Leica LTM Summar 50/2 aperture ring off the mark?

[tobias]

hello,
in mid 2006 i bought a Summar 50/2 on e bay in a dismantled state. it was a very good price, for which i was willing to take the gamble. and joys, the elements are in good condition, and i was able to fit the iris back together through guesswork. the previous owner alleged that he had got it from a repair man, and that it had been in a droor for 10 years.

judging by the chromatic shift in reflections on the element, it has been coated. no. 383419. brassed but smooth.

anyway, i have just put a roll of TMX through it (on my TS M3), and it looks slightly under exposed. when i was reassembling the aperture ring, i found that it didnt sit where it should: full open it stops at the mark for 2.2, and yet the iris is locked open, and at the other end it goes down to what should be about two stops past 12.5.

have any of you ever serviced one of these lenses, or do you know what might be the matter? I feel that it is past the point of being worthy of a CLA. i see it as my baby now. mine to tend to.

if you want, i can take some pictures of it to post. i probably even have some, somewhere, of it spread out on the table.

Thanks,
T+

 

[payasam]

My Summitar's "real" index dot has had a drop if white correction fluid put into it and a REAL index dot has been marked in black ink. Works perfectly.

 

[Limpovitj]

See this post for details, especially post 4 and 9, which will explain how to do it - if you have the version described, if I understand it correctly. My summar is like that anyway.

Good luck!

 

[Limpovitj]

Oh, and when I reassembled (after cleaning, and repainting the edges of the elements) my Summar I had to screw in the front element part REAL hard to get it to line up properly, like it was before disassembly.

I hope this helps.

 

[John Shriver]

Yes, as he says, REAL tight screwing in the front ring. Be sure the set screw between the front element and the next two is properly aligned and tight before you torque it down. Everything is snug as a bug in a rug in this lens.

I don't think your error is large enough to be off by an entire tooth on the internal aperture ring. I don't think any Summars have an odd number of blades, on Leica lenses with an odd number of blades, you can have to flip 180 degrees to get things to come out right.

 

[reagan]

Hey Tobias, welcome to RFF. My Summar has two screws on each side of the aperture ring that when loosened fully will allow the ring to be adjusted without moving the blades. I would probably turn it to the wide open stop position, loosen the screws then set it just a hair before 2.0 and tighten them down. Good luck!

 

[tobias]

thanks and smiles

thanks and smiles

thanks a million for your tips.
It appears that all i needed to do was be more forceful with the screwing the front element on. most peculiar indeed. however i can see that i would stil have been confused by the fact that the aperture still closes past 12,5, thoug it does this on my elmar 50/3.5 too. silly me.

so thus, i have been restoring an Ensign Ranger, and might give that a test shortly. I just repainted the badly chipped top and bottom plates, cleaned the elements, and checked the focus. it all seems fine and dandy, and now looks rather new. all for a lovely £5 a few years ago.

Tobias

 

[reagan]

It appears that all i needed to do was be more forceful with the screwing the front element on.

Same on mine. Anyway, congrats on getting things lined out.