Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/04/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Dour Richardson wrote: > > On a happier note, one thing I learned at Solms which came as a > surprise was that the traditional method of grinding lenses in which > several blanks are mounted on a hemispherical surface and ground by a > single tool is no longer used. Machinery of this type had been used at > Wetzlar and re-installed at Solms, but the Leica company soon found > that this time-honoured technique was not good enough for the latest > generation of lenses. Now the individual glass elements are moulded to > approximate shape at the glass works, then individually ground at > Solms on a computer-controlled machine. Each surface takes around 20 - > 40 seconds to grind. Doug, You should also tell the Lug membership that Leica Solms grinds lenses to an accuracy of 1/10,000 of a mm which I was told far surpasses any other lens manufacturer. Paul T. Collura