A great video for learning these techniques properly and also learning possible pitfalls. Thank you very much for making this carefully explained tutorial. 😊
Once i tried flush it in brake cleaner then i put the whole part (the aperture system) in the oven without disassembly. I left it like 15 mins at 80 C. It worked like a charm but it was a dirt cheap-bad shape Helios 44M and i was just experimenting. Right way to do it is always fully dissasemble and clean like you do. Great video !
Good video. If I've learned one thing from my limited experience of repairing a few dozen lenses and cameras it's this: just do things the proper way. Trying to save time with a clever "shortcut" will most likely result in more work in the end (fixing up the mess you made). "Good *and* fast" is for the pros.
Thanks, I have learned the hard way by trial and error, and in that way see the things more deeper than just throwing things away, and it's really good you also keep learning the stuff with your own experience, and don't forget to do a lot of errors, because that's the best way to actually learn the stuff. Best regards Kenneth
Isopropyl alcohol is not very strong against oil, that's why it wouldn't work. I used bike chain/brake cleaner, which works wonder at dissolving oil. Just remove all glass elements first. Spray the apperture assembly and operate the apperture a few times while spraying it every minutes or so. Make sure not to spray everywhere and remove the grease from the focusing ring. For me doing this for 5 minutes removed all the oil and the apperture is now super snappy! To dry I just wiped the blades a few times with a paper towel then used a hair dryer for a few minutes then let it cool and air dry for 10 minutes before assembling everything back. First lense repair. Super glad it worked!
I'm sure you can do it :-), also remember to take pictures during the disassemble process, it will help you during the assemble process, and good luck :-)
Mike can you fix a Zeiss Varrio 12mm to 100mm. The focus ring slips or skips and there is a bit of fungus. Please let me know if you can repair it. Thanks. Everette
This is an excellent video. If the aperture has gotten this oily then do you have to also clean and re-lube the helicoid because the grease has broken down or can you just clean the aperture? I imagine if the grease has broken down, then it will happen again if the failed grease is not cleaned and replaced? Is this correct or not?
Thanks Sebastian, you are right about the separation of oil and the grease base, it will happen at some point, it's only a matter of time before the aperture assembly will have sticky oil on the blades. Sometimes there will also be oil on the lens elements, another reason to disassemble the lens. That's why I many times disassemble the whole lens during 3 sequence, it will say, cleaning the aperture assembly, then clean and re-grease the focus assembly and last cleaning the lens elements. Of course I make all the marks and notes, so I know how it's assembled again. Many times, before I actually make a video about a lens, I have been into it and measure the focus system, then figure out how the aperture assembly is made and set small marks!, and also how the lens elements are sitting, and sometimes I also take some pictures. Simply because, for many lenses there are no (0) repair manual about them.
@@mikeno62 Do you run a business that services lenses or do you just do youtube videos? I have a lens with an oily aperture to the point the blades are sticking. No oil on the glass and otherwise the glass is in mint condition for such an old lens. I know how to reach the aperture and from this video I am confident I can clean the existing oil off, but I worry that will be temporary because I have to assume the old grease has broken down for oil to migrate to the aperture. I use this lens adapted so oil on the blades is not a huge issue. However, as mentioned before the blades stick. I can move the aperture lever to stop them down, but I worry that I am then applying more pressure than is normal and that may end up causing additional damage than if I just clean the lens. The helicoid I am still not confident about, and it is unclear to me what type of grease to use. I know Japan hobby tool sells grease and Helimax SP, but I am confused on the weight I need.
Hi Kenneth, thank you for these amazing and insightful videos. Have you ever cleaned a Konica 50mm f/1.9 Hexanon? Im having trouble with the front elements, they seem to be cemented. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
@@mikeno62 It is a fantastic prime lens. Less poplar but blows the 70-200mm f2.8 away. I can send you mine if you clean the dead fungus from the elements
Hi, Mike, I know that the aperture should be dry but I also heard that the blades in factory where lubed with some thin coat of oil or smth. Is it true? should it stay dry or must lube a bit?
Hey Mike! I purchased a Contax G1 with a Planar 2/35 that has haze in the rear lens assembly. I was able to remove the back assembly easy enough, but the haze is in between the lenses of the back group. Do you have any recommendations on how to open the back group lens housing? It looks like it’s threaded, but for the life of me I can’t get it apart.
Hi Mike, I disassembled my Hasselblad Planar 80mm T* lens based on your video and now when I reassembled back and cocked the shutter, the aperture blades don’t open fully, more like at 5.6. And the shutter closes at all speeds as if it’s released at 1/500, very quick at all speeds. Do you know what the problems are? Thanks a lot.
This is all very well if you can remove the aperture blades. Unfortunately, the blades that I want to clean are part of the leaf shutter assembly and cannot be disassembled.
