So the Komura 135mm f/2.8 arrived today. A day early, actually so it was a pleasant surprise when I got home.
I immediately checked it for physical soundness, ability to focus and change aperture then I stuck it on my M9 and went outside to shoot a few photos before the rain started (and did it start! It's been raining here for a few hours.) One thing I found was great is the accessory VF! It's a 1x magnification with an etched 135mm frameline. I might actually use this one cause it's almost as good as my old Leica 135 VF I had when I had a Hektor.
Anyways, the lens is fantastic. It takes a lot of work to focus but I did it.
higher res version here by clicking on the icon next to the camera above the image:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/PhilForrest/Phila_110308web/L1003497_E.jpg.html
After I shot a bit on my porch I saw that it was back focusing. Actually back focusing by inches.
I went and looked at it in my room, grabbed a screwdriver, found the adjustment and got it as close as I could get it but that wasn't enough...
The lubricant in the helicoid had turned to something like hard cosmoline (and it smelled the same) so I decided to completely clean it and re-lube it with a bit of white lithium. Now the focusing feel is much nicer but deep inside the barrel was about 1/4 inch that I couldn't really get to without disassembling the optics in the back, so there's a bit of a bind just towards infinity which is going to drive me nuts until a hot day when some of the old lube softens and is hopefully displaced by the new white lithium (I can dream.)
Regardless, I'm happy with the lens so far. It's smaller than I thought it would be. I was thinking it would have been the size of the 135 Elmarit. This one is just a tad bit bigger than an Elmar.
It came with the case and finder but no hood. I'm willing to bet it's flaretastic with a light source hitting the front element. I'm sure finding a proper good quality hood is going to be a pain. Oh well.
I'll post photos of it in the camera perhaps tomorrow.