Just purchased a Leica 90mm APO-summicron-M lens

Sorry, The following really has nothing to do with the Thred itself.
But will members please refrain from posting shots of food!!!! :(
As I am in Japan and you have no idea how these shots make me feel!!
Costs are high for a lot of things but western junk food!.
I have to basically fork out almost four times the price overhere.
Snapple = 5-6 US$ and a jar of marmite = over 5 pounds :eek:
What I'd do for a packet of Walkers Salt n Vinegar chrisps. :bang:

Sorry for that. I have to go take my medication now..... ;)
 
You can always start a "Western food for lens" trade economy going using the recent deadstock lenses you found! :D
 
Bob good Idea. It would be awsome I could get............
Naw knowing my luck it would be confiscated by the
mini Japanese customs gestapo. :( They seem to have a knack
for finding MY food parcels from home, 3 thusfar! :bang:
(I'm sure that the stuff is consumed by them!!)

Mike
 
Here is an update. I took the lens back to the photo store and received a new one. This one focuses a lot better. I will be able to do more tests tonight.
Cheers,
Chris
 
Well the lens is off still a little bit. I just received my Epson r-d1 from B&H today and tried it out. Same drunken frame lines but the focusing with the 90mm f/2 is now dead on. Much much better! Maybe my old R-D1 was not set correctly for the 90mm.
Cheers,
Chris
 
Chris, when I had the RD-1 on loan for a while I experienced a problem with the 90AA as well. It just would not focus at all at shorter distances (less than 3m or so) and not accurately at longer distances. I believe it was a problem with the 'arm' in the 90 that transmits the motion of the cam in the lens not mating correctly with the cam follower in the camera. The arm has a fairly short useable length to mate with the cam follower, and if it misses this slightly the cam follower will be on the 'slope' of the arm, and will produce a consistent focussing error in the direction you experienced. Mine just happened to be further off. My Tele-Elmarit was fine, as was my 135 Tele-Elmar, but the 75/1.4 was also a bit off consistently.

I think the geometry of the rangefinder cam follower is somewhat different than the Leica lenses expect, just like the issue with the CL and its lenses, and this causes problems with different lenses.

Henning
 
Hi guys, any further comments or experiences with longer lenses on the RD-1? I was thinking about the VC 75/2.5
Any user reports regarding this lens on the RD-1 ?

Cheers,

Vin
 
Vicenzo... I have a 75/2.5 and it front-focuses about 10cm at 2m. I'm going to try to get it adjusted, as my other lenses are fine. The previous owner had no trouble with it, so I guess it's down to QC variations in both body/lens.

Phil
 
I am now in a total quandry as to what to do after reading first Henning's report above and then Ed's.

I too have an R-D1 and a Leica 90mm APO-summicron-M lens.

When it is on my M6 ttl it works perfectly, razor sharp at 1m close focus, absolutely spot on.

However, on the R-D1 it is constantly focussing about 2 inches in front of the actual point that was focussed on.

The R-D1 is now with Epson UK being checked out.

After reading Henning's post it looks as though i will have to take the Leica 90mm APO-summicron-M lens back and get either a Leica 90mm NON-APO-summicron-M lens or a Leica 90mm Elmarit-M lens if i wish to use it on both the M6 ttl and the R-D1.

Then i read Ed's post and he appears to suggest that it is either an R-D1 problem or that adifferent Leica 90mm APO-summicron-M lens may work ok.

Can either Henning or Ed, or anyone else please help?

Eric.
 
This is not a problem with the R-D1 in terms of defect, it is merely that focusing the 90 ASPH (I have one too that I use only with my M7 .85x) is requires greater precision than is possible on the R-D1. I have had good luck with the Voigtlander 75 at f2.5, but the 90 at f2 simply requires a longer rangefinder base like the .72x or .85x. At f2, it's actually even better to use a Leica body with the 1.25x magnifier just to be safe. Even with a high-mag finder, 90mm at f2 is best with a stationary subject.
 
