40/2 Summicron wont focus

E

espressogeek

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Apr 23, 2006
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I purchased a 40/2 summi on ebay. It appears to be in fantastic condition. However the focusing is really stiff and the lens wont focus for anything. It appears to back focus really bad where other lenses on my rd1 focus pretty well. Do you think this lens is damaged?
 
Were these issues mentioned in the auction description?? If not send it back and get your money back..
 
I just had that problem. It seems that certain models of that lens won/t work on the RD1S.....my buddy is a tech at Leica and he attributes it to the focusing cam lineup.....take the lens off the body, and if it works ok...that's your problem...sell it...it should sell here in a mater of a few minutes to an hour......if you search this forum, you'll see my post about 10 days or so ago....good luck...don


if ya want to talk with me about it...call me at...267-784-4042....don
 
I'm going to see if I can try it on someones m8 in nashville just to make sure the lens is actually bunk. If it is I will send it back. If not I will either keep it or sell it on here. The focusing cam is really stiff regardless if the lens is mounted or not. Oh and if you focus it via the distance scale it works pretty well.
 
espressogeek said:
...the focusing is really stiff...
Click to expand...
It neads at least a good CLA as focusing is butter smooth with mines.
My 3 copies of the 'cron 40/2 work fine with both my R-D1 and R-D1s bodies. FWIW.
 
Where there different versions of the 40/2 summicron? I will post a picture with serial in a minute perhaps someone can tell me if I service this thing if it will work. I love the size of the little guy.
 
Your lens needs a CLA obviously but it is difficult to know if your problem comes from the lens, the camera or both of them.
Anyway, to my knowledge, there are not different versions of the Summicron-C 40/2.
My copies are from 1972 (2509xxx), 1973 (2567xxx) and 1974 (2706xxx).
All are identical and have the sloping cam you can see here.
(back of the lens on a M4-2)
It is possible that the RF tracker of your R-D1s doesn't roll correctly on the sloping cam, i don't know.

DSC00681_cropweb-after02.jpg
 
In '74 the leitz documentation said the CL lenses were not compatible with the M5 and earlier cameras. The CL had a linear cam (action) the M5 and earlier a circular (path), (all the M lenses have linear actions, to tolerate the circular cam actions, i.e. the short radius of the range finder pivot).
This can be all seen from the photo earlier in thread.
In practice you should be ok with the 40 and 28mm more exposed with the long focus.
Noel
 
Well, now I dont think it is a problem with the cam or whatever. I think the lens is just bunk. First is a picture of the lens at F2 focused on the gargoyle. Next is a picture taken with the CZ 35/2 ZM , same focus point. The reported distance on both lenses is the same. If I bring the 40/2 back to about 2/3 the reported distance ( adjust the focus from say 1.3 meters to .9 or so ) it works great.

eps1434jw8.jpg


eps1437oy0.jpg
 
Because the summicron reports the same distance as my other lenses wouldn't this indicate the rangefinder is working correctly? Regardless of the rangefinder if i focus on something 1.3 meters away the lens should focus at 1.3 meters correct? Just curious if my train of thought is on the right track.
Thanks
 
In this scenario can I just send the lens to a good shop like DAG or Golden Touch and they will know what shim to add? Or should I send the camera and my other lenses so I don't get into a situation where the summicron focuses properly and my other lenses cease to do so.
I really appreciate all of the info.
 
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