Leica 21 SEL loose front group

[uhoh7]

Just received a very clean 21 SEL asph which looks great but has a slightly loose front group, like my 28 cron developed and DAG repaired.

and extreme case is shown here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZL3WojYoXQ

note in the video the guy has a great tool to remove the front group so he can tighten the screws.

Is such a tool sold? Are there other ways to safely remove the front group on a 28 cron or 21 sel?

TY, sirs

 

[Tom A]

I have one of the early versions of the SEL 21's. It once decided to unscrew itself completely - whole element package shot out (and landed on a tiled floor!!!). No serious damage - a small dent at the back.
There is a very "deep" retaing ring in the SEL and there can be friction between the focussing helical and this ring - and with time it will unscrew itself. You can see the two cut-outs in the ring from the back - and by using a small screw driver you can tighten it. My mishap happened in a Cafe' in Sweden - and no screw driver at hand. I simply bent a tine on a fork and "screwed" back on tight. Once I got back to Canada, I took it apart again, Lot-Tite'd it and screwed in down tight. I don't know if the tubular drive exists as an over the counter tool - and you should only need to use it once anyway.
Leica re-called the first 100 of SEL's as they could jam when used on M9's. I never bothered to have my fixed as a/the Loc Tite works fine and b/I don't have a M9 - nor do i plan to get one.

 

[Joosep]

Wow. You guys are scaring me. This lens is next on my want list...
Is this only a problem with the first 100?

 

[uhoh7]

TY so much for reply, Tom

this serial is 4121333. It's really LN besides this issue, so i'm inclined to keep it. My understanding is that there are set screws which loosen in the optical group---as the video clearly shows.

The ring itself I see two notches, it does not seem loose. In the video the guy uses his sleeve tool to hold the ring and unscrew the front element. Perhaps a spanner wrench would do the same.

I guess my real question is do I trust this is a simple fix if I take the lens? Seems identical to what my cron did. It's perfect now, after tightening.

The hood screws on with some torque required at the last 360. These cases seem to encourage the loosening if you travel with the lens upside down.

With my cron, I don't use the stock case anymore.

 

[Tom A]

Leica evidently recalled most of the first batch and redid the rear mount. You can spot the difference. The old style ones has a rear mount with the same dimension/diameter as the rest of the barrel. The reworked and later version has a rear mount with slightly larger diameter. Of the 100 or so that were recalled Leica got almost all back for the rework. There might be 30-40 out there with the smaller diameter mount still. Obviously these will be rare and collectible some time in the future!