RustyBug
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 p.1 #4 · Storing Your Leica Camera & Lens: Best Practices | |
I can't speak with any authority on the matter of camera and lenses specifically, but as a reliability / maintenance practice, the issue of maintenance for idle / layup periods is in my wheelhouse.
Gravity redistributing the lubricants might be considered one potential failure mode. That will be a slow time frame, to occur. With my motors that are idle, I rotate the shafts on an annual basis, as a matter of good practice. I don't see the need to rotate lenses on the shelf at three month intervals, but if three months gives you more peace of mind, that's fine too.
If I'm establishing a maintenance strategy for idle lenses (mine don't remain idle that long) in storage / layup (say collector, which I'm not), I'd recommend an annual physical rotation of their orientation. BUT, even more than that ... I'd recommend cycling the aperture throughout its entire range of apertures in both directions, as well as racking the focus through its entire range (mfd - infinity).
In my experience, actuators become impinged with particulates from ambient air, as another failure mode. By cycling the apertures, at an interval which "removes" the impinged particulates while the accumulation is still low and still "soft", aids in the retention of smooth operations when resuming operations from extended periods of non-operation. Impinged contaminants are also points of collection for moisture, which leads to corrosive action.
This is part of the reason why climate controlled cabinets / storage container domes are used. They protect the micron level contaminants from reaching the aperture blades, and settling on them. Ideally, they would be stored in a protective enclosure (individual dome) with caps on, in a cabinet with a positive pressure, HEPA filtered air, to keep ambient particles from entering the cabinet from outside air (due to the higher pressure in the cabinet).
Granted, most folks aren't going to do that. But, the point of particulate matter impinging on the aperture blades is one failure mode that I think few folks will consider. Granted, it takes a long while for that to occur, but it still does happen ... at a rate that is correlated to the air quality of the environment. Keeping a HEPA filter air cleaner in the room which they are stored will serve well for most folks, too.
With a maintenance strategy of cycling the aperture blades and racking the focus, the failure modes of particulate impingement and lubrication redistribution are addressed.
Similarly, for cameras ... cycling of operations should be performed periodically, for similar failure modes of lubrication displacement and particulate impingement / corrosion.
BTW ... if you think this is too small to see, you're right. OTOH, if it gets to a place where you CAN see this ... ummm, too late.
Bear in mind also, that with some lenses ... i.e. floating elements, etc. that there are two sets of helicoids. The pitch of the gearing in those helicoids may vary, as well as the amount of lubrication each uses. So, the rate at which gravity plays on redistribution may vary. Just another data point for cycling through the entire range of focus racking.
And, if we are talking about non-M lenses, some lenses are now using linear focusing rails, you don't want the lens sitting in the same spot forever. That will create that "hitch" in sliding differential. Yet another reason for cycling the lens through full range of focus (lubrication / particle impingement).
As to position, I'd agree with storing in the mid position for aperture, after fully cycling in each direction (and periodic cycling thereafter).
Then, there's also the matter of "oil bleed" that occurs with certain types of lubricants. I think the newer lenses are using lubricants that are less prone to oil bleed (which is where the oil in the grease separates from the binder in the grease), particularly if using more of a fluoro based lubricant (which costs more, etc.). By merely rotating the physical position of the lenses, any of the oil bleed that has occurred remains separated from the binder. By cycling the mechanisms, oil that has "bled out" can be better re-mixed in with the lubricant (i.e. oil and binder), than merely repositioning the lens. I know that Leica has made some changes in the lubricants they use, but I can't specify which / when they made the changes. Also, if a CLA has been done ... which type of lubricant used for the CLA may vary. Cheap grease will bleed out oil faster than good grease, depending on the binder used. Fluoro lubes less so. But, there's the trade-off of "stiffness" in operation vs. oil retention in lubricant manufacturing / application decisions ... always a quid pro quo, kind of thing (I digress).
Lots of "blah, blah" ... to say, simply this:
Keep 'em closed up, in a clean space, the cleaner the better. And, if you haven't already done so ... fondle them fully with love at least once a year. 
Edited on Jan 19, 2024 at 07:45 AM · View previous versions
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