Do your Leica have tighter bayonet than ZM body have?

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Hi! Do I have a normal Zeiss Ikon body with looser bayonet than Leica M body? When attaching Leica M lenses to the body, it is not so tight than same lenses attached to Leica M4. Lens can move on to up and down direction, not much but there can seen a little slot between body and lens when moving the lens. And the lens can rotate easily too a bit.

KM
 
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Doesn't sound normal. You might want to have someone look at it to see what is wrong

Yes, it doesn's sound normal, but please compare to your Leica, or make a sharp see with ZI. (I am afraid they will laugh to me in Finland's Zeiss service..)
 
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I took two pictures. In second picture I am pushing the lens down and keep the body steady with my other hand. Same thing with all my three Leica lens and in picture is newest one (absolute no wear on bayonet. Thus the rest ones are not different.) Body is very little used too.
 

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hmm - all my m-mount lenses lock tight on my M7 body (and in past also on my M6 TTL, before it went AWOL). On my ZI there's a little bit of free play. It's barely noticable on most of my lenses, but quite noticable when I have my larger & heavier 35mm f1.2 nokton mounted - when I turn the focusing ring (which needs a bit more force than my other lenses) I can feel the lens shift and there's an annoying sort of "click" as it comes into contact against the mount. It's not a big deal, and certainly doesn't affect my photography, but I do wonder is it something I can get fixed? Has anyone else tried? I'd love to get it sorted, as it's a slight annoyance on an otherwise terrific camera.
 
hmm - all my m-mount lenses lock tight on my M7 body (and in past also on my M6 TTL, before it went AWOL). On my ZI there's a little bit of free play. It's barely noticable on most of my lenses, but quite noticable when I have my larger & heavier 35mm f1.2 nokton mounted - when I turn the focusing ring (which needs a bit more force than my other lenses) I can feel the lens shift and there's an annoying sort of "click" as it comes into contact against the mount. It's not a big deal, and certainly doesn't affect my photography, but I do wonder is it something I can get fixed? Has anyone else tried? I'd love to get it sorted, as it's a slight annoyance on an otherwise terrific camera.

Yes, that is the case here too. With my old Summilux 50 a little bit free play in bayonet contact when focusing it is a slight annoyance and perhaps tightening the bayonet is not a big deal. (My Summilux might be weared too some, which make it more noticeable, but in Leica it is still perfect.)

In practice, when shooting, I can't notice it. It is not perfect only when I am in "the camera mode". (opposite to picture mode) :p
 
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That's not normal.

I would almost say it is. I have no Leica lenses, but all of my M-Mount-lenses exhibit a little play on the ZI, even the ZM ones. And I bought the kit new.

It's annoying, especially, when I hit the end of the focus travel, because then the lens moves a bit. But it doesn't keep me from getting great pictures.

I figure, these small things are where the price difference between Zeiss and Leica comes in. On the other hand, I took my old Canon AT-1 w/ FD lens in hand the other day and put this thing right in perspective.
 
The case is just becoming clear and solved

The case is just becoming clear and solved

Hey! I make a new finding. It's only a question on four springs around the bayonet which are not so strong than in Leica M. I was not enough sharp with my inspecting! :p

I find that in M4 there comes just the same slot when pushing lens down. It need only more power because stronger springs. Pictures later.
 
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Easy improvement

Easy improvement

I think it is easy to make improvement to ZI by just putting little piece of rubber under the springs.

Leica M4 and Zeiss Ikon pictures.
 

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Hi! I think I have made a right observation, do you?

There is just the similar free play in Leica too, but attachment of the lens is tight due the tighter springs - not any other reason. The power of spring pull the lens toward the camera body. (push or pull, how you like to see it)

In my new ZI picture one of the four springs are well seen. The lens attach clockwise. It seems not difficult to fix tighter. :cool: (I will not dare, but who knows some day..)
 

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From my experience, there is some variance even between Leica cameras in the tightness of fit of different lenses, but nothing close to getting a wooble. The lens may just be rotating a tiny bit. A gap between the lens and camera is an entirely different story IMHO.
A DIY may not be a good solution here.
If the lens is not perfectly perpendicular to the film plane, I would be concerned about sharpness in the different areas of the frame.
 
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From my experience, there is some variance even between Leica cameras in the tightness of fit of different lenses, but nothing close to getting a wooble. The lens may just be rotating a tiny bit. A gap between the lens and camera is an entirely different story IMHO.
A DIY may not be a good solution here.
If the lens is not perfectly perpendicular to the film plane, I would be concerned about sharpness in the different areas of the frame.

As I have told, Leica is properly tight. But the mount is just the same - the ONLY efficient differency is different springs. I used unweared Summicron35 IV to study this. I find same amount of free play in Leica and ZI. (Leica was "free" due to strong springs.)

You provoked me to show you. :) A new picture.

It's up to you, if you let a professional repairer to do that, but in picture I demonstrate the fix which make the spring stronger. The material must be springy. Some rubber maybe.

A film plane position is not risked at all, vise versa!

The case is closed in my sight. Thanks for looking and thinking! It was nice to learn new things on my camera. Regards, Kimmo
 

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