Leica 19mm F2.8 Elmarit-R Lens Scratch Repairs?

dylan86 · Jul 11, 2021

Recently found this lens along with a bag of Leica R7 gear and 100mm lens at a auction, unfortunately everything but this glorious 19mm lens was in good condition.

The 19mm Elmarit-R has a 1/4 scratch in the middle that is rather deep along with very fine scratches and small dots in the AR coating visible under light, there is minor haze on the underside of the front element as well. The rest of the lens functioning and condition is ok. I was curious if there are any active repair persons that could polish and re apply the AR coating professionally and if this is even financially worth it. I'm not sure what to do with the lens otherwise, it's a shame. If anyone has any recommendations or even dreaded diy options that might slightly remedy this issue please let me know.

bdial · Jul 12, 2021

If the scratch goes through the coating, it can’t be polished off without changing the lens’s curvature. It is possible to polish off the coating and re-coat. Since Focal Point optics shut down, I’ve not heard of shops that do that service, but it’s not too unlikely that someone somewhere does it.
I had a lens recoated by Focal Point a number of years ago, and the cost was around 350 USD.

Auer · Jul 12, 2021

dylan86 said:
Recently found this lens along with a bag of Leica R7 gear and 100mm lens at a auction, unfortunately everything but this glorious 19mm lens was in good condition.

The 19mm Elmarit-R has a 1/4 scratch in the middle that is rather deep along with very fine scratches and small dots in the AR coating visible under light, there is minor haze on the underside of the front element as well. The rest of the lens functioning and condition is ok. I was curious if there are any active repair persons that could polish and re apply the AR coating professionally and if this is even financially worth it. I'm not sure what to do with the lens otherwise, it's a shame. If anyone has any recommendations or even dreaded diy options that might slightly remedy this issue please let me know.

How does it impact image quality?
Shoot a few rolls under different light and see how it works out?

Don_ih · Jul 12, 2021

A very wide-angle lens like that will suffer very bad flare from a scratch in the middle of the element like that. Longer lenses, you can use a hood. You can try the lens with a bit of black crayon rubbed into the scratch - it might diminish the flare. At least the scratch is on the front and not on the back.

BradS · Jul 12, 2021

Hi and Welcome!

Blacken the scratch with a sharpie pen, try making some photos with the lens in different lighting conditions (indoors, outdoors, sun behind you, sun to the side, etc...).
Keep notes. I think you might be surprised...

It is likely not worth having it repaired, unless donor lens can be found with good glass.

Please post photos of the scratch and some examples from the experiments. Worst case, you have a parts donor that someone else may be interested in.

Kodachromeguy · Jul 12, 2021

If there is internal haze, I suggest you have that cleaned and then just go use the lens with it's appropriate sun hood. All this talk about finding a parts lens or using this one for parts: how many of these 19 mm lenses do you think there are floating around on earth? And you're going be able to find another one that you could sacrifice for it's front element?

BradS · Jul 12, 2021

Kodachromeguy said:
..... All this talk about finding a parts lens or using this one for parts: how many of these 19 mm lenses do you think there are floating around on earth? And you're going be able to find another one that you could sacrifice for it's front element?

An excellent point. A quickie search on eBay shows only five of these for sale right now....at median BiN price: $6500 and actual sales prices around $4000 ~ $5000. A damaged one recently sold for $1350 ( https://www.ebay.com/itm/303949949271 )

cramej · Jul 12, 2021

Sharpie the scratch and give it a go. If you can't stand that you colored on the front element with a marker, it can be removed with alcohol.

removed account4 · Jul 12, 2021

Hi Dylan
everyone has a secret weapon to make their photographs look different from the rest of us schlubs .
I wouldn't mess with the lens at all, just use it and enjoy it, get a lens hood ( or not ) .. and never tell or show anyone the lens
cause they will do their best to rip you off by messing with their lenses so they will feel special ..
have fun with the nice gear!
john

Auer · Jul 12, 2021

jnantz said:
Hi Dylan
everyone has a secret weapon to make their photographs look different from the rest of us schlubs .
I wouldn't mess with the lens at all, just use it and enjoy it, get a lens hood ( or not ) .. and never tell or show anyone the lens
cause they will do their best to rip you off by messing with their lenses so they will feel special ..
have fun with the nice gear!
john

+1

dylan86 · Jul 12, 2021

Good points, thank you all!

