The darnest thing. I just bought a brand new 35/2 ASPH Summicron M lens and when I went to put it on the camera I noticed the the square lens hood is cocked slightly (say 3 degrees off square) once the lens release button clicks. The DOF scale appears to be at 12 o'clock but the lens hood definately is not. Looking from the front it looks like it has gone too far clockwise. There's no way of straightening it either except by turning the lens anti-clockwise a tad and then of course the lens release button is still still depressed.

On checking the focus at infinity it is bang on with the lens clicked in and also when it is turned back a tad to square up the hood.

Leica quality must be suffering. Unfortunately I can't swap this lens for another one because the Leica agency has no more in stock until early next year. The shop where I bought the lens from says I can take it back and have Leica Fedex me another one if they have any stock at the factory. However that will take a week or two and I need the lens for a project.

I'll shoot some pictures with it and decide what to do. Most annoying to say the least especially since it cost me $2,700 New Zealand dollars (our dollar is the lowest it's ever been).

My question is has anyone come across this problem before?

-- T.A. (mahv@xtra.co.nz), December 05, 2000

Answers

I haven't seen that kind of problem except when the front filter ring has become loose and turned off-kilter. I checked my 35 Summicron and it doesn't have that problem. It doesn't seem like it should be a problem with the hood itself because the locating tab is part of the molding of the rest of the hood.

One thing to check: when your turn the aperature all the way to one extreme or the other, does the f2 (or f16, whichever) line up with the hood index or the focus index?...

* If it lines up with the focus index, I'd say the front ring is misaligned. Probably won't affect lens performance, unless you get a bit of vignetting in the corners. If you can, shoot with the hood off until you can get the lens and hood replaced.

* If it lines up with the hood index, then it sounds like the front assembly is misaligned, and I don't know what that implies, image- wise.

Unless some previous customer damaged it by trying to twist off the hood - thus turning the front ring - it does sound disturbing for something like that to get out of the factory.

-- Ken Shipman (kennyshipman@aol.com), December 05, 2000.

P.S. I'm buying all the New Zealand lamb and wool I can find, but I'll need help from the others, too.

-- Ken Shipman (kennyshipman@aol.com), December 06, 2000.

IMHO, get it replaced. The front ring is likely misaligned or loose. All you can try to do is gently rotate the front ring by means of the hood to see if its a simple adjustment. Its unlikely to be a cam side problem with the camera body/lens cam.

However I should say that my 35 Summicron Asph does not click into place, unlike all my other M series lenses. Wonder if there is a small problem here with the 35 Summicron Asph lining up in the lens mount?

My Summicron 50 had a loose/rotating front element set (!) but could be screwed back tight. Optical performance was top-notch.

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), December 06, 2000.

T.A.

I'm assuming the 35 f/2 ASPH takes the same type of hood as the non-ASPH 35mm f/2 M. If so, I had the same problem with my 35mm non-ASPH f/2 M hood (part #: 12524) being slightly cocked clockwise.

As the others have mentioned, I too was worried there might be some problem with the lens' front section/element being out of adjustment. I tried another example of my Leitz hood on my 35mm lens and the other hood was not cocked to one side at all. It turned out that it was the fault of the original hood that came with my lens, and not the lens itself. The slight cocking of the hood in no way affected the images, it was not rotated enough to vignette the corners of the negative frames.

Question: On your 35mm ASPH is the little notch on the top and front of the lens barrel, into which the hood's protruding male tabs slip into and lock in place, also cocked to one side when the lens is locked in place on the body? If not, and the notch is at the twelve o'clock position, then it's the fault of the hood and not the lens.

If you look at the hood itself, you'll notice that the male tabs that lock into the lens' notch are on a separate ring, along with the retracting bayonette tabs, inside the hood body's throat. With my hood, it seems that this ring and the tabs are slightly out of line with the rest of the hood, thereby aligning the hood at the slightly cocked position when locked onto the lens.

I suppose I could have the hood repaired, or just slight file the male tabs on one side so they place the hood at the appropriate twelve o'clock position. But I hesitate to start hacking away at a Leitz hood. And as I said before, it does not affect the images.

Since I bought this lens with the hood used at a good price, I did not return it. I kept the hood since the price of a new Leitz hood is a bit steep. If this is the cause of your problem, and since you bought your lens new, you might be able to just trade the hood for another one.

Good luck, Sergio.

-- Sergio Ortega (s.ortega@worldnet.att.net), December 06, 2000.

Leica made it, let Leica fix it...after your important shoot , of course! This crops up on the Leica-users every now and then, so you are not alone. I have purchased three lenses with rectangualr shades with no problem myself.

Cheers,

-- John Collier (jbcollier@home.com), December 06, 2000.

Just had a long careful look at the lens after all your suggestions. Also put my 50/2 back on the body to check that and it is dead square. On the 35 the f stop, infinty marking, the DOF scale and white line for the hood line up perfectly. The lens is just going past the 12 o'clock position slightly before it clicks into place. It is not much but with the retangular hood it shows up slightly lopsided and it just plain bugs me.

