Summilux 50 seperation

[TJV]

Anyone seen this is an early Summilux 50 seperate in the rear element like this. Any idea what it'd cost to repair?
This lens is otherwize mint, so it'd be a real shame to wave it goodbye.

 

[waileong]

Isn't that a beautiful fungus pattern?

 

[John Elder]

Wow! Hope I never see that again. Bye Bye Baby Goodbye

 

[TJV]

here's a couple more photos of it, one from front another from back.

It's not fungus, it definatly looks like seperation to my eyes. It sits in between the back element to the looks of things.

 

[rlouzan]

fungus!!! 😱 🙁 :bang:

 

[Roger Hicks]

I'd be pretty sure it's fungus, not separation, but without seeing the lans I can only be 90%+ sure.

Sorry!

R.

 

[Stu W]

here's a couple more photos of it, one from front another from back.

It's not fungus, it definatly looks like seperation to my eyes. It sits in between the back element to the looks of things.

I had a lens balsam with that pattern. If it is just seperation no biggy-have it repaired. Stu

 

[telenous]

The following link (about fungi and delamination on the optics of telescopes)

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...images?q=lens+fungus&svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&sa=N

has a photo (third as you scroll down) that looks very similar to the one you posted. It is being reported as 'delamination' (by which the author means balsam separation).

 

[TJV]

Thanks guys,
I sent a pic and email to DAG and asked how much they thought, as a rough estimate, it would cost to fix. Imagine my delight when he replied about $100! Amazing value considering the task at hand. Pretty sure it's delaminating as it looks to sit inside an element.

What's an early 50 lux in exelent condition worth these days? Not much going on ebay lately, it seems.
​

 

[Uncle Bill]

Get the 'lux fixed if it costs only $100.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Hmmm... did you tell Don you had a separation problem? My Elmarit 28mm had a very slight case (invisible to me) of separation, but I sent it to John Van Stelten, from Focal Point. He repaired it for $250.

He explains in the website that to fix separation he has to heat all the elements to a certain temperature, let them cool off to separate them, reglue them and then let the stuff dry. Takes about 10 days, or more. In any case, it's always worth repairing a Leica or any rangefinder glass.