Paperweights

[TOP publishes on Mon./Wed./Fri. Comments are added later.]

Reader and friend o' TOP JG—you might recall the Frankencamera—had an unfortunate accident with this PC-Super-Angulon-R 28mm ƒ/2.8, made by Schneider, I believe, for Leica. "I removed the shift mechanism from the body," he writes, "and had the lens loosely mounted to a carbon fiber panel that was in turn mounted to a GFX-to-Pentax 645 lens adapter—in retrospect, it was obviously mounted a bit too loosely!—and when I fumble-fingered it while removing it from the camera body, the lens came loose and fell more than five feet onto the marble tile floor underneath my tripod...oops!"

Most unfortunate that it happened to land wrong. I don't know what Roger would say about this, but my experience has been that lenses are generally tougher than they look.

For one thing, early lenses had very soft glass elements, and that turned out to be a good thing. They got what were called "cleaning marks"—tiny concentric scratches from photographers wiping them with the ends of their neckties in a circular motion. Cleaning marks were common enough that the lensmakers had to address the problem. By the '80s, a Leica rep bragged that you could deliberately try to scratch the outermost element of a 50mm Summicron with barbed wire and it wouldn't leave a mark.

I can believe it; I've bought plenty of used lenses marked "glass mint," and many of them were in well-used condition, with marks, dings, mars and scratches everywhere but on the glass. If the glass itself hadn't been tough and scratch-resistant, surely more photographers would have left their marks.

The boredom test
When I worked for Jim Sherwood at the PG County Schools, sometimes between jobs we had little to do but make work for ourselves. Jim had a lot of equipment in that lab, which included, from time to time, boxes of donated camera gear. So once I got to wondering how a nearly valueless old zoom would survive a fall from a second-story window on to asphalt (the lab was on the second floor). Some of you might remember that one of David Letterman's early features was throwing stuff off a five-story building—that was no doubt what gave me the idea.

To my surprise, the cheap old zoom survived with just a small dent, which in turn fired up my experimental curiosity. So I made some test pictures, and then subjected it to further tortures—drops from the roof, or throwing it as high as I could in the air and letting it land on concrete. With test pictures each time. To my great surprise, all this abuse was hardly visible in the photographs. Eventually, the front element even cracked in half, and it still took halfway decent pictures.

I suggested to JG that the hurt former PC Super-Angulon pictured above might serve as a paperweight and conversation piece. Unfortunately, however, the glass of the shattered element is loose and could come off. So, unless anyone needs this for spare parts, it's landfill-bound.

As for the hapless zoom I experimented with all those years ago, it was, um, tested to completion. Eventually I damaged the bayonet mount and it could no longer be mounted on a camera. So it, too, was returned to the earth.

And as for the barbed wire test? Well, I had paid a whopping $650 for my then-brand-new 50mm Summicron (it was this type), and I was loathe to perform that test for myself. So I took the rep's word for it! I haven't learned much in my traverse through life, but I know enough not to tempt fate like that.

Mike

P.S. Let's not mention the Fuji GS645s to Oren—surely he's forgotten about that review by now, and won't repeat the story.

UPDATE from Oren: "< pokes head out of burrow > 'But, well, I dropped this one. I don't know how it happened...' < ducks back into burrow >"

Mike adds: Oren, who forgets nothing, reminds me every decade or so of one of my most public embarrassments: while reviewing the Fuji GS645s long ago, I dropped the thing and it broke into many pieces! Although I would have dearly loved to do a "coverup," my philosophy has always been that reviews are most useful to readers when the reviewer is honest. So, I 'fessed up, and recounted my ineptitude in the published article. What else could I do? Still find a bit of dried egg on my face from that one.

