I bought this new M 35mm f2 lens about 10 months ago. Used it on and off, lovely smooth feel. But lately I find the focussing ring "sticky". At certain parts of the revolution one has to turn harder. Looking at it focussing, I can see the brassy threads going in and out. Ever a DIY fella, I put a dab of Penn (a fishing reel brand) light grease on the brassy threads, gave it a few revolutions and the stickiness went away, problems seems solved .

Will it come back to haunt me, oil in the lens, oil on the aperture rings, oil all over the body..........stop your hysterical laughter pls !

-- Yip (koklok@krdl.org.sg), January 18, 2002

Answers

Yip, Why didn't you use warranty service, did you buy grey market?

I'd be worried about liquid lubricant volatility in a closed system such as a lens on body. Fishing reels are open to the atmosphere as we say in our industry. I think Leica uses solid lubricants. What do watchmakers use in their closed systems? Any watchmakers/repairers out there?

-- Chris Chen (chrischen@msn.com), January 18, 2002.

It is under warranty but I am not patient sometimes and take calculated risks. It is a light grease so I hope it would not end up everywhere. Only a tiny tiny dab......I am silly but not that silly ! The system isn't closed, air does get in an out of the lens as it is not waterproof. The only solid lubricant I know of is graphite, don't think I want to put pencil dust in my lens.

-- Yip (koklok@krdl.org.sg), January 18, 2002.

Since it is still under warranty I would send it in to have them undo your lube. If you pay a bomb for a leica lens why waste the money with a jury rig? I understand the time factor but maybe you can get a loaner from your local shop or even use another lens while waiting. Or learn to live with the focus drag. I used to think my noctilux had a rough focus turn and then I started to understand that there was a reason behind it and now I am glad I didn't screw with it.

-- Russell Brooks (russell@ebrooks.org), January 18, 2002.

I once read that watchmakers use a light oil refined from whale blubber. It is an oil, wherever it comes from. By now, they might be using something synthetic instead of natural! Maybe there's now a Castrol Syntec for watches . . .

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), January 18, 2002.

Oils used in watchmaking are almost all synthetic today, and extremely expensive... but you need very little. ;)

-- Jan Mattsson (janm@it-huset.se), January 18, 2002.

For those who missed my earlier post, I once bought a chrome 35mm Summicron in like-new condition, with very stiff focus. I suspect the lens had sat around unused. At any rate, I held it over our hot woodstove while I worked the focus for a bit. Worked like a charm, and the focus was butter-smooth forever after! I'll now divest myself of any responsibility for anyone else who tries this and fries their lens!

-- John Layton (john.layton@valley.net), January 19, 2002.