rscheffler Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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hiepphotog wrote:
I have tried the Chrome version 1 and 4 copies of version 2, so it's not a one-off thing. The focus ring construction is just too flimsy that when I focus, it tends to bind randomly (not smooth); the seller of the Chrome V1 said it's normal for M-mount lenses. I don't get such thing from operating any SLR lens, even the lowly Takumar. It might be understandable since these RF lenses are smaller than usual so some compromises have been made. Admittedly, I have not tried other ZMs but the Leica lenses I have tried are buttery smooth. The Lux 50 ASPH might show random binding when shooting in vertical position. And apparently some other Lux 50 ASPH users experienced the same thing, more so on the black version. The 3 lenses I have now are all buttery though: ZM 15, Cron 28 and 50AA.
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I've only had experience with a single copy of the 35/1.2 vII, which I still own and was from early in their production. Shortly after receiving it, the focusing ring started 'slipping' so that when it was turned, the focus didn't change. It got to the point where I pretty much stopped using it because of this until I could get it serviced. It's fine now, but can't get over the feeling that it will happen again.
The silver 50 Lux ASPH I bought used always had a very smooth/loose focusing feel. It got to the point where it required several trips to Leica over the span of a few years to tighten the body of the lens in order to regain correct focus calibration. It seemed even about 1mm of play in the lens body was enough to throw off RF calibration, which doesn't surprise me... The last time in, I complained about this and Leica replaced the 'focus mount'. I'm not entirely sure what exactly that is, but the RF cam is new and the focus action is extremely tight, which is reassuring. That said, the lens came back focusing past infinity when set to the infinity hard stop, which is quite disastrous if you're used to shooting distant scenes at the hard stop because image quality degrades very rapidly when focused beyond infinity. I can discern this reduction of sharpness even when stopped down to around f/8... so have had to back off from the hard stop by about 1-2mm... It needs to go back to Leica, but that's such a hassle and to compound it, they've given me the runaround about the problem. Very frustrating.
My impression of Leica's M lenses after a few years of ownership is that they're made of high quality materials, but that with constant use, they will eventually loosen to the point of some play. Some seem worse than others, but my sampling base is too small to make any certain assessments. Based on online tutorials, some of this can be fixed with the right homemade tools. But otherwise, I would suggest Leica M lens owners budget for periodic servicing by Leica.
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