Has anyone removed the tab on a V4 Summicron?

[galavanter]

I just purchased a Konica Hexanon UC 35/2, a pretty close copy optically and physically of the V4 Summicron.
I am trying to get used to the tabs but I think I am coming down in the "no tab" camp. The push-pull of my index finger just does not give ME the certainty or speed of the thumb and finger focusing I am used to.
The Hexanon has screws mounting the tab. My V3 does not. Does the V4 have screws? My specific question would be can I easily remove the screws without the rest of the lens falling apart, or leaving a couple of washers and nuts left rattling around inside?🙂
Just playing around with a rubber band on the focusing ring seemed like a better alternative to me than the tab. A thick transparent (do these exist?) rubber band would do it for me, preserving the distance numbers.
I'm sure a more permanent type of rubber something or other could be found if I really looked around.
I searched and found some posts concerning adding a tab, but none about removing one. I'm not dead set on this, just looking for some advice. Thanks.

 

[Vickko]

I saw somewhere that the screws that hold the Leica tab is on the inside of the ring that holds the tab.

Leica intended for it to stay on. DAG or Sherry Krauter can remove it, because it requires disassembly of the lens and ring.

Vick

 

[galavanter]

Thanks. I was hoping the V4 Summicron had visible screws like the L-Hexanon. If so I figured some of the modders out there might have come up with something.

This Hexanon is a beauty of a lens and I wouldn't want to mess it up. But if the screws come out easily (do they anyone?) and the tab is off, and I could find the "perfect" elastic piece of rubber (knurling would be nice) I would be very tempted. Home Depot here I come. Any ideas? Like an alternator belt only smaller🙂

I recently tried out a 50mm for the first time on my R-D1. It was the first lens with a focus ring I had used on this camera. When I put it up to my eye I had this rush that something was radically and wonderfully different. Then I realized I was focusing using the ring, back and forth with my thumb and forefinger the way god intended when she made the Pentax K1000, the first slr I ever used.

I saw somewhere that the screws that hold the Leica tab is on the inside of the ring that holds the tab.

Leica intended for it to stay on. DAG or Sherry Krauter can remove it, because it requires disassembly of the lens and ring.

Vick

 

[tblanston]

Without the tab there would be very little to grip on such a small barrel to do your focusing. I even have quite small and lean fingers and I'd have some real trouble working like that.

Coming from SLR I was rather dubious about the whole tab situation myself, but as I grew accustomed to it and the tiny size of the summicron I found the tab to be a blessing. The best thing about the tab is that, with practice and experience, you will eventually learn where your lens is focused at all times. No guesswork, no random cranking and re-adjusting your grip. I say learn the benefits of the tab! It's a great little feature.

 

[galavanter]

Well I'm still dubious but I will give it a try. It is sorta nuts to even contemplate taking apart a brand new lens. But even though I have large size hands my rubber band test seemed quite workable to me. The focus throw is only 90 degrees on the Hex as opposed to 135 on my V3 (since returned), which did have me changing my grip, or should I say finger position, when close focusing. "Learn the benefits of the tab", you say? I'll work on it. How bout a mantra too? "The way of the tab, the way of the tab..."🙂

Without the tab there would be very little to grip on such a small barrel to do your focusing. I even have quite small and lean fingers and I'd have some real trouble working like that.

Coming from SLR I was rather dubious about the whole tab situation myself, but as I grew accustomed to it and the tiny size of the summicron I found the tab to be a blessing. The best thing about the tab is that, with practice and experience, you will eventually learn where your lens is focused at all times. No guesswork, no random cranking and re-adjusting your grip. I say learn the benefits of the tab! It's a great little feature.

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[lubitel]

my first tabbed lens was a VC 35/2.5 i thought it was very strange at first but now I got used to it. I also have a 50mm 'cron Version 4 without a tab, and find it somewhat slower to focus.

 

[mfunnell]

My M-Hexanon 35 (which has a tab, even though the lens is large enough to fit a focus ring if they'd wanted to) conditioned me for tab focus on something like the UC Hexanon which (IMO) is too small for ring focus. I can't say I'm especially fussed by tab, or ring or lever focus. All seem to work and take little enough time to get used to.

...Mike

 

[x-ray]

39 years of leica and I stil hate the tab. The old lens tabs weren't nearly as bad as the new ones. I have a set of Leica glass and a set of Zeiss and like the smallish focusing hump and focusing ring over the Leica lenses. Optically I like the Zeiss better too.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

My first rangefinder lens was my 50mm tabbed Summicron. I just could not stand the friggin' thing on the barrel. I mutter "who thought up such a stupid, clumsy thing?" And to make matters worse, there were no ridges!

I loved the images taken with it, and the newer, nontabbed Summicrons were out of my budget's reach. I later got a Summitar, and loved the Infinity lock (which many other people hate).

One day, I borrowed the 1969 Summicron. I realized that focusing was a lot slower than with the tab or an Infinity lock. I also realized that what I hated about the tab was how it hurt my fingers, but this was because I was fighting the thing instead of letting it be and not think about it.

Once I let go of this "phobia", the tab and I became friends. So much, that when I got my pre-asph E46 Summilux, I had one added to it (by DAG); I wouldn't use it any other way.

I just got a 35mm Zeiss Biogon; the tab is ok. It hurt my finger's skin for it's rigged and it's hard plastic, but I quickly found a way to adapt to it. I'm not sure the Zeiss lens is "better" optically, yet; it has superb resolution, but it's a little too clinical for me. The bokeh is very nice. It feels different, that's all; I'll need some time to get used to it.

The tab of the Hexanon and the Biogon are virtually the same. The tab on the Summicron (both the 35 and the 50 have the same tab, although a few tabbed 50s have a different one). If you don't like the tab on the Hexanon, you're not going to like the tabs on the Zeiss lenses. Try a Summicron tab; you'll be hooked. 😀

 

[galavanter]

OK I'll try to become friends🙂

I have been doing alot of comparing of Zeiss ZM and Hexanon lenses, both optically and build wise. The UC Hexanon tab is virtually identical to a Summicron tab, as the lens is a 35 Summicron copy. The Zeiss "tab" is more of a lobe, but the important difference is that all the Zeiss ZM's have a knurled focus ring allowing you to ignore the tab/lobe if you like. So while I'm still learning "not to fight" the tab on the Hexanon, I think I could have a truly meaningful relationship with the lobe on the Zeiss, as it would allow me to come and go as I please🙂

A bit OT now but I'm trying to buy into a lens system that will work well for me not just on the R-D1, but maybe on a future digital rangefinder as well, or maybe even a Hexar RF if I ever come off the road and could develop and scan.

If Zeiss had a compact 35/2 I would probably be buying all their glass. I got the UC and I can't imagine a higher quality lens. So today I won a Hex 28 and will probably get the 50 eventually too. I wonder if I will prefer the 28 to the 35 on the R-D1, both for the increased field of view and the focus ring...

...Once I let go of this "phobia", the tab and I became friends...

The tab of the Hexanon and the Biogon are virtually the same. The tab on the Summicron (both the 35 and the 50 have the same tab, although a few tabbed 50s have a different one). If you don't like the tab on the Hexanon, you're not going to like the tabs on the Zeiss lenses. Try a Summicron tab; you'll be hooked. 😀