infinity lock Like it? Hate it? cool? Uncool?

[Mean Panda]

Do you prefer your lens with an infinity lock? My summilux 35 and summicron 50 rigid are both with the lock. The locks don't really serve particular function to me. I want to trade mine with the non-locked type. I wonder for those who have the infinity lock Leica lens actually like it.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

It's such a small thing it won't bother me in my collapsible 'cron. In fact, the lock never annoyed me because I used it as a kind of guide or handle for fast focusing.

But then, I never had a qualm about the red dot either...

 

[Roger Hicks]

Hate, loathe, despise and detest the damn' things. The only lens I have where the lock is not disabled is my 1936 Elmar, where putting your finger on it pretty much automatically unlocks it anyway. All other infinity locks I have ever had (especially the 50/1.2 Canon) are/were disabled.

Why not disable the lock on the one you have? As I recall, a removable shim will do it.

Cheers,

R.

 

[ferider]

On my lenses that have it (Summicron 50/2, Canon 50/1.5, Nikkor 50/1.4, among
thers) I like it and use it for focusing. Helps me focusing blind - I have big fingers I guess.

They are easy to remove but I wouldn't since it gives the lens more stability.

Roland.

 

[Roger Hicks]

On my lenses that have it (Summicron 50/2, Canon 50/1.5, Nikkor 50/1.4, among
thers) I like it and use it for focusing. Helps me focusing blind - I have big fingers I guess.

They are easy to remove but I wouldn't since it gives the lens more stability.

Roland.

Dear Roland,

Are you not conflating the lock and the spur? The spur is a delightful feature, especially useful for focusing blind, as you say; but I see no excuse at all for the lock. How can it add stability?

Cheers,

R.

 

[LeicaTom]

They are easy to remove but I wouldn't since it gives the lens more stability.

Roland.

Well, removing the them also makes the lens near worthless......for a resale they are next to impossible to bring away, even if the lens is uncommon, it won`t sell well, I like and keep them all together on my lenses, I have turned down some very rare lenses in the past because the locks were gone, anything missing on something is a critical factor in condition, even in a "user" lens

Tom

 

[crawdiddy]

I like it on my Elmar 50mm f/3.5 collapsible, although it's not useful for much, other than mounting/unmounting the lens. But I suppose I do use it for focusing.

On my Canon 50mm f/1.2, the infinity lock is annoying.

*edit* Leica infinity locks=very cool (even if you don't know what to do with them)

 

[sepiareverb]

Never had it, don't know what the heck it is.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Well, removing the them also makes the lens near worthless......for a resale they are next to impossible to bring away, even if the lens is uncommon, it won`t sell well, I like and keep them all together on my lenses, I have turned down some very rare lenses in the past because the locks were gone, anything missing on something is a critical factor in condition, even in a "user" lens

Tom

Dear Tom,

Near worthless? Not to a user. Why would it matter? I no longer buy lenses to sell, and if I can get a more usable lens for less money, I'll jump at it.

Besides which, many can be disabled reversibly: as I say, with a shim or block of some kind.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Never had it, don't know what the heck it is.

It's a gruesome little tab or button that has to be depressed before the lens can be focused closer than infinity. Otherwise (the clue is in the name) it is locked at infinity.

Some (as on pre-war Leica lenses) are depressed almost automatically, just by resting your finger on them; others (as on the 50/1.2 Canon) require a real effort to grasp and unlock. I've been using Leicas for close to 40 years, and started with a 1930s 50/3.5 Elmar. I hated it then, and I hate it now -- and it isn't the worst of them. Nor have I ever seen any excuse for the wretched things.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Shac]

I'm probably wrong but I thought that they were originally mainly useful on LTM's to help remove/mount the lens. On the M's I find them rather a pain - especially on my 35/2 V1. That one I don't think is as easyt to remove or disable as the ones on say the 50's. I do however like the tabs (or spurs as RH calls them) on some lenses.
If they are not primarily for helping remove/mount an LTM lens, I'd be interested in hearing the reason for them
Cheers

 

[Roger Hicks]

I'm probably wrong but I thought that they were originally mainly useful on LTM's to help remove/mount the lens. On the M's I find them rather a pain - especially on my 35/2 V1. That one I don't think is as easyt to remove or disable as the ones on say the 50's. I do however like the tabs (or spurs as RH calls them) on some lenses.
If they are not primarily for helping remove/mount an LTM lens, I'd be interested in hearing the reason for them
Cheers

I'm sure you're right: I see no other excuse. But even then, you could always jam the spur against the close-up stop. It's a bloody great brass post on pre-war lenses, after all. On the 35 Summicron, there's really no excuse at all. If there were, why didn't later lenses have them?

Cheers,

R.

