[Leica] Received M8 & lenses repaired/adjusted by Solms

[geordiepete211 at yahoo.co.uk (Peter Cheyne)]

I appreciate the food for thought, guys.  I haven't phoned Leica, but  
I e-mailed them saying the 90 T-E is worse than before, and I attached  
test photos at f/2.8 (wide open).  The focus fault has nothing to do  
with VF magnification, because I lay the tape at an angle so the RF  
patch shows a double image of the tape as an 'X' and I just get the  
lines of the 'X' to intersect at the 1, 2, or 3m spot.  Also, I am 37  
years old and have 20/20 vision, always surprising the optometrist at  
my annual health check-up.  Beside, the returned 90mm lens is not out  
by millimeters, but is way out by about a quarter of a meter at 2m,  
and 40cm at 3m.  Totally unacceptable.

I appreciate and understand Peter's response, but I can see that this  
problem is not focus shift but front-focusing.  This is because the  
error remains about the same, percentage-wise, at the 3 distances, and  
it is as present at f/5.6 as it is at f/2.8.  Peter's response (much  
appreciated, thanks) made me think that the Leica techs might have  
chosen to optimize the lens for narrower apertures.  This makes sense  
as the 90 Tele-Elmar's strength is its light weight and small size,  
making it a great outdoor 90.  I just tested it at f/5.6 and compared  
it with the previous wide open test.  Same result:  unusable front- 
focus.  Tried it again at f/11:  same.  Didn't test it at f/16 for  
obvious reasons.   They decided to charge me for work I was assured  
would be a free service.  I double-checked the invoice, as Geoff  
suggested, but no extra work apart from the adjustment was made.  I  
doubt the lens was disassembled, because the front element of my 90 T- 
E was a little dirty around the rim on the inside when I sent it, and  
it was the same when returned.  That in itself is disappointing for a  
420 Euro "service".  Even my bike repair man cleans my wheel when he  
replaces an inner tube.  Anyway, that is not what I am complaining  
about.  Honestly, I doubt they even serviced the 90.  Perhaps it just  
got worse during transit.  Or Solms are running out of elves and make  
the numbers up gremlins.

Nathan and others suggested that I ask my credit card company to stop  
the payment.  I didn't think of that until suggested. However, the  
lens "adjustment" "work" was paid for together with the sensor  
replacement on the M8.  I am satisfied with the M8 repair job they  
did.  Wouldn't it be unfair of me to stop the full payment?   I don't  
think that Visa would be able to make a partial payment stop.  The  
camera itself has a fresh one-year guarantee, but I don't think that  
applies to the lenses.  However, I still have enough faith in Leica's  
good will to expect that they will give this lens special attention  
when I return it again.  I am also looking forward to reading what the  
Leica tech has to say about the test photos I made with the so-called  
adjusted 90 Tele-Elmar.

By the way, I live in Japan, and I have always received tip-top  
service from Canon when I had to have lenses/cameras repaired or  
serviced here.  Canon even overlooked the 3 months by which my   
warranty was out of date on my 20D a few years ago, and replaced the  
exhausted shutter free of charge. Then again, Canon products are  
cheaper in the US than they are in Japan, so the service cuts over  
there make sense.  Canon certainly never grubbed around for extra  
money from me by disappointingly telling me I now have to pay for what  
they had previously assured me would be a free service.

Here are the new test photos I made at f/5.6 just to see if it was a  
focus shift problem rather than front-focusing.  It is front-focusing,  
and therefore reparable.  I paid Leica good Euros to make my lens this  
inaccurate.  Granted the lens is an old model, maybe made in Canada in  
the 70s.  But my old 90 Cron works better on my M8 than this just-back- 
from-Solms Tele-Elmar, and my old goggled 135/2.8 is absolutely spot- 
on with my M8. If the 3D film thickness versus virtually 2D sensor  
plane effect isn't necessary with my old 90 Cron and 135/2.8, then I  
don't accept it as a reasonable excuse for my "adjusted" T-E to be out  
by so much as to make it worse than before.  It wasn't even so bad  
before, I just figured, hey, let's get it perfect so I'll be a happy  
customer.

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=90%20Tele-Elmar%20f%2F5.6&w=73557746%40N00

Cheers,

Peter Cheyne