FrankS
Registered User
I think so too. Try a fungus removal procedure and hope the glass hasn't been etched by it already.
Never throw away a scratched lens
- Thread starter HuubL
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HuubL
hunter-gatherer
Initially, I thought so too. The lens was offered on a local auction site and according to the descrption there were many scratches on the lens. The close-up photographs showed indeed a lot of stuff that reminded me of the fungal spider webs that I know all too well from a number of old FD Canon lenses that I had and I decided to place a bid of 125 euro that the seller asked for. I was overbid by another buyer. A couple of days later the lens reappeared and I bid again, now 50 euro taking my chance that it was fungus and no scratches. The seller agreed on my bid this time and when the lens arrived it appeared to be scratches indeed. Furthermore, the lens had been taken apart and several screws were missing from the mount and replaced by one that was too long to fit in entirely, which made it impossible to screw it properly on a camera. Fortunately, there was an original LTM-to-M converter that almost makes good for the loss 🙂
Being a nice project lens now, I decided to take the front element off and remove the internal haze on the elements surrounding the aperture. That worked quite well. Unfortunately, I've been unable thus far to dismantle it further to lubricate the focussing threads, so it's still very stiff. The missing screws were replaced by similar ones from a project Summitar.
To my big surprise, although extremely soft the lens appears very sharp. Sharper even than the rigid Summicron that I used in my comparison shots. I added some new shots on my website showing this.
There is a YouTube movie showing how to take apart a collapsible Summicron to lubricate the focussing thread. Unfortunately, the internals of my 1951 LTM don't look like that one. Any advice on this is welcome.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
Normally with lenses of this type - Summar, Summitar and Summicron Collapsible - you simply take out the three screws on the back and you can unscrew the focusing mount. It would be very strange if this is not the case with your lens.
Erik.
maxmadco
Well-known
Before you remove the 3 screws is a good idea to put a mark on the inner outer threads of the lens so you can put it back together in the correct position.
HuubL
hunter-gatherer
Hi Erik, I can unscrew the LTM mount by removing the screws that that fix it to the main structure. That allows me to lubricate the thread of the ring that pushes the RF sensor in the camera. Problem is that is not enough to lubricate the focussing. Therefore, you should remove the lens tube from the focussing mechanism in order to open that. There seems to be a retainer ring that should unscrew using retainer ring tool and allow to release the lens tube in its entirety, but It's so tight I can't loosen it.
The lens is not worth it to send to Will van Manen, so if I can't do it myself I'll keep it in my display cabinet just for fun. 😉
The lens is not worth it to send to Will van Manen, so if I can't do it myself I'll keep it in my display cabinet just for fun. 😉
Dralowid
Michael
Careful, keep an eye on that ball bearing...(Summicron)
Erik van Straten
Veteran
Huub, maybe I do not understand you well, but in a 50mm Leica lens the focusing helicoid and the rangefinder-sensor ring are the same thing. Only lenses with another focal length (35mm, 90mm) have a second helicoid for the rangefinder.
To clean the helicoid you only have to remove the lens mount by unscrewing the three screws. Then the parts of the helicoid come apart. Clean with lighter fluid and lubricate with ball bearing grease and you're done.
Sometimes there are two very small extra screws, so five in total. This type of helicoid is hard to disassemble.
Erik.
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