My ZM 25mm is in a bad way

[Robin Harrison]

I don't remember it taking a knock, but I first noticed something was up when noticing significant play in the front section of the lens. Now I notice that the whole front section, which is actually physically connected all the way back to the rear element, can move backwards and forwards a few millimetres. An internal rattle tells me something somewhere has come loose. Obviously I have no confidence in the performance of my lens in this state, and something has to be done.

I'm trying to contact my camera insurer, but they are proving very slow to respond to email queries.

Has anyone had any experience with ZM lens repairs at Zeiss? I'm not sure where I stand in terms of warranty - I am not the original owner, and the lens has been fitted with a 6-bit 35mm mount to bring up the right M8 framelines.

Does anyone have any experience of good independent Zeiss repairers? Especially in the UK?

This has been my go-to lens in the last 3 or 4 months. I'd like to get it back up and running ASAP.

 

[sanmich]

It seems to happen from time to time on zeiss lenses.
IIRR, all you have to do is tighten the notched locking ring on the back of the lens.
You need a spanner wrench for that.
please be carefull, I don't know that specific lens and I extrapolate from what I know on canon lenses or others like the summicron-c 40.
Good luck

 

[SolaresLarrave]

The mount of my Hexanon became worryingly loose at one time. After examining the lens, I saw that the mount was held by a set of two or three small screws. All I needed to do was grab a small eyeglass scredriver, tighten the things and that was all. Check first if you can locate the exact point where the lens seems loose, see if there's a way to tighten it, if you have the tools... and that'll do it! 🙂

 

[Roger Hicks]

This happened to the 21/4.5 I had on test -- it fell about a foot out of a camera bag, with the MP on top.

It's surprisingly easily fixed.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Robin Harrison]

The mount of my Hexanon became worryingly loose at one time. After examining the lens, I saw that the mount was held by a set of two or three small screws. All I needed to do was grab a small eyeglass scredriver, tighten the things and that was all. Check first if you can locate the exact point where the lens seems loose, see if there's a way to tighten it, if you have the tools... and that'll do it! 🙂

In this case it's not the mount that's loose. The mount is attached firmly to the 'outer' part of the lens where the focus ring is, but this is loose from the 'core' of the lens where the elements live.

 

[Robin Harrison]

This happened to the 21/4.5 I had on test -- it fell about a foot out of a camera bag, with the MP on top.

It's surprisingly easily fixed.

Cheers,

Roger

What was the fix in your case, Roger? I'll have a close look at the situation tonight, but the rattle is the worrying thing - it implies something somewhere was become completely loose.

 

[Roger Hicks]

What was the fix in your case, Roger? I'll have a close look at the situation tonight, but the rattle is the worrying thing - it implies something somewhere was become completely loose.

Dear Robin,

Sorry: I meant professionally. Zeiss were not too upset about it (they weren't overjoyed either). Trying to fix top-flight new lenses yourself is not, as a general rule, a great idea. If it's a cheap oldie, there's not much to lose. With something like this, I'd rather trust a pro.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Robin Harrison]

Dear Robin,

Sorry: I meant professionally. Zeiss were not too upset about it (they weren't overjoyed either). Trying to fix top-flight new lenses yourself is not, as a general rule, a great idea. If it's a cheap oldie, there's not much to lose. With something like this, I'd rather trust a pro.

Cheers,

R.

Oh, I understand. Was this lens on test directly from Zeiss (i.e. were the costs covered by them, or do you have an idea of the price of such a repair directly from Zeiss)?

 

[Roger Hicks]

Oh, I understand. Was this lens on test directly from Zeiss (i.e. were the costs covered by them, or do you have an idea of the price of such a repair directly from Zeiss)?

Dear Robin,

Directly from Zeiss, I am afraid, so I don't know what it cost to fix.

Like you, I didn't see any damage immediately, but after a 400-mile motorcycle journey home...

As far as I understand, it's an 'unscrewing' problem, as I once had with a 200/3 Vivitar Series 1 (after 2500 km on a motorcycle) which was sufficiently inexpensive (and so long ago) that I don't recall what it cost.

Once again, sorry. I fear my attempt to reassure you may have backfired.

Cheers,

R.

 

[percepts]

The following company has a good reputation as a specialist lens repairer in the UK.
They will ask you to send it recorded delivery and then quote for repair. If you don't want to pay for repair, then you only pay for return postage. If its just something which has come unscrewed, then it will likely be much cheaper using them than sending to Zeiss.

http://www.optil.co.uk/

p.s. they are difficult to get hold of by phone but you may get lucky. They will only give an approximate quote over phone as until they have actually taken it apart, they like you can only guess what is wrong.

 

[PMCC]

What Roger said, let the pros fix fancy new lenses.

My ZM 25 became became a bit loose and wobbly as well -- both the focus ring and front end. I was surprised because the lens was new and only lightly used before going wonky. I had my dealer return it to the official local agent for warranty service, and the local agent sent it back to the factory. All this traveling has taken a while. I'm told it's now ready so I'm looking forward to getting it back from my dealer. My CV Ultron 35/1.7 and Skopar 35/2.5 LTM PI also had to be tightened up -- the front ends shook and rattled -- but only after hard use and the warranties had long expired. Easy, inexpensive fixes for my local camera shop guy, after attempting it myself and recognizing that I was out of my depth in time to avoid inflicting any damage. Now both as good as new.

 

[tomasis]

it makes sense to buy a Leica lens lol. suddenly it is not overpriced.

 

[bobbyrab]

I've had the same thing happen wit two Leica lenses, although I know they both had received knocks, but they where both repaired at reasonable cost, £70 for the 35 lux, that was done by Leica, the 50 was more as I had it serviced at the same time. Anyway, don't worry too much, it's quite straight forward I think.

 

[PMCC]

it makes sense to buy a Leica lens lol. suddenly it is not overpriced.

Not the point I was making.

I also have Leica lenses. Some I like better than others, and in some cases I prefer using the Zeiss or even CV counterpart. The build quality of Leica lenses is generally high but not uniformly so, and they are generally costlier to service and it can take ages. No one factor it inself, including price, has necessarily been decisive for me in my choice. Now, however, the current prices for new Leica are silly money, and my silly money budget is limited (by the silly decisions of others beyond my control).

So, vote early and vote often, preserve your ability to buy gear at silly prices.

 

[kdemas]

I had this exact same problem with my ZM 25. A quick tightening of the retainer ring by my dealer (too about 10 seconds) and it works like a charm.

Mine started coming loose on a trip to Paris, pretty disconcerting. I too wonders if I had popped it against a door jam but no, this is pretty common.

Once you get it tightened it will work great once again.

Kent

 

[Austerby]

Just to say the same thing has happened to mine, but it was a 5 second job to hand tighten the outer black ring of the lens base to fix, in case anyone else encounters this problem. It appears not to be something that needs a dealer fix or return to Zeiss.

 

[cam]

i bought a ZM Sonnar and sent it to Zeiss to be recalibrated (and, it seemed, tightened and cleaned) right before Christmas. no problem finding an english speaker (thank god!) and they were wonderful to deal with and very thorough. i got a brautiful lens back and wondered what took me so long to send it out. the cost was less than expected as well.

i truly recommend taking the plunge and sending it to them in Germany!