Book o' the Week
Eye and Brain by Richard Gregory, Fifth Edition. "As far as I know nothing in the past 50 years is a better explanation of how humans see." —Hugh Crawford

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Grant: "I started in the camera business in the late '70s. Back then every company rep had his own 'schtick' to demonstrate the superiority of his brand. Our Fuji rep, who was an 'industry veteran,' used to show off the durability of the then-new Fujinon EBC coatings by putting out a cigarette on the element. It always cleaned up perfectly."

hugh crawford: "Two thoughts on that banged lens. First, the lens is certainly repairable, or at least Leitz used to stock replacement elements as service parts. I speak from experience. Second, if there are no service parts left I’ll bet that out of all the damaged P.C. Angulons in the world, having the rear element broken is the rarest fault of all, so this has value greater than a paperweight. I mean the most trashed example you can find probably has a rear group that is relatively fine. I suspect that this well publicized salvage will attract the attention of someone with the corresponding lens shaped wreckage."

Mike replies: It did. JG has already homed it, with an owner of the same lens that has different issues.

Stan B.: "On a shoot in an upstate park once, I was left in charge of all the equipment while the photographer, art director, etc. all went out to lunch. I started tidying things up a bit when I tripped over the sync cord, and as I regained my balance...I noticed the 8x10 Deardorff atop the tripod ever so tentatively start to plummet face first unto the concrete. I willed it to stop mid air in its slow motion downward plunge towards oblivion! Next, I immediately started fantasizing fleeing into a witness protection program, faking a robbery scene where I boldly fought off the would be thieves—anything to get me outta this split-second, life-altering catastrophe!

"Regaining whatever composure I had left, I finally went over to assess the camera- and shoot-obliterating damage. The lens hood had absorbed the impact and was slightly dented inwards to one side. Not one scratch, dent or abrasion anywhere else on lens or body—and the shutter worked! Everyone returned, the shoot continued without further incident as I anticipated blurting out the entire scenario at the mere sound of my name. As the photographer was disassembling his precious Deardorff at shoot's end I noticed him stop to curiously examine the lopsided lens shade. Finally, he shook his head and carried on...best purchase he ever made."

Kenneth Wajda: "I learned long ago anything that’s dropping, stick out my foot and kick or break the fall. Saved many a lens and other breakables this way."

Comments

[Bill Tyler]

The paperweight might still be salvaged with some judiciously applied glue. It needs to be something thin - watery consistency - that binds to glass. The stuff used for patching small windshield cracks might do the trick.

[Ilkka]

The 28mm PC lens is indeed made by Schneider in Germany, for Leica R. But it is also available in many other mounts. One can, or at least could still a few years ago, buy different mounts direct from Schneider to mount it to different cameras. I bought that lens second hand and then got a Minolta mount for it, to use on Sony A900. It is not an adapter, one needs to unscrew some 5-6 screws to remove the existing bayonet and replace with the new one.

[Robert Roaldi]

Why do guys like breaking stuff?

[Greg]

Probably 30 years ago I was rock climbing with some friends at the Shawangunks in New Paltz, NY. At the time I wasn't climbing or belaying so I was taking pictures of a friend climbing. I heard him yell "rock", and an instant later while viewing through my FM2's viewfinder, saw and felt a rock hit the front of my 35-105mm lens. Left a good chip in the front element. Sent it to Nikon and they replaced the front element(s). From that incident on, all my lenses had UV filters on them at all times.

[Rick_D]

I'd slather a little clear lacquer on it and keep it as paperweight/doorstop should one have an elegant door. The breakage pattern is spectacular (although the recurring bad memories might not be).

[Rod S.]

Ouch. I'd be surprised if an existing owner isn't willing to buy it for parts. The front element group, at least.

JG has removed the nicely machined shift mechanism from the rear of the lens (thus exposing the rear element in the manner pictured), so that part is presumably safe, too.

[Pak-Ming Wan]

I did buy an old collapsible summicron 50/2 to try out for the "experience" for about 300 Euro at the time. It was in pretty awful condition, focusing was a pain because the focusing cam was really dry but more importantly, the front element was made of a softer glass compound and heavily scratched (and not coated). It was quite sharp but light sources not dead on centre would cause flare.