Thanks for the response Brad.
I only started to think about it after reading the previous posts.

I have no problem focussing the 90 AA on my 0.72 M6, so long as they are static :) .

It was just that other Leica 90's appear to have no difficulties, only the 90 AA has the problem, apparently due to the fact that it has a plate that moves in and out instead of the usual continuous ring on the rear, and it would appear from Mr Schwartzreic's post that some 90 AA's will focus correctly and it is indeed the lens and not the R-D1 at fault.

I have already had a word with the dealer i bought the lens from, and when i get my R-D1 back from Epson UK i will re test it with the 90 AA and if i still have a problem, return to the dealer and try another 90 AA that he has in stock.


E.
 
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Hi Eric-

I'm an optimistic guy, but in reality, I know that the 37mm effective baselength of the R-D1's rangefinder means that focusing a 90mm at f2 (or even 2.8) is what Tom Abrahamsson might call "hope over experience", meaning that getting accurate focus at close range and wide open (without the 58mm precision of the .85 Leica finders or the 49mm accuracy of the .72 M finder) is really a matter of luck over the ability to repeat the task.

You should be able to do this with these two Leica finders, but with the 90 f2, 75 f1.4 or 50 Noctilux, it really will be next to impossible to do reliably. The tendency to miss focus is usually the user, not the rangefinder. When I am off, it's almost always focused slightly *past* the intended point of focus. Since DOF works as 1/3 front, 2/3 back of focus point (portrait shooters figure this one out the hard way), it's easy to blow focus even with precise finders at close range.

I use my 75mm Voigt with the Bessa R3A (same finder as the R-D1 at 1:1) and it will focus reasonably accurately at f2.5 or f2.8, but the focusing accuracy and consistency will increase SIGNIFICANTLY with the M finders, especially the .85x. Adding the 1.25x magnifier to that will give you a 1.06x finder, something that will not only give you the best accuracy possible, but also make the 90mm brightlines fill the frame nicely instead of the postage stamp in the center.

In other words, nothing is wrong with the R-D1 in terms of defect, it is just a byproduct of the shorter focusing accuracy, reliably out of the range of the requirements for the 90mm. I don't think it's an accident that there aren't brightlines for anything longer than a 50mm (75 FOV) in the R-D1 finder. Returning the camera or lens will not remedy the problem as they all have the same focusing accuracy. Fine with wide to normal, not enough for telephoto, especially at f2. You can see the DOF charts on Leica's site, also, which confirm that there is essentially zero latitude at f2.

If you look at the front of the camera (compared to the M6/M7/MP or Zeiss Ikon), you'll see that the two rangefinder windows are extremely close together. This is the physical baselength for the camera's rangefinder. The accuracy of this finder is improved slightly over the R2a in that the finder is a 1.0x magnification (or 1:1). Look at where the finder windows are for a Leica. They are significantly further apart. The magnfication on a Leica is lower, but the focusing accuracy is greater because the physical baselength that the focusing system uses for triangulation is much greater. You will not see 75/90/135 brightlines unless a forthcoming R-D2 uses a different physical rangefinder, like the one from Zeiss Ikon (also a Cosina made body). You can see this ambiguity when you focus with the R-D1, then rock back and forward slightly, seeing no change in the RF patch. When you do this on a high-mag finder, you'll instantly see the focusing error.

I love the R-D1 a lot, but if precision focus is required with long lenses, I reach for the .85 finder.
 
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Hi Brad,

I can see where you are coming from with the rangefinder base length with regards to focussing accuracy, but for every test shot i did to be front focussed by the same ammount would indicate to me that it was either a lens or camera problem.

There may be nothing wrong with my R-D1, but Epson UK have sent it off to Epson France to check it over for me as apparently Epson UK do not have the expertise to check the R-D1's over.

That was the good news, the bad news is that i shall be without it for at least another week !!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers
Eric
 
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