Question on 50mm Summicron DR - do you need the eyes?

Mudman

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Want to pick up a copy of this lens, found a bargain one for $400ish, no eyes, and the eyes elsewhere in EX for $159. Do I need the eyes to make the lens work on the camera, or would I be fine for a while without them?

Thanks,
Eric
 
You only need them for close focusing. When they are mounted you can only access close focusing. The lens has a little notch at the half way point which is unlocked when you mount the eyes.
 
I have a recently acquired DR with the eyes and you do not need the eyes to make it work but you'll probably wish you had them.
 
If you buy eyes/goggles separately I believe you need to match early lenses with early eyes, the eyes are not interchangeable between earlier and later lenses. Also see this recent thread.
 
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hardy har har. Thanks for the info folks, I'll keep it in mind. I just purchased a collapsible though. Got too good of a deal on it.
 
I think you'll love the collapsible for its light weight. If you have a DR that is marked in both feet and meters, you can use either set of eyes. If it's marked in feet only, you'll need to have the one with the leica logo (E LEITZ WETZLAR, block capitals in a box) The other type has the logo Leica in script. I learned all this the hard way. I now have two oculars, one of each type.
Vic
 
I was looking for the DR goggles and came across the older version with E LEITZ WETZLAR logo, block capitals in a box. Vics reported that the newer dual feet and meter focus scale DR Cron like mine should work with either version of the goggles well. Now I can mount mine but the focusing ring wouldn't turn past 0.9m mark. I have checked the instructions to make sure that I'm doing it correctly. Could it be a non-matching goggles, defective lens or just me missing something? :)
 
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You got to pull out the focusing barrel to the front past the notch. This can be done with the eyes attached or without, but to subsequently turn the focus barrel to 0.9m (36'') the eyes should be mounted.
 
You got to pull out the focusing barrel to the front past the notch. This can be done with the eyes attached or without, but to subsequently turn the focus barrel to 0.9m (36'') the eyes should be mounted.
That's right, I pull the focusing barrel, rotate it past the focus index park so that the small metal block is eventually in the close focus range. I mount the eyes but after that focusing barrel doesn't turn towards 0.8m mark..
 
That's right, I pull the focusing barrel, rotate it past the focus index park so that the small metal block is eventually in the close focus range. I mount the eyes but after that focusing barrel doesn't turn towards 0.8m mark..

OK, let's see. If you take off the goggles, can you push the little ball inwards with your finger to disengage the locked focussing barrel to slide to the near scale? If that works, the support of the eyes where the ball engages is too deep and won't push the ball deep enough into the barrel. That may be because of the differences in the goggles. I understand the early ones accomodated bigger balls (or vice versa).
 
OK, let's see. If you take off the goggles, can you push the little ball inwards with your finger to disengage the locked focussing barrel to slide to the near scale? If that works, the support of the eyes where the ball engages is too deep and won't push the ball deep enough into the barrel. That may be because of the differences in the goggles. I understand the early ones accomodated bigger balls (or vice versa).
Yes, you are right. Clearly this is a non-matching version. If I push the ball with a finger and then mount the goggles then it kind of works but the picture does not align vertically - similar to what Vics reported. Thanks for solving my question.
 
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