I'm really confused now

[dougdarter]

Hi,

I've just added a 50mm DR Summicron to my collection, for the simple reason that it was at a price too good to miss, and I'm trying to collect a full set😀

I was originally not going to buy this lens, because more and more of my photographs are taken with the M8, and I have heard that the DR and M8 are incompatible.

I rang Leica UK (technical department) this afternoon, and was told there was no reason not to use it in normal focus, but when I mentioned that it was on their list of incompatible lenses, I was warned off.

I then rang several leica dealers, and all said, why not?? Indeed, the owner of one of the UK's most venerable dealers, said that he uses a DR on his M8 without any problems.

Odd - isn't it??

What I would like to know is - does anybody here use a DR on an M8??

I'm guessing that if the lens is mounted in normal range, then there would be no problem, but if mounted or put into short range mode whilst mounted, the focus flange would foul the inside of the body.

The lens was, after all, designed for use with the M3, but it is used sucessfully on later M bodies.

I do know, that the lens flange can be shortened so that it can't be used in close focus, but surely, if it is used on the M8 in normal focus range, then the length of the flange would be immaterial, because the flange should be the same depth as the normal 50mm inside the body - or am I making a fundamental error??

I shall keep the lens (when it arrives) whatever, but it would be nice to be able to use it on the M8 as well as my Barnacks.

Thanks for your help.

Doug

 

[Keith]

I tried my DR Summicron on my M8 the other day and the focus tightened up completely on one end of the normal scale ... I don't remeber which end. I didn't attempt to focus it past this point for fear of damaging something ... it didn't feel nice at all! 🙁

 

[Thomas W]

I would also like to know any real world experiences. I have used the DR on the R-D1 with great success, and I just hope that it would go from strength to strength on the M8!

Thomas W

 

[Peter Klein]

You can NOT use the DR on the M8 in the normal focus range. The near focus half of the brass focusing cam sticks out much farther than the normal range part of the cam, and it hits something inside the camera.

WARNING: Do not try the things mentioned in the next two paragraphs unless you are very familiar with how a DR works. You can damage your M8. I am not responsible for it. Not recommended, batteries not included.

You can often mount the DR on an M8 if you set the focus to one meter first. But try to focus the lens to a farther distance and it will quickly snag on something inside the body.

You can use the DR's near focus range if you mount it set at one meter, or set it to the near focus range first by manually pressing the little ball bearing on top of the lens and pulling the focusing ring to the near focus range. Then mount the lens, then the eyes. But this only gives you 19" to 39"--very limited.

The only way to make a DR work on an M8 is to cut off the close-focus part of the cam. A good repairman can do this. At which point the lens will only work in the normal range--the close-focus range is gone forever. Whether this is a practical thing or an act of desecration depends on one's religion. :angel:

--Peter

 

[furcafe]

Doesn't the term "Barnacks" refer to the screw-mount Leicas only?

. . . as well as my Barnacks.

 

[chuckcars]

No possible way would I use the lens on my M8. I am of the school the factory knows better than anyone else which lens is compatible.

 

[Joe Mondello]

When I first got an M8 I tried to mount my single lens a DR cron. It was definitely ugly. Didn't want to fit and I didn't want to force it to.

Went online to the LUF and found that indeed the lens is essentially incompatible with the M8 unless modified or used in the limited way described above.

So it lives on my R-D1 now and that is a happy combination!