[Leica] 13352 polarizer repair.

[Corey Levenson <coreyl@texas.net>]

Greetings All,
	Some months ago I asked for advice on rebuilding my somewhat
separated 13352 swing-out polarizer. I didn't get much so I thought I'd
file this follow-up describing my experience.
	One of the tricky parts of the operation is taking the polarizer
apart. There is a threaded ring inside the shade which must be unscrewed.
On my unit, I was able to push the polarizing disk out from the rear once
the threaded ring is removed. The polarizer blank is a 43 mm diameter piece
of glass with an L-section metal ring around it. The ring is glued onto the
blank and the ring/blank assembly is held in place in the shade by glue. It
was a very sticky, but not brittle, glue.
	Once the glass blank is out, I found two options: cheap and
not-so-cheap. The cheap option is to order a 44 mm unmounted linear
polarizer blank from Edmund Scientific (609-573-6250, part nr. F53346,
price $18.00). Edmund lists the item as "commercial quality" whatever that
means. It is a bit bigger than the original blank and the metal ring will
not fit it but it fits in the shade well and is held in place by the
threaded ring. I bought one, installed it and, though I did no testing, it
seemed to work fine.
	The not-so-cheap alternative is to order an unmounted linear
polarizer blank from B+W. They will cut the blank to spec (43 mm).
Turnaround time was about 6 weeks and cost was about $85.00. I ordered mine
from John Opacki at The Filter Connection (www.2filter.com; 800-882-2832).
It was a beutifully finished item (ground edges), the metal ring fit back
on the new blank and the whole shebang was retained by, you guessed it, the
threaded ring.
	The advantage of retaining the metal ring would seem to be that it
would prevent the threaded ring from bearing directly on the glass surface
which may stress it and lead to premature separation; just a guess on my
part. If you feel lucky and don't mind changing the blanks a bit more often
(every ten years instead of every fifteen?), you might consider going with
the $18-we-can-deliver-it-tomorrow alternative. Your call=8A
	I hope some of you find this useful.

All Best,
Corey Levenson
San Antonio TX
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" - Raoul Duke