I'm going to notify the Leica agents in New Zealand and send them a jpg. of the lens on the camera. The lens was picked up from the Leica agents by the shop when I bought it yesterday as they are nearby each other; I was the first one to open the box.

I'm going to use the lens with it turned slightly anti-clockwise to put it in the 12 'oclock position. This is still a real tight fit and has no danger of comming loose, but it means the lens release button is depressed.

Took some photos this evening with the new lens and I'll be in the darkroom tomorrow night to check out the resuls.

Thanks everyone for your help.

-- T.A. (mahv@xtra.co.nz), December 07, 2000.

I had the same problem with a Canadian made 35 f2 before Leica started making them in Germany again. Leica advised it was a simple misalignment of the front ring (w/ no influence on optical quality) and they repaired it under warranty.

I would not recommend leaving the lens release button depressed, since it doesn't seem likely to affect the ortical results.

-- KL Prager (www.pragerproperties@att.net), December 07, 2000.

Also, you don't want that lens dropping off by accident !

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), December 07, 2000.

I have just developed and printed six pictures from a roll of TMax 400 taken with the 35/2. I'm stunned by the breathtaking sharpness of this lens and right to the edges too, it's hard to believe it's not large format. It's not going anywhere near a repair person because they might stuff it up (Leica or otherwise.) I'll live with the lens hood the way it is. Only problem is if this is the quality of Leica's new generation lenses I've got to have the new 90/2 APO.

Thanks for all your help.

-- T.A. (mahv@xtra.co.nz), December 11, 2000.

The hood on my 35/2.0 ASPH is very slightly tilted as well. I stopped being irritated about it, since it has absolutely no effect. I've shot dozens of rolls and they are all wonderful. It's a stellar lens, and I can't figure out why the hood is misaligned, but nothing in life is perfect, not even Leica....

-- john costo (mahler@lvcm.com), December 15, 2000.

I bought a new Summicron-M 2/35 ASPH recently and had *exactly* the same problem. I realized that the looks of the hood had not changed the function of the hood and/or the lens itself, but this bugging had to be removed for the money I paid too. I took the hood alone back to the store and explained everything (thanks everybody!). We decided (as you did) that there are/were just two problems (the hood itself and/or a front ring misalignment). Thus we too saw two solutions, and we would try these right here and now (in this order): trade my hood for another one, and/or trade my whole lens (maybe including hood) for a new one. Taking a new lens that was there with an OK hood (my hood on the new lens there created exactly the same problem), we traded hoods. I took my "new" hood home to check the new fit on my "old" lens, and the fit is perfect. Had that not worked out, we just would have exchanged lenses today as well. I know this story is now late for you but maybe not too late for the next person next time. That's all.

-- Michael Kastner (kastner@zedat.fu-berlin.de), May 21, 2001.

The hood on my 35mm Summicron ASPH looks like it may be a little tilted as well, or it could be an optical illusion. Anyway the lens works perfectly and no vignetting. No problem!

-- ray tai (razerx@netvigator.com), May 21, 2001.

There is the ring-nut with two slits, which is visible at the rear of the ‘cron (the large one). This keeps the whole inner barrel in the outer barrel of the lens. The inner barrel with the front flange is freely rotating in any direction when this ring is loosened. This is obvious thing when the inner barrel is set slightly incorrectly.

-- Victor Randin (ved@enran.com.ua), May 22, 2001.

Found this more relevant thread after posting on a previous one: Brand new 35 chron asph out of the box yesterday. Clockwise tilt!! Shop and importer 600 kms away = hassle. Did all the suggested checks - inconclusive and still crooked. I'm not good enough to know whether it is performing to perfection by taking pics. Is this how it is now or should it be returned? The previous contributions seem at odds.

-- Tim Gee (twg@optushome.com.au), August 31, 2001.

I have measured my new 35 Summicron ASPH lens hood very carefully and have found at least one reason why it sits a few degrees crooked (clockwise looking at the camera from the front).

The male tabs (with white marks)which locate the hood on the lens are part of the ring which also accomodates the buttons and mechanism which clip the hood onto the lens. this ring is fixed into the rear of the hood moulding.

I placed the lens hood face down on parallel lines with another line perpendicular to them as a reference for the white marks on the locating tabs.

RESULT: The marks on the tabs are NOT perpendicular to the sides of the lens hood. The innacuracy is consistent with the direction and amount of miss-allignment.

REASON: The slots in the hood moulding for the metal buttons are 'out' counter-clockwise (looking from the front of the hood)The whole inner ring with locating tabs etc. is fixed in the hood crooked because of this.

A casual glance at these slots reveals that they are not bisected by the fine moulding line in the lens hood.

I'm not saying this is the only reason for "clockwise tilt" (new tech. term!!) but it certainly seems to be one.

PS. I'd love a reply. Anyone still interested in this?

-- Tim Gee (twg@optushome.com.au), September 01, 2001.