but mine was well stuck. It was however so loose I could grip it with some pliers without touching the glass. As can be seen, I did damage it slightly getting it out but its not something I am overly concerned with (I can appreciate others may differ). Having done this once, I think I could get it out without damage a second time...
My lower ring had two bolts completely undone. I removed them, applied loctite and tightened these. I cleaned the threads to the filter ring as well as the threads on the cover, sparingly applied moly lube to the cover threads and replaced this by hand (I want to be able to get the cover off more easily next time!).
The filter ring is now completely rock solid again
Some photos in time order, I hope they help others (documenting it has taken as long as fixing it did once I set to it):
For this price the lens should be basically perfect.
I think I paid 650USD for mine less than one year ago LN. I bought it here, if I remember.
Regarding the zeiss "wobble", my impression is that it is the same as the Leica wobble, which is actually very common.
While my zm35/2 is tight as a tick, I had to send both my 28 cron and 21 SEM to DAG to fix wobbles. He sees this often. It's a very simple matter to fix, not expensive, and i would never send a lens back to zeiss, frankly for this or any reason unless there was a warranty involved and I did not care if the lens was gone for months. Same goes for Leica.
DAG is at the top of his game and highly professional with fast returns on these repairs in the last year. There are several other good techs in USA too, but I would trust DAG over Leica without qualms. I'd send any zeiss lens to him as well.
For the OP your lens is not worth more than 300USD, if that. I certainly would not buy such a lens. However, I have often received lenses not as described and negotiated a fair price instead of return, so it is certainly not a silly course of action.
But the ZM 35/2 is a common lens and easy to find perfect under 700USD, so why play around?
The wobble comes very easily to a 28 cron or SEM 21 (along with the ZM35/2, two of the greatest lenses ever made for any system), especially if you use the Leica leather case with the hood "down". Never allow these lenses to travel with the hood under the mount, period.
When mounting, never grasp the front of the lens, but hold it near the base.
Follow these simple rules and the Leicas will stay tight.
It is noteworthy to mention that wobble that affected early production has been completely resolved, so if you own a rather recent copy of any ZM, it should be fine.
The only ZM that wobbled was the Sonnar 85 that I bought used and seems to be an early production. It was fixed by Zeiss in Oberkochen for a mere 95 euros + shipping. I would strongly advise you all to send your ZM lenses to Zeiss for maintenance rather than somewhere else.
