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M9 and DR Summicron

Nick_Yoon

New member
Decided to try mounting the DR on my M9 in close focus mode - works but had to remove the plastic positioning tab on the rear of the goggles.
 

Nick_Yoon

New member
Some pics (any banding or posterization you see comes from Flickr's compression):




Slightly cropped from top right.

 

Lewis44

New member
I wonder what they changed on the M9. On my M8, I had to cut down the close focusing cam on the DR to get it to mount.
Images look great.
Randy
 

markmont

New member
Riddle me this - will this mount on an M8 in close focus mode? If so, I'm intrigued as I've been wanting a closer focus distance 50. My Nokton 50mm f1.1 is great but only focuses to 1m - Would be nice to have the option of getting that much closer, even more shallow.
 

Lewis44

New member
Riddle me this - will this mount on an M8 in close focus mode?
If it mounted in close focus mode on the M9, then it should do the same on the M8.
Like Nick said, it won't mount in normal mode. I remember there was only a minor trimming needed to the CF cam to get it to work in regular mode.
The problem was that the cam itself hung up when mounting the lens in regular mode, so it was not possible to mount on the camera. I never thought to try and mount in CF Mode only and it was not mentioned in any of the threads I read on the subject.
You may want to do a search on RFF as it was covered there a few years ago.
I had the whole cam cut down on mine as I did not have the goggles and don't do close focus work. It also looked neater. Basically a clean straight cut the full length of the CF Cam
The 1st of the CV 35mm Nokton f1.2's had a similar problem and the rear element guard was modified to allow it to work on the M8

Just to add, It was a Damn nice lens
 

Maggie O

Active member
Please folks, if you have a DR, don't go and ruin it by vandalizing the focusing cam!!! If you want a Summicron from that era for the M8/M9, just get a rigid and leave the remaining DRs unmolested for those folks who still shoot film Leicas or will just use the DR for close-focus work on the digiMs.

DRs are a non-renewable resource, after all.
 

Lewis44

New member
Please folks, if you have a DR, don't go and ruin it by vandalizing the focusing cam!!! If you want a Summicron from that era for the M8/M9, just get a rigid and leave the remaining DRs unmolested for those folks who still shoot film Leicas or will just use the DR for close-focus work on the digiMs.

DRs are a non-renewable resource, after all.
I would guess that there are about twice as many DR's out there without eye's than there are Rigid's. I would also venture to say that 95% of Leica Shooter's have never done close up work. Also the eye's that were taken off the DR's are mostly never to be seen again. They are in Eye Heaven
Also, a good Rigid seems to go for more than a DR, especially w/o the eyes.
So, why not put a perfectly good lens to work on a perfectly good set of cameras (M8/M9). Seems a shame to let such a good lens go to waste.
I would say:
"Please, Have it done Right", Then Enjoy
 

Nick_Yoon

New member
Also, for the M7, M8 and M9, you will have to remove the plastic spacer on the rear of the goggles/eyes as they were designed for the slightly shorter/lower body of the classic M3, M2, M4, M6 and MP bodies.
 
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Woody Campbell

Workshop Member
I have a DR - I sent it to Don Goldberg to have the close focus cam removed. This permits it to be mounted on the M9 without the goggles and permits it to be used normally on the M9. Of course the close focus range no longer couples with the rangefinder.

There are many, many of these lenses out there on the used market. They are not expensive since they can't be used on the M8 at all or on the M9 without modification and they are too plentiful to be serious collectors items. The build quality and ergonomics are fabulous.

This lens that has been used to produce thousands of iconic images. It more or less defines the classic Leica look.

According to Puts's Leica Lens Compendium the DR is identical optically to the "rigid" summicron (II) introduced in 1957, but there is a persistent urban legend the Leica selected lens cells that exceeded spec for the DR mount. It was replaced by the summicron (III) in 1969.

I owned one purchased new back in the day, and it plus my M3 was all the camera I needed.

I like mine a lot and get a fair amount of use out of it.
 
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