Follow-Up to the Grey Spot on the Bottom of the M Lens Case

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Man, and I thought I had asked a dumb question, and would get back maybe a dozen identical answers to my inquiry! But instead, after reviewing 26 mostly hilarious responses from you good people, it seems that no one else knows for sure, with the exception of a few probable guesses. Maybe it warrants someone asking Mr. Erwin Puts. At least I think the small grey spot may actually be Leica's "circle of confusion"!

As for marking the bottom of the case so that the user doesn't open the case upside down - isn't the top of the case embossed with the "Leica" script? That should already be a guide. And as a means to write down the type of lens inside, at least for me, I don't have that many lens, don't carry around the leather case (too big for the camera bag), and wouldn't mar the case or the grey spot. Seems like Leica would have a better approach than asking the user to write this info down. Imagine, when you turn the case upside down to see what kind of lens you'd written there, the $2,000 28mm Summicron f/2 ASPH falls out from the unzipped top!

Leica could make the spot larger and darker if we were to actually use it as a true grey card.

Final question - Did Cosina/Voigtlander or the Konica Hexar RF copy the grey spot on their own lens cases? Ha!

-- Steve Brantley (superglidesport@mindspring.com), March 16, 2002

Answers

Steve,

Why don't you follow up on all the musings originally posted to your question and give Leica NJ a call or e-mail?

Better yet (and taking a cue from your e-mail address), why not hop on that Harley and head for the Garden State? After all, Spring is nigh.

Breathlessly waiting for what you find out,

Jerry

-- Jerome R. Pfile, Jr. (JerryPfile@msn.com), March 16, 2002.


I didn't reply to the original post bescause it seemed people were having fun. But to carry on the thread as if it wasn't resolved is ridiculous. The grey spot is for writing the lens type on, nothing more, nothing less. Just wait and see, in a few years time there will be Leica collectable market all of its own for 'marked' and 'unmarked' cases.

-- Steve Barnett (barnet@globalnet.co.uk), March 17, 2002.

You can use the grey spot to mark what lens is in the case. Some cases are very similar in size so if you use the cases it can be handy to mark which is which. If the cases did not have a grey or white spot, you could not mark them easily.

-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), March 17, 2002.

If thatīs the case John why they donīt come already marked.

-- r watson (alo1231234@hotmail.com), March 17, 2002.

Leica does not have a separate case for each lens. They have several cases and use different inserts to accomodate the different lenses. My 35/1.4A and 21/2.8A have the same case but different inserts.

-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), March 17, 2002.


I see, I have only one, that came with my 50/2.

-- r watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), March 17, 2002.

leica cuts corners by using the sam accessories for different lenses, like the lenscases and some lenscaps, regardless if they fit or not. the lenscap for the 35lux without the hood is a shame, or actually all current lenscaps (except teh elmar's) are cheapest plastic and not worth for the beauful lenses. i like the voigtlander metal ones!

-- stefan randlkofer (geesbert@yahoo.com), March 17, 2002.

Steve,

Although I use the grey spot to write the lens type on the case, it may be that your "circle of confusion" observation is more accurate.

I can envision an elderly optical engineer with a devilish streak in Solms saying to his cohorts, "You know, if we paint a gray dot on the bottom of the lens cases, we'll have thousands of people wondering what the dot is for, and spending untold hours discussing various theories."

-- Ralph Barker (rbarker@pacbell.net), March 17, 2002.


You guys are so silly. The grey dot is to be used as an emergency grey card.

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

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