Stiff 50mm Summar

[healyzh]

As it happens I'm traveling for training this week, and had the opportunity to pick one of 4 different Summar's for a price I considered reasonable. I found one from 1935 that is smooth on both the aperture and focusing, more importantly it's got very good looking glass.

The problem comes when collapsing or collapsing it. It is *VERY* stiff! Any suggestions?

I can't wait to get home and take the M-Mount adapter off my Jupiter-8 so I can try the Summar on my M6 TTL! I've a bad feeling this lens is going to make me want a LTM body even more than I already do!

 

[John Shriver]

There's felt/velvet in there to provide friction. It's easy to get it wrinkled when servicing the lens. Or perhaps it's been replaced with the wrong material. Any of the normal places should be able to solve that problem. Where none of them can repair damaged glass -- good glass should absolutely be your first priority.

 

[healyzh]

After having used it for a few times over the past month, the lens collapses and un-collapses with ease. It has made me more appreciative of the advantage of collapsible lenses!

 

[rogerzilla]

The Summar, if clean, is a superb lens in the right conditions. These are: between f/3.2 and f/6.3, flat overcast conditions and no backlighting. It works at f/2 but is quite smeary; it's pretty bad at the minimum f/12.5. It flares at the drop of a hat. Centre sharpness at mid apertures can be astonishingly good.

 

[MaxElmar]

The more you use it, the better it works! (My Summitar is that way for sure!) Unfortunately, my Summar was coated (after the war?) and the coating is now completely shot so it doesn't get used much. All "glow" and not much else... I should probably send it to Focalpoint for a good cleaning and re-coating.