f2 forever ... literally!

Keith

Keith

The best camera is one that still works!
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I had a rather sad looking 50mm Summitar in the cupboard with a damaged aperture blade and heaps of haze and some cleaning marks on the front element. It owed me nothing so I thought what the hell ... may as well dismantle it for fun and see what makes a Summitar tick.

Got it apart OK and decided to totally remove all the aperture blades and keep them for a rainy day. I managed to get the internal glass pretty clean without scratching it (too much 😛) and after a fair bit of cursing got it all back together ... that double threaded retainer that holds the rear element etc in place and also threads into the extension tube is a mongrel of a thing and caused me plenty of grief before I eventually got it all to line up correctly!

I now have a pretty decent 50mm Summitar .. . albeit one that is permanently wide open ... but I tend to use all my lenses at maximum aperture whenever possible so what the hell!

Did I do wrong Brian ... should I have fixed it properly? In Oz we call this sort of butchery appropriate technology! 😀
 
This is great. I myself took apart a Voigtlander rangefinder and was astonished at what was inside. I thought it couldn't be too complicated, but I was wrong!
 
That's how I started. I mean, it's glass and metal. It's not like it's going to catch on fire! Mental Note: do not leave lenses sitting out in direct sunlight with flammable items like wood near the image plane again.

Post some pictures with it!
 
Ok its a Leica, so butchery should be avoided. But at least its now going to get used, as was Leitz´intention when they built it. Good show I say.
 
I'll have to remember this, "FIX", as I have a lens (although different from this thread) that has trouble, and I had put it on the shelf, thinking it a lost cause.


thanks for the glimmer of hope -- keep wide open, ND filters instead...
 
Keith, don't you have an M8? This is yet another reason why the 1/8000 is so important. I would love to find bargain lenses that are just stuck in their wide open (natural) position.

I have a Hi Matic G viewfinder that is stuck at 2.8, but also stuck at 1/60th (or 1/30th?). I never seem to have it with me when those conditions are what I want.
 
Leica lenses get their "glow" at the wide apertures, so I think it's fantastic.
Call me a bit extreme, but I don't think the Noctilux should even have aperture blades, for example. It should be fixed f/1. If I want something with a smaller aperture, that's what Summicrons are for. Just my opinion though.

Have fun! & post some of the images!

Phil Forrest
 
right

right

Actually beyond f4 or 5.6, occasionally 8, most lenses start declining, especially with smaller sensors, lots of reds (if color), etc.

However, these were designed before sufficiently fast shutters existed, but the vestigial settings are adding extra costs for modern lenses.

Phil_F_NM said:
Leica lenses get their "glow" at the wide apertures, so I think it's fantastic.
Call me a bit extreme, but I don't think the Noctilux should even have aperture blades, for example. It should be fixed f/1. If I want something with a smaller aperture, that's what Summicrons are for. Just my opinion though.

Have fun! & post some of the images!

Phil Forrest
Click to expand...
 
Does f1.2 top f2?
I have a Canon 50mm f1.2 that has no aperture blades. Also , the front section (aperture ring and forward) is cross threaded into the back section (focusing ring and back). I have never been able to get it apart. Never tried to take pictures with it. Maybe I will some day.
 
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