Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/09/23

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Subject: [Leica] A 50mm question
From: P2CON at aol.com (P2CON@aol.com)
Date: Fri Sep 23 15:41:01 2005

In a message dated 9/23/2005 11:30:34 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
peter_knowlden@telus.net writes:
<<Have been following the '50' debate and so I pulled out my 3.5 Elmar on 
M3. I don't use it much because it is rather slow but chiefly because 
the sliding tube is really tight, as is the focus. Apart from pricey 
CLA, is there a simple fix for this?  Is the gasket sensitive to 
lubricant? I normally shoot with a J8 or the Tele Elmar 135 when using 
the M3  but I should make the collapsible lens functional as it is a 
real space saver when travelling. Any comments would be welcome.
Peter>>
Peter, the fix for stiff focus on the 3.5 Elmar is simple, simple, simple.  
Just remove the long screw that limits the close-focus travel of the 
focusing 
mount and turn the focusing mount the rest of the way to separate the two 
halves of the mount.  You can then clean the old congealed lube from both 
halves of 
the focusing mount with toothpicks and Ronsonol, (lighter fluid), then 
relube 
with a suitable grease and reassemble.

Note: mark the point at which the mount separates on both halves of the 
focus 
mount, and when reassembling start the two halves together at that same 
point. The focus mount can be reassembled incorrectly because there is more 
than 
one entry point for the threads.  It is not a serious issue because a little 
trial and error will soon let you find the correct point at which to start 
threading the two halves together.  For lube, a lot of people just use white 
lithium 
based bearing grease from the hardware store.

Not sure about the stiff sliding fit of the collapsible tube. I would think 
that might be a good thing. :-)

Regards, Paul Connet