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Leica r lens issues

J

jpmcabe

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I have been putting together set of Leica r lenses and just had 6 of them declicked and serviced at Steve's . They sent them to Duclos to have rings installed.
They look and feel great-but I just used them on 1 st shoot and have couple issues that I was wondering if anyone has exprenced...
Most importantly and very annoying is that the aperture seems to want to close down when left alone for a long time ( more than 15-30 min)- I know they put the heavy grease in there and feels pretty solid but def move on their own- seems to be same w all of them- have to test more extensively... I know I can tape it but not acceptable on professional shoot..

Also on my 35 cron when I was changing filters- the whole front of the lens unscrewed w the filter ring.... Is there supposed to be any screws or anything to hold the front retaining ring and hood on the lens?- seemed to come off pretty easily- easier than filter...

Thanks for any help

John
 
You will need some some sort of iris dampening in the iris mechanism. I think a small brass block or similar as the iris will close it self if the small bearing has just been removed.
 
When I had mine done by a very good leica lens tech here in Italy we decided not to remove the internal ball completely. We shaved it down, so that you can slightly feel the resistance of a 1/2 click stop but it stays in place when you have set it. So the whole feel is loose, but with a tiny bit of firm tension at the aperture points.

I did not want to stray off the Leica design and I feel like it was maybe the perfect compromise.

Also, don't reef the front thread but make sure it's on there good. That lens does no like much weight on the barrel as it might stiffen the focus mechanism and rotation.

Also, there is no problem with these lenses themselves, just sounds like the mod you did needs some tweaking.


David
 
Leica lenses have a spring on the iris and over time there will be iris creep. You can either send it back for adjustment, or put a very thin elastic around the notch next to the aperture ring to give some friction.
 
David Battistella said:
When I had mine done by a very good leica lens tech here in Italy we decided not to remove the internal ball completely. We shaved it down
David
Click to expand...

Hi David. Can you share your tech contact, please?
Thanks
Alvise
 
Yeah, this sucks and was one of the many things that made me decide to just have mine rehoused in real cine housings. Frankly, I don't understand the declicking... the Iris ring is so close to the mount that you will never be able to smoothly pull iris on Leica-R's so why create this headache???
 
FWIW I would guess the Iris drift is from an internal spring that is probably needed to add tension vs the auto-iris (if the lens supports that) or whatever. I have been taking a lot of lenses apart recently and the question is often about which springs to keep, which to lose, and which to move!
 
Dave Blackham said:
You will need some some sort of iris dampening in the iris mechanism. I think a small brass block or similar as the iris will close it self if the small bearing has just been removed.
Click to expand...

I would think that they would do that when declicking..... I was told by Duclos that Steve's is best for Leica service- would think they would let me know if this was going to be issue... Will call them mon....
 
Christopher Barrett said:
Yeah, this sucks and was one of the many things that made me decide to just have mine rehoused in real cine housings. Frankly, I don't understand the declicking... the Iris ring is so close to the mount that you will never be able to smoothly pull iris on Leica-R's so why create this headache???
Click to expand...

Yeah- I really didn't care much about it but had all lenses in for ck out and service and thought might as well make them more cine....
 
I had a similar issue and Matt Duclos sorted it out. It is really totally unacceptable - if a technician is going to declick them then obviously it must be on the basis that there will not be aperture creep. If that is not possible then they should not be declicking them.
 
Christopher Barrett said:
Yeah, this sucks and was one of the many things that made me decide to just have mine rehoused in real cine housings. Frankly, I don't understand the declicking... the Iris ring is so close to the mount that you will never be able to smoothly pull iris on Leica-R's so why create this headache???
Click to expand...

^This^

People are not even gearing the iris.

Grease is being put in an area that it was not meant to go in.

And in normal operation they will already hold a split.
 
I put a small piece of regular clear tape (about 5mm x 3mm) between the iris ring and the mount - this way it is much stiffer and will no longer drift. To do so however, you must first remove the mount and then the iris ring, clean from grease and then grease again after putting in the tape - worked for years with mine;-)

Cheers


jpmcabe said:
I have been putting together set of Leica r lenses and just had 6 of them declicked and serviced at Steve's . They sent them to Duclos to have rings installed.
They look and feel great-but I just used them on 1 st shoot and have couple issues that I was wondering if anyone has exprenced...
Most importantly and very annoying is that the aperture seems to want to close down when left alone for a long time ( more than 15-30 min)- I know they put the heavy grease in there and feels pretty solid but def move on their own- seems to be same w all of them- have to test more extensively... I know I can tape it but not acceptable on professional shoot..

Also on my 35 cron when I was changing filters- the whole front of the lens unscrewed w the filter ring.... Is there supposed to be any screws or anything to hold the front retaining ring and hood on the lens?- seemed to come off pretty easily- easier than filter...

Thanks for any help

John
Click to expand...
 
Just got back after they replaced grease w heavier grease.... Still happening - slightly- not useable... This sucks- will have to see if Duclos has solution....
 
jpmcabe said:
Just got back after they replaced grease w heavier grease.... Still happening - slightly- not useable... This sucks- will have to see if Duclos has solution....
Click to expand...

Can you tape the iris down at a fixed stop? At least for interviews, etc?
 
Nick Morrison said:
Can you tape the iris down at a fixed stop? At least for interviews, etc?
Click to expand...

Sure- but not what I was looking for w them- want to use on professional jobs- not acceptable like this...

Steve's says they have solution- will let you know...
 
My 50mm summicron does this all the time I thought it was just an issue pertaining to that particular lens. It's nice to know I'm not the only one
 
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