Question about 35mm Summicron with "Eyes"

[Plasmat]

I've had many 35mm Summicrons, but I've never had the early version with "eyes" that was for the M3.

I see that these "eyes" Summicrons often sell for considerably less that the ones without them.

My question is, can the eyes be removed by unscrewing the set screws on that hold them to the lens, or is it more complicated? Or is it coupled in a more complicated way?

Is there anything to prevent using the 35mm Summicron WITHOUT the eyes on another camera, such as an M4, or an M8 or Epson-RD1 for that matter? Sort of like the DR Summicron can be used without the "eyes".

Is it as simple as it appears to be? If not, could a good repairman do it?

It seems like one could pick up a bargain 35mm Summicron that way.

 

[mikeh]

Doesn't work, the focus will be way off.

 

[Plasmat]

Why, is the helicoid different on the lens?

 

[mkl]

Doesn't work, the focus will be way off.

I tought the "eyes" were just here to allow to see the field of a 35mm lens in the viewfinder. So it could work without it, no? (but the 50mm frameline will appear in the viewfinder).

 

[rxmd]

The eyes scale the rangefinder patch along with the frame, and the helicoid is built to account for the difference. Or that's how I understand it.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Plasmat and rxmd: yes and yes.

You need to have the cam readjusted if you want the goggles off. Mine's been on the operating table...well, it's been on the waiting room for four months now. I hope it'll be on the operating table soon.

My luck with time with some places has been odd this past year. Anyway, that's another story for another Blues song.

I just saw a very nice 35 f/3.5 Summaron today for $190; it was the goggled version.

The goggled Summarons and Summicrons were made when only the M3 was in town. Its "widest" framelines are for the 50mm focal length.

 

[Dougg]

I'd prefer the goggled 35 Summicron even on my M2, I think, as the 35 framelines are way out in peripheral vision and hard to see. Reducing the magnification so that the 35 field fits the 50 framelines would be great.

Plasmat, my understanding agrees with MikeH statement; unlike the DR 50 'cron, the 35's focusing correctly is dependent on the presence of the goggles. Interesting that Gabriel's found a place able to regrind the 'cron's focusing cam...

 

[phototone]

To state this as clearly as possible...the "Goggled" 35mm Summarons will work on all "M" series Leica's. All. In every case, they turn the 50mm frameline into a 35mm frame line field of view. You must leave the goggles on, and in some cases they are permanent and not removable, some have removable goggles. But..never-the-less, for these lenses to work correctly, you gotta leave the goggles on. Work with all "M" Leica's.

 

[Mark J]

Plasmat: I owned a 35 f:3.5 with goggles on it. The goggles were removeable but the lens only focused properly at INFINITY with the goggles off. I do not recall if the lens focused in front of the subject or behind, but the amount of error increased as you got closer to your subject. The lens worked very well with my M6, as the 50mm frame lines were illuminated and the goggles transposed that into the 35mm field of view. The lens was too slow for my general use. Great concept. I also own a DR Summicron and that lens focuses in the normal range with the goggles off. The 35 with goggles works in the same fashion as the 135 f:2.8 Elmarit with goggles.

 

[Paul Connet]

Plasmat: I owned a 35 f:3.5 with goggles on it. The goggles were removeable but the lens only focused properly at INFINITY with the goggles off. I do not recall if the lens focused in front of the subject or behind, but the amount of error increased as you got closer to your subject. The lens worked very well with my M6, as the 50mm frame lines were illuminated and the goggles transposed that into the 35mm field of view. The lens was too slow for my general use. Great concept. I also own a DR Summicron and that lens focuses in the normal range with the goggles off. The 35 with goggles works in the same fashion as the 135 f:2.8 Elmarit with goggles.

Actually the Summaron will work with the goggles removed. You just have to use the distance scale markings on the lens rather than the rangefinder. It is really quite useable with zone focusing as in street shooting. The f3.5 wide open aperture has enough DOF in normal shooting that any halfway decent guess as to the subject distance gets you an in-focus shot. My f3.5 Summaron came without the goggles and I used it for more than a year by scale focusing before finding a set of goggles for it.

One Leica repair guy said he could regrind the cam to match the rangefinder, and modify the mount to bring up the 35mm frame lines for $100, but that was three or four years ago.

Regards, Paul C.