s.kueh wrote:
Received my modified "hood ring" from S K Grimes. The chrome finish is kind of flat black and it measured about 9.6mm. Serves well to protect the lens hood threads.
Next step is to make a super thin filter and a protecting cap.
Did you have them black anodize it? Mine should be arriving this week.
s.kueh wrote:
Received my modified "hood ring" from S K Grimes. The chrome finish is kind of flat black and it measured about 9.6mm. Serves well to protect the lens hood threads.
Next step is to make a super thin filter and a protecting cap.
Hi S. Kueh,
There's an issue with the finishing. Can you confirm if they used a pre-existing 28/1.4 lux hood for the ring? If they did, the finish is incorrect—it's not black anodized. In my experience, after I cut the ring, I sent it to them, and the black anodized finish from SK Grimes matched the lens perfectly.
Mine arrived. Looks like @s.kueh's. Not as drastic of a finish difference in real life as in pictures. But definitely not ideal. I contacted them and Joel basically said they cannot make it match the lens.
I suspect on Fred "ring", they just applied the black anodize to the rim where the brass exposed, the remaining portion of the Leica original finish is untouched. I do not see in anyway they can match the Leica finish.
May be Fred can tell.
s.kueh wrote:
I suspect on Fred "ring", they just applied the black anodize to the rim where the brass exposed, the remaining portion of the Leica original finish is untouched. I do not see in anyway they can match the Leica finish.
May be Fred can tell.
Here are their description of the job:
"Thank you for the inquiry. We can certainly include the part in or black anodizing batch. it is important to note that the process is a a bit of an art, not just chemistry. Matching the black may not be possible. The ring will first go through an acid bath to strip off the current finish. This will inevitable change the character of the aluminum surface. When it is re-anodized, the color will probably be a bit different. If you are fine with that, then send it on in. Price would be the $40 bench fee. Lead time is 2-3 weeks."
I had concerns about the potential change in the black color, but to my eyes, it aligns perfectly with the lens barrel. It looks like it was done by Leica otherwise I would not have recommended here.
They've offered to strip mine again and redo it hoping to match better, but with the caveat it may turn out the same or even worse and possibly could degrade the aluminum.
Following is the reply from Joel Dau of S.K. Grimes I received:
"Thank you for the inquiry. That image does highlight the satin finish under direct bright light. The stripping process of the original finish does alter the exposed surface. I try my best to bring it close to the semi-gloss original, but the satin is the best I was able to do. The anodizing process is not an exact matching system. There are many factors that go into the final look and some I don't control. My process for these was to try to create a more satin finish instead of a complete mate finish. It doesn't reflect light the same as the original finish and I can't make an exact match of the original.".
Maybe of interest but I have some experience with anodizing. Numerous variables affect the finish. The chemistry to bath temperature matter for instance and sometimes you can get a bit of an overcooked flat look. Also and maybe more important is the step after stripping. It might be worth asking about the blasting media options because anodizing can be anything from gloss to matte depending on the blasting pressure to media. Much like chrome plating and how Leica achieves matte chrome, anodizing will take on the surface texture before it goes into the bath.
Apologies to revive an old thread, but I have had a few email communications with Leica regarding a factory ring produced. I was told “I just checked with product management, and we are hoping to have a solution by the end of the year.”
I’m not sure if this is the Leica version of me telling my son “in a couple minutes”…
philipj wrote: Here are some photos of finishing ring I received from Leica. As you can see it is based off of the 12468 hood as well, and thus shares the same threads with the nicely oriented end stop. The ring itself extends to the point where the square hood would begin on the native 12468, and you can see an ever-so-slight lip on the front of the ring where the step is on the native square hood. I guess this was pulled from a production run of the hoods and refinished as a ring. It looks and feels great on the lens, it is remarkable how much smaller the lens feels without the square hood (even if there is only a minimal difference in weight -- I measure 32.8g for the 12468 hood, and 14.7g for the finishing ring), and it looks just great without the exposed hood threads when not using the hood. Huge thanks to Leica for this, I think this is an excellent addition to the 28'lux.
The only thing I now wish for is a nice cap. ...Show more →
Is there anything new regarding this production-ring?
Why don't all of us who want to have one contact Leica again with the request... there surely would be a few rings they could make and it would be worth it...
Is there anything new regarding this production-ring?
Why don't all of us who want to have one contact Leica again with the request... there surely would be a few rings they could make and it would be worth it...
Leica has decided not to move forward with producing this item. That's what I heard from a Leica contact about three weeks ago.
Pretty disappointing given how much I like shooting the 28mm Summilux-M with the finishing ring instead of the hood. Since the finishing ring that was made and sent to me is a direct descendent of the hood, the engineering work was also nearly zero I assume, so very strange that these don't get put into production if you ask me. Leica works in mysterious ways.
From a business perspective, the money obviously isn't there - the count of 28mm Summilux-M out in the world is probably not that great with respect to other lenses, combined with the interest (not passion, but numbers) to purchase the ring.
My assumption is production is geared towards the rumored EVF-M and other money-making products.
And who knows, maybe a close-focus v2 is considered for the future?
