Are ZM Lenses light tight?

Ahhh yes! No need to worry if you use film, as it appears the coincidence of the mount screw and the lens screw is required for the light to squeeze through sufficiently.
 
So I'm not sure which part of my camera system is broken, but all of these are from the ZM 21/4.5, recently serviced by Zeiss for a stiff focus ring, and my 2nd Ikon body which hasn't seen as much use by me as my primary body. Any suggestions?









These shots are from two different rolls. There were two shots on each roll with this light leak. I cannot see if it goes past the shutter curtain because the slides are mounted. My warranty is almost up on both items, so I need to act fast to send whatever the problem item is in for repair. These shots were all probably slower than 1/125th, but were handheld.
 
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I just pulled the film out of the mounts and it looks like the light leaks stop at the film gate. The edges of the slides are black just like they should be. This makes me think that the leak is coming from the lens or at least the front of the camera. Is it odd that there is a flare at both the top and bottom of the mount? Does it mean anything that the last bit of film before the gate show less leakage? You can see that in the first picture above.
 
This isn't a Zeiss PR problem. It's an issue caused by Leica's relocation of the screws that hold the lens mount to the body.

Again, certainly it wasn't Zeiss' intention to make their lenses incompatible with Leica. That doesn't serve their goal of selling lenses. If they wanted to create incompatibility, they would have simply revived the old Zeiss Ikon Contax mount.

However, it does point to the real-world difficulties of being unable to account for what other companies will do in the future and that you have to be ready to address those problems.

To reply to others, no, obviously, I don't have an M8 or M9 and won't in the near future, barring a lottery win. But that's not the point, is it?

For anyone who troubleshoots problems, the first thing that you have to do is to reproduce the problem so that you can properly diagnose it. So anyone who thinks that Zeiss should immediately issue a statement without properly investigating it first is simply wrong.

Doesn't matter if it's a car, software, cooking or a camera. The process should always be the same. Reproduce the problem. Diagnose it. Solve it. Hopefully, they're in the "solving it" phase.
 
ZeissFan said:
This isn't a Zeiss PR problem. It's an issue caused by Leica's relocation of the screws that hold the lens mount to the body.

Again, certainly it wasn't Zeiss' intention to make their lenses incompatible with Leica. That doesn't serve their goal of selling lenses. If they wanted to create incompatibility, they would have simply revived the old Zeiss Ikon Contax mount.

However, it does point to the real-world difficulties of being unable to account for what other companies will do in the future and that you have to be ready to address those problems.

To reply to others, no, obviously, I don't have an M8 or M9 and won't in the near future, barring a lottery win. But that's not the point, is it?

For anyone who troubleshoots problems, the first thing that you have to do is to reproduce the problem so that you can properly diagnose it. So anyone who thinks that Zeiss should immediately issue a statement without properly investigating it first is simply wrong.

Doesn't matter if it's a car, software, cooking or a camera. The process should always be the same. Reproduce the problem. Diagnose it. Solve it. Hopefully, they're in the "solving it" phase.
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To bad it happened on my Ikon too, so it is not a Leica problem as much as I'd Leica it to be.
 
rxmd said:
Note that Leica has deliberately changed the position of this screw with the introduction of the M8. See how it looks on the M6, which is the same on all other Ms before the M8:

With that kind of arrangement it should work fine; with the redesigned M8 mount you get the screw arrangement that leads to the light leak you describe.

Makes you wonder why they put the screw on the camera right where it is. They probably had a good engineering reason to do so, with the added side effect that Leica lens competitor Zeiss now has a PR problem and likely has to change the bayonet on all their lenses.
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That screw is in relatively the same place on my Ikon, M2, M6 and from the looks of it M8/9.
 
lol, Checkmate! I'm waiting for my shots to come back from NCPS. If my shots have it, I'm not just sending an angry letter. I'm visiting them with a couple things in my trunk of the rental car under a false name.
 
So I got my order back from NCPS and low and behold, the stupid Zeiss, err... the great Zeiss lens I mean, leaks light. They are exactly the same as the ones that Mister E posted.
So a couple good shots ruined thanks to the leak.
If Zeiss fails to acknowledge it, I'm going straight to their location and ensure they understand my frustration. One way or another, I'll get my money out of this lens.

To those of you who think this isn't a Zeiss problem, you are simply wrong. My shots were on a Zeiss Ikon which has never given me a problem and the 21/4.5 doesn't appear out of the ordinary.
All, 100% Zeiss's problem.
 
Now you see it!

4729295541_99391632b8_b.jpg


Now you don't!

4730041832_587fce3235_b.jpg
 
I checked in my inbox and they did only become fully aware of the problem around 05/05/10... so it hasn't been THAT long in the world of design and manufacture.
 
thrice, maybe you already talked about this, but....
Have you isolated the issue aside from the fact that it is the screw hole? I mean, do you know exactly when it shows and when it doesn't?
Both of my shots are hand held so I have no clue as to what speed allows it and what speed doesn't as far as shutter speeds.
 
Dan, you're right that's not very long, but companies have been making m-mount lenses for 50 years without issue. I wonder if this is a ZM only issue or if it is an issue with other cosina lenses. I've had the ZM 18, 21/4.5, 25/2.8, 28/2.8 and 50/2. The 21/4.5 was the only one where I saw any issues.
 
Turn the camera up sid e down and see if the reflection moves. Then tape the mount/flange connection and then the whole rest of the lens. You should be able to isolate it.
 
Ronald M said:
Turn the camera up sid e down and see if the reflection moves. Then tape the mount/flange connection and then the whole rest of the lens. You should be able to isolate it.
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Hmm... not quite sure if you read the rest of the thread?

The problem has been isolated :) just waiting for a fix from Zeiss now.
 
meven said:
I can confirm that it has the old mount without the groove for coding.
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Great, I had shot with the lens and had no issues with it so I'm not surprised to hear it is working well for you, but it still makes me happy :D! Thanks again!
 
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