So, given the state of the lens, price, and lack of multi-coat, I decided to try and polish out the scratches using cerium oxide powder. It worked -- the lens now works perfectly without the flare. Don't give up on old lenses, even if they are scratched!

Pak

[JG]

In the five-and-a-half years since my guest post, I have assembled several more FrankenKameras -- my favorite being No. VII, which mated a Sony A7R (and occasionally a Samsung NX 500 that I use for IR photography) with several brands of vintage 35 mm format lenses -- and I'm now hard at work on my eighth FrankenKamera, which will mate a Fuji GFX 100S body with Pentax 645 lenses and provide a generous range of the rear rise / fall movements that are essential for the type of nighttime photography I enjoy.

In fact, it was the FrankenKamera VIII project in-process that lead me to adapt my Leica R 28mm PC lens to a Pentax 645 mount, as the few available 28 mm lens options were all too large, too heavy, and too expensive for my preference and budget.

Because this is a PC lens, it projects an image circle large enough to cover the sensor of the 100S and a bit more. With my present preference to frame my photos for the 16:10 format, this meant I would have several millimeters of rise / fall movement available, which should be more than sufficient for the majority of scenes I photograph.

The fact that I already owned this lens was also a factor, because there's no way I would pay today's market price for one. Sadly, I won't be replacing it for the same reason, so until another 28 mm lens option is available, I will have to live with the 33 mm end of the 33-55 zoom or 35 mm prime being my shortest focal length.

Which certainly is not the worst result possible, as I could have dropped the body instead of the lens ... yikes!

[Rob de Loe]

Here's a kindred spirit who also empirically tested how much damage you could do to a lens. I share this link with people who get very concerned when they find a spec of dust inside the lens. http://kurtmunger.com/dirty_lens_articleid35.html

My condolences to JG for that poor lens. Even the boldest overseas eBay seller would not be able to describe it as "EX+++++"

[Dan Khong]

I dropped a 35 Summilux-M (pre-ASPH) - "ouch!" - onto a concrete floor sometime back. There was a visible dent at the flange but the lens still worked fine.

[Steve Rosenblum]

In the mid 90's, when I was going through what I refer to as my "Ansel" phase, I shlepped 40 pounds of Canon cameras, L glass, and a tripod around the wilderness shooting landscape photos. One day I was on the rim trail of the Yellowstone Canyon shooting photos of the falls when I dropped a Canon 300/f4 L lens onto the ground where it bounced over the edge of the cliff and plummeted downwards. With little hope I hiked down the switchbacks of the trail into the canyon, and there several hundred feet below where I had been standing I found the lens which had bounced off boulders on the way down before coming to rest on top of a rock. I examined the lens and the glass looked OK but it would not focus. Fortunately, I had fully insured my gear so I called the insurance company, honestly told them what had happened and said I was going to get a repair estimate for the lens and let them know the cost. They said, "Forget it, the lens is totaled, we will send you a check to replace it." I said, "are you sure?", but they just sent me the check. I sent the lens in to Canon and they were able to repair for only a couple hundred bucks and it worked like new. So, I ended up with a check and a repaired lens!

[JH]

That reminds me of the Top Gear episodes where they tried to kill a Toyota pickup.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnWKz7Cthkk

[That was amazing. Never saw that before. What an advertisement for Toyotas! --Mike]

[Doug C]

No replacement parts available?

Ironically those soft front elements meant that Leica stocked replacements for them for decades, though I think they have run out now.

[Kent Wiley]

How did the "marble floor" fare in the encounter with a chunk of glass and metal? Could be the more costly repair...

[DGlos]

Oh, that absolutely must be a desktop curiosity/paperweight. I love objects with an interesting history, and 'ruined' expensive objects often have a great story behind them.

If worried about the loose glass, simply paint on several coats of clear finger nail polish to keep all the bits in place.

[Kodachromeguy]

Wow, this was a rare and expensive lens. And he disassembled it and dropped the optical unit.

[Mike Johnston]

Pretty funny " still took halfway decent pictures."

Mike J