Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/07/17

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Subject: [Leica] Konica M lenses vs. Leica M lenses build???
From: "Albert Wang" <leica_phile@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 08:18:41 -0400

Hi there LUG folks,

I have to admit that despite other companies building M lenses for Leica 
bodies that Leica seems to come out on top for both optical and engineering 
construction.

For example,

I had cut a good deal on a chrome Elmar-M current version about 1.5 months 
ago. I really like the portability of it and the fact that it is sharp and 
has a good classical look to the images rather than simply the hard edge 
sharpness...

The focusing ring was medium tight and with lots of use (in fact I've used 
it quite a bit) the focusing ring loosened up quite a bit. I presumed that 
this is fairly normal as the grease during the summer heat will be with a 
smoother feel (although winter months could change that?) and for me that it 
is rather important when I need to do fine focusing. The good thing is that 
the focusing ring isn't too loose either just right for everyday use.

On the other hand, I had gotten a very cheap Konica Hexanon-M 50mm f2 to 
replace my M-Rokkor 40mm and it turns out that it looks like a rather gaudy 
version of the Summicron-M (which I will pick up next year most likely). 
What disappoints me is that focusing ring is so hellishly tight. I don't 
think that there is anything stuck in the helicals but there isn't any good 
quality grease in the Hexanon-M. It has a much tougher build than that of 
the Voigtlander but it's no Leica quality lens by my opinion.

Any ideas of what kind of grease that the Leica helicals have relative to 
those of the Konica? I wouldn't dare speculate...

Alfie


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