Re: [Leica] A Message from the Inky Abyss

[Marshall Hunt <huntmc2@fuse.net>]

When I was graduated from grade school in 1953, .03 + .03 =
.06.  Erwin said a bandwidth of .06. Service manual has a
bandwidth of .06.  Worry about something else! Hunt

Buzz Hausner wrote:
> 
> The Curmudgeon rises to pass along this message which was transferred to me
> at a secret drop point in Basel.  The Good Doktor Blacktape prefers to keep
> his location a secret for the moment, however, I can assure you all that he
> is well.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Doktor Black Tape
> Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2001 8:58 AM
> 
> Dr. Blacktape, who is off wandering in the UG wilderness, asks me to
> forward this so that it might what he rudely termed, "the five or six
> open-minded LUGers..."
> 
> The following from a member of the Hexar Users Group.....
> 
> " The technician, the affable Mr. Leung, came out and examined the
> camera...
> before I asked him and went outside to look at the rooftop antenna of a
> far building. He installed his own Hexar 50mm F2.0 lens and the range
> finder (as he must have suspected) focussed slightly beyond infinity. We
> also tried it with my
> Voigtlander Nokton 50mm F1.5, which I knew already focussed beyond
> infinity. Mr.
> Leung said it would take him just a few minutes to correct the focus...
> 
> "Then we went outside and tested both the Hexar lens and the voigtlander
> for infinity. Both reached infinity in coincidence of the rangefinder
> reaching infinity. This was all done in a very professional half an
> hour..
> 
> "I asked Mr. Leung to look at the Hexar service manual and read with
> my own eyes that the back focus is 28mm +/- 0.03mm - not the 0.06 which
> Erwin reported on May 9 2001 to the LUG..
> 
> >From: Erwin Puts  9 May 2001
> >Subject: [Leica] Konica facts
> >There has been much discussion about the compatibility of Leica
> lenses with the Hexar RF body. Most >people, including all of the
> magazine
> writers have assumed that the study of the bayonet mount (that is >does
> >the Leica lens fit onto the Hexar bayonet) is sufficient to declare
> that lenses and bodies can be safely >intermixed. Problems have been
> encountered and have been discussed as tolerance issues. As far as I
> >know, no one has extended the analysis to the most crucial part:
> the back focus or the distance from >bayonet flange to film plane. After
> measuring it and checking with the Konica people a most surprising >fact
> emerges. >The back focus of the Hexar RF is 28.00mm with a tolerance
> bandwidth of 0.06mm!"
> 
> DR. BLACKTAPE WONDERS...
> 
> Is it conceivable that The Great Putts, world expert in all things
> optical, High Priest of The Church of Solms, could have made such an
> obvious mistake? Or might one infer from this that the Great Putts for
> some indiscernable reason might want to make folks THINK that the RF is,
> in essence, incompatible with Leica lenses, and, therefore, it would be
> foolish for anyone wanting to use Leica glass to purchase an RF?
> Hmmmmmmm. Naw. Couldn't be. Next thing you know we'll be ready to
> believe that Ford and Firestone had a vague idea of what might happen if
> you put deflated tires on an Explorer...
> 
>         The Good Doktor