Re: [Leica] Re: Halogen light and lenses

["Gary D. Whalen" <whalen@whalentennis.com>]

Jim,

    I believe that you miss the point.  The point is NOT that the specs are of
no concern.  The point IS that they should not be there in the first place.  By
the way, what is the point of having perfect glass, and selling it as such, but
having dirty production practices.  Your point is off the mark.  When you buy
Leica you are buying a premium product.  Specs and dirt inside of a lense does
not belong in a premium product especially if it can simple be corrected by a
more sterile production climate.  Maybe you should consider how the lenses
would perform without these specs.  Or maybe you should take a nail and add
some more.

Jim Brick wrote:

> As I've said many times, I have never had any Leica problems that weren't
> my own fault. My lenses perform flawlessly. I frequently photograph
> directly into the sun. Many times with the sun in the frame. I don't have a
> flare problem with any of my Leica R lenses. All eleven of them. But I
> don't go hunting for problems either. The old saying goes... "if you go
> looking for trouble, you are going to find it." I personally cannot be
> bothered. I bought a new Hasselblad lens, 60mm Distigon, that had a huge
> bubble in the glass. Right up front, plain as day. It was a stunning
> performer. I used that lens on many commercial jobs. It was indeed, one of
> my favorites.
>
> As Leica said, what you see in the lens will in no way effect your
> photographs. So if you hadn't gone to the trouble of looking for something,
> you would have never seen this, and your photographs would be exactly the
> same.
>
> I have often wondered if people buy Leica's to use for photography, or as
> an exercise in mechanical/optical study.
>
> About your 100/2.8 . Are you really interested in someone taking it all
> apart, attempting to clean it, then reassembling it, without introducing
> more problems? I personally would just use it. I wouldn't have this dilemma
> in the first place...
>
> Jim
>
> At 09:43 AM 12/10/98 -0500, you wrote:
> >  A friend of mine recently received a new 100 f.28 Macro for his R8.
> >After receiving it he called me and said that there were 20-30 "very
> >small" specs on the glass INSIDE of the lense.  He also told me that the
> >only way you can check a lense to see if it is clean is with a halogen
> >light.    I always check my lenses and camera with natural light or
> >light bulb but have never checked them with a halogen light.  Well, I
> >decided to check a few of my lenses and found the same thing - many
> >small specs of dust or particles behind the front lense.
> >
> >  This morning I called Leica repair and they said that those specs
> >should not be there but that they should also not affect the image in
> >anyway.  They said that they would take the lenses in and clean them
> >and it would take around 3 weeks.  They also said that the R lenses are
> >not closed lenses.  That is, that dust can get into the inside elements
> >of R lenses.  I thought this was weird but what do I know.
> >
> >    Do any of you have any thoughts or ideas concerning the specs and/or
> >the halogen light check?  Is this a Leica QC problem or normal in all
> >lenses?  Also, my friend ordered a brand new R8 and the glass in the
> >veiwfinder was scratched.  What is going on with Leica.  People do NOT
> >spend 2 to 3 times more money than the competition for any equipment
> >without expecting perfection.  Leica will be out of business within 5
> >years if they do not address these quality control issues.
> >