Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/03/30

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Subject: Re: [Leica] [Q] How to clean a 21mm finder?
From: "Leslie Koh" <lesliek@oriental.com.hk>
Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 09:32:36 +0800

Arne Helme wrote:


>I have a few things to say about the 21mm black plastic finders.  (1)
>they *look* cheap, but (2) they *are* expensive, and (3) dust builds
>up on the inside of their main lens element (in mine at least).
>Apparently there is sufficient space between the lens element and the
>plastic housing to let dust in.  It's not that dust specks irritate
>me, but after about a year of use the finder has become difficult to
>use because of stray light created by an increasing amount of dust.


I bought a 21mm ASPH about a month ago with the finder and found a
considerable amount of dust behind the front element right of the box.
Like you, I was tempted to pry the darn thing open but at almost $250 a pop,
I figured I'd better just send the finder back for a replacement.  Took the
local dealer about 2 weeks to get one as they were out of stock.  I'm almost
certain that its a design fault which allows dust to get into the housing
and you would think that for the $$$s that you pay for the darn thing that
Leica could at least look into better QC.  I guess its only a matter of time
before dust starts accumulating in my replacement finder - wonder if there's
a way to seal off the joints?

Les