Elmar 50/2.8 -- Looseness up front

[KoNickon]

I have one of the late '50s--early '70s versions of this lens (not the Elmar-M, in other words). I'm concerned that the front -- aperture ring and the front ring -- have a small amount of play relative to the lens tube, both rotationally and a little bit front and back. How can I tighten this up (or can I)? If it's really not going to be a problem then maybe I'll leave it alone, but I'm obsessing over it (what a surprise).

There is also some haze behind the front element that I'd love to get at, but I gather from reading other discussions that even if I can remove the front element, trying to clean the haze can cause problems. So for the moment I would be happy just tightening up the front.

Thanks.

 

[Landshark]

The internal ears on the lens tube are slightly worn. Oh oh!

This means the slop needs to be taken up by increasing the tension on the female portion of the tube...................

 

[Pioneer]

It has had a full and useful life. Send it to Leica and they will return it as good as new.

EDIT - Of course it will likely cost a little bit so you may want to talk with them first. 🙂

 

[KoNickon]

Thanks, guys. Just to be clear -- there is no play in the tube itself, relative to the lens mount. That is rock solid. It's just that the front assembly has a small amount of rotational play (maybe 1mm or so back and forth). There was a small amount of front-back play as well, but I found that a slotted ring inside the lens tube was loose and I tightened that down. (I wonder what would have happened had I loosened that all the way.)