I noticed these prices too was a bit shocked/depressed haha oh well, I can't complain I got the whole kit for 500 Canadian in a nice lowepro bag so I will remain grateful.

Kodachromeguy I think I will go the route you mentioned I'm a bit tight for cash to invest in it and was hoping to sell the lens but would not do so in the condition it's in. I think I feel comfortable enough taking it apart cleaning the haze on the front element and then just be settled and happy with it as the previous poster mentioned. Wondering if a circular polarizing filter would help with the flare to take it one step further...

If I were to go the fussy and the more extreme approach also probably impossible would be to have it repaired. I noticed this company https://skyllaney.com/services/ polishes by hand with cerium oxide, which I would imagine would result in some distortion and changes in the optics. Further more they can send lenses out to be recoated, hoping to find this place in Lithuania they deal with to see if they also do repairs as my partner is from there would be handy next time she travels home. As mentioned again this is probably a bit crazy so I should cool my jets and relax and enjoy it as is.

I will through a roll in it and see what the results are in the meantime, and order Leica R to Nikon F adapter to test it on my cinema camera.

Will try and post a video for reference tonight.

Thanks again for the advice.

Marcelo Paniagua · Jul 12, 2021

I guess thats the bes route dylan. Go through the film roll and see what happens. I have 21mm Skopar that has a scratch on the back element and it creates a blurred patch on the images. My solucion was to use a black permanent sharpie and I got decent results.

Marcelo

Don_ih · Jul 12, 2021

Just remember there is nothing to lose by blackening the scratch - it will cut down on flare and you will not see it in the photos.

dylan86 · Jul 12, 2021

Marcelo Paniagua said:
I guess thats the bes route dylan. Go through the film roll and see what happens. I have 21mm Skopar that has a scratch on the back element and it creates a blurred patch on the images. My solucion was to use a black permanent sharpie and I got decent results.

Marcelo

Sounds good, I'll give the sharpie method a try as well. I have a lone roll of B&W film somewhere I'll try it out with some off angle light sources, excited to work with this lens.. Thanks

gone · Jul 12, 2021

Paint the scratch black and use a hood. You'll probably be fine.

Patrick Robert James · Jul 12, 2021

You want to use India ink to blacken the scratch. Sharpie is transparent.

Marcelo Paniagua · Jul 12, 2021

Patrick Robert James said:
You want to use India ink to blacken the scratch. Sharpie is transparent.

Good idea Patrick. Sharpie would requiere multiple pass/coats. My 21mm Skopar need multiple ones but finally got the results I was looking for. Blurred patch is no longer noticiable. I went the sharpie route since I'm pretty bad at working with my hands and was afraid I would make a mess with indian ink.

dylan86 · Jul 12, 2021

Patrick Robert James said:
You want to use India ink to blacken the scratch. Sharpie is transparent.

Noted, thanks

Kodachromeguy · Jul 12, 2021

dylan86 said:
haha oh well, I can't complain I got the whole kit for 500 Canadian in a nice lowepro bag so I will remain grateful

You will never ever in your life be able to buy a 19 mm Leica R lens for $500 and even have some other items thrown in the bargain. I suspect a lens like this was probably adjusted for the exact elements in the barrel. I doubt you can just swap out and put another piece of glass in there, even if you could ever find a donor that you felt you could afford.

As for a polarizer, no. This lens is too wide. You will see irregular sky darkening.

Leica 19mm F2.8 Elmarit-R Lens Scratch Repairs?

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