 

[ferider]

Dear Roland,

Are you not conflating the lock and the spur? The spur is a delightful feature, especially useful for focusing blind, as you say; but I see no excuse at all for the lock. How can it add stability?

Cheers,

R.

Hi Roger,

thank you for your reply.

Maybe we are talking about different types of locks ?

I have come across three different types, so far:

a) a round knob as found on older Elmars, the 50/2 Summicron v2 ("rigid"), the Canon 50/1.5, the Nikkor 50/1.4, etc. This is the one I referred to. It does help me focusing.
b) a spur as in the 35/2.8 Summaron that I once had. Is the 35/2 v1 similar ?
c) a flat "button" as in the Canon 50/1.2

I was referring to a) and just imagined, that when the lens is locked at infinity, and
manipulated with the camera, the lock gives the focusing helix additional stability,
since it fixes the lens' movable part to the lens mount.

For me, b) was a pain, and c) somehow too, since it didn't help me focusing in any way.

Best,

Roland.

 

[peter_n]

I have a rigid Summicron that DAG thinks is one of the best he's ever seen. But it has a #!^* infinity lock so for all intents and purposes it is unusable. I don't like tabs and I dislike infinity locks even more.

 

[Keith]

Hi Roger,

thank you for your reply.

Maybe we are talking about different types of locks ?

I have come across three different types, so far:

a) a round knob as found on older Elmars, the 50/2 Summicron v2 ("rigid"), the Canon 50/1.5, the Nikkor 50/1.4, etc. This is the one I referred to. It does help me focusing.
b) a spur as in the 35/2.8 Summaron that I once had. Is the 35/2 v1 similar ?
c) a flat "button" as in the Canon 50/1.2

I was referring to a) and just imagined, that when the lens is locked at infinity, and
manipulated with the camera, the lock gives the focusing helix additional stability,
since it fixes the lens' movable part to the lens mount.

For me, b) was a pain, and c) somehow too, since it didn't help me focusing in any way.

Best,

Roland.

4th type ... the hocky stick on my Leica 1a ... now there's a challenge. Good thing they did away with that when they added the rangefinder!

 

[rbiemer]

I have only two lenses with infinity locks; an Industar-22 and a Canon50/1.8. I don't mind the locks and the shape of them make it easier to focus(after I've unlocked 'em). One thing about the locks on my lenses that's good, it makes changing the aperture a bit easier. But both lenses are a little stiff.
I can't use the I-22 on my FED 5, though. The catch doesn't have enough clearance to unlock if the lens is seated fully or if I mount the lens while set to closer focus, I can't quite reach infinity--again, not enough clearance.
Rob

 

[aizan]

i don't even notice the lock when i go to focus. makes a big difference when mounting small lenses, though. love the tabs!

 

[Doug]

I do think there may be some confusion here, in that some Leica lenses have focusing tabs, and some (but not all) focusing tabs feature an infinity lock. Both the tabs and the locks vary in configuration.

My only lens with an infinity lock on the focusing tab is a 35 Summicron v1. Very comfy and smooth, the lock is handy in mounting/unmounting the lens, and is depressed/unlocked almost automatically when using the tab. So I agree with Aizan above.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Roland,

We are indeed using different terminology. The 'bell-push' on (for example) an early Elmar is not too bad -- I use the term 'spur' to describe the sticky-outy bit you move to focus, also referred to as a 'tab' -- because you depress it more or less automatically. Some can be disabled with a small C-shaped washer on the back to keep the bell-push permanently depressed.

The sort that moves more or less radially, inside a scooped-out finger-grip, spur or tab is a complete nightmare and much harder to disable temporarily, though I imagine a repairer could do it. Maybe they moved more freely when they were new but I have never encountered a usable one in nearly 40 years of using Leicas.

The variety you call a 'button' -- I'd say it was more like a short, fat lever -- on e.g. a 50/1.2 Canon is easily disabled by wedging a bit of toothpick in it, or (as I understand it) by reversing the spring: Optical Instruments (Balham) did this for me when they serviced the lens, greatly improving both its performance and its handling in the process.

There are others: the version on fixed-lens Leicas has already been mentioned (I found it pretty unpleasant, but not as bad as the worst), and of course Contax/Kiev/Nikon has another kind, again easily disabled by wedging the lower lock button (beside the lens mount) with a bit of toothpick again.

A properly made lens mount (as all the above were, except perhaps Kiev) doesn't rock and therefore doesn't really need any stabilization.

Incidentally, am I the only one puzzled by the concept of 'coolness' as applied to these loathesome things? How can anything that useless be 'cool'?

Cheers,

Roger

 

[FPjohn]

Once useful, now vestigial, the infinity lock is like the appendix - removable.