ZM Planar 50/2 tight focusing?

[ljosha]

Hi,

I bought a 50/2 ZM Planar last year new. I did just a couple of shots back then and noticed that the focusing is very tight. At the moment Planar is my only lens so I took it out for shooting today. The focusing is extremely tight. It goes a bit easier from infinity to 0.7m, but the other direction is much worse.

How normal is this for Planars? Should I ask for a replacement or it will be better over the time?

Thanks!

[fbf]

mine has a little problem too: butter smooth from near to infinity but very tight to the opposite direction. Never really bothered me but it's there.

[Avotius]

mine has a slight tightness to it, an uneven feeling in the movement through the focusing range, but that said mine is also really smooth, almost too smooth, the movement feels lighter then all my other lenses including a well used leica v3 summicron and the tightness is more like a rough patch in the ring.

[waileong]

It's normal. I don't know if you can ask for a replacement on that basis. I had mine relubricated by an experienced repairman, and the difference was night and day! What he told me was they used the wrong lubricant (ie cheaper lubricant).

[ljosha]

Thank you all for your responses. Indeed it gets better at around >16C, but I think this tightness is abnormal for such a lens. I never had a problem with my Hexanon 35mm, the focusing was fast yet smooth.

Originally Posted by waileong

It's normal. I don't know if you can ask for a replacement on that basis. I had mine relubricated by an experienced repairman, and the difference was night and day! What he told me was they used the wrong lubricant (ie cheaper lubricant).

What should I except to pay for such a procedure? Can you recommend your repairman if you are in Europe?

[waileong]

I'm in Singapore. Any good repairman should be able to do it, not a very complicated lens.

[notturtle]

mine is tight too. once I am done in Afghanistan I will get all my ZMs checked over and services to bring their focus to identical specs. two have a touch of wobble, one is tight, one has backlash etc. All perfectly usable and not really even something i think about, but it would be nice to have them all the same.