The second one shall be : "How not to lubricate threads with oil". BTW, do you have experience with Rolleiflex SL26 Pro-Tessar Lenses? I would like to avoid disassembling by try and error way and all screws/elements are really stiff.
Yeah, by experience i also discover that, some type of oil is not so good for helicoids. Sorry I do not have experience with the Rolleiflex SL26 Pro-Tessar Lens.
Hello, I have a Leica Summitar 50mm, the blades are disassembled but couldn’t reassemble them, may I kindly ask you if you accept to ship my lens to you to fix it and re-ship it back to me and I pay you the shipping and your labor charge? Thank you.
Hi, I was planning to make a similar video because I've seen this practice being precognized as the "easy way" to work with diaphragms by some "gurus". Cheers.
Hello Richard Yes i am fine, but I have been very busy at work for very long time, but now it's going much better, and luckily I do not had the Corona :-). I have only been very little on Facebook, because I have spending my time to do more important things, that have waiting for a long time. So now I will have more time to do my videos on my RUclips channel :-). About the pandemic situation in Denmark, things are going much better but of course, we still have to take good care and keep distance, and use a lot of hand alcohol disinfection (not drinking it...). All the best regards from Kenneth
Hola ,es mejor lavar cuerpo entero ,sin lentes ,con FAIRY ,detergenta de platos ,sin sacal lamelas sin nada i sale mejor ,se seca bien i ok ,asi arregle mas de 100 diafragmas ,es mas seguro i mas rapido ,sin romper nada ,bueno concuidado i pasiencia .😂
A great video for learning these techniques properly and also learning possible pitfalls. Thank you very much for making this carefully explained tutorial. 😊
Very good.. always nice to watch a craftsman at work.. I never miss your vids..
Once i tried flush it in brake cleaner then i put the whole part (the aperture system) in the oven without disassembly. I left it like 15 mins at 80 C. It worked like a charm but it was a dirt cheap-bad shape Helios 44M and i was just experimenting. Right way to do it is always fully dissasemble and clean like you do. Great video !
Good to see you back on RUclips Ken!
Good video. If I've learned one thing from my limited experience of repairing a few dozen lenses and cameras it's this: just do things the proper way. Trying to save time with a clever "shortcut" will most likely result in more work in the end (fixing up the mess you made). "Good *and* fast" is for the pros.
Thanks, I have learned the hard way by trial and error, and in that way see the things more deeper than just throwing things away, and it's really good you also keep learning the stuff with your own experience, and don't forget to do a lot of errors, because that's the best way to actually learn the stuff.
Best regards
Kenneth
Isopropyl alcohol is not very strong against oil, that's why it wouldn't work.
I used bike chain/brake cleaner, which works wonder at dissolving oil. Just remove all glass elements first.
Spray the apperture assembly and operate the apperture a few times while spraying it every minutes or so. Make sure not to spray everywhere and remove the grease from the focusing ring.
For me doing this for 5 minutes removed all the oil and the apperture is now super snappy!
To dry I just wiped the blades a few times with a paper towel then used a hair dryer for a few minutes then let it cool and air dry for 10 minutes before assembling everything back.
First lense repair. Super glad it worked!
brake cleaner! Get rid of all the oil and it evaporates quickly.
Great video! this and many of your others! Is it possible to blacken the blades if they have worn and reflective areas?
I know that's the best method - to disassembly, clean and put it together again. But is it also "acceptable" to clean & dry the blades it with Qtips ?
Well, about to do this sort of cleaning for the first time, on the same lens, wish me luck! 😅
I'm sure you can do it :-), also remember to take pictures during the disassemble process, it will help you during the assemble process, and good luck :-)
Mike can you fix a Zeiss Varrio 12mm to 100mm. The focus ring slips or skips and there is a bit of fungus.
Please let me know if you can repair it.
Thanks.
Everette
What about using acetone? That would be a better and more volatile solvent, wouldn't it?
This is an excellent video. If the aperture has gotten this oily then do you have to also clean and re-lube the helicoid because the grease has broken down or can you just clean the aperture? I imagine if the grease has broken down, then it will happen again if the failed grease is not cleaned and replaced? Is this correct or not?
Thanks Sebastian, you are right about the separation of oil and the grease base, it will happen at some point, it's only a matter of time before the aperture assembly will have sticky oil on the blades. Sometimes there will also be oil on the lens elements, another reason to disassemble the lens.
That's why I many times disassemble the whole lens during 3 sequence, it will say, cleaning the aperture assembly, then clean and re-grease the focus assembly and last cleaning the lens elements.
Of course I make all the marks and notes, so I know how it's assembled again.
Many times, before I actually make a video about a lens, I have been into it and measure the focus system, then figure out how the aperture assembly is made and set small marks!, and also how the lens elements are sitting, and sometimes I also take some pictures. Simply because, for many lenses there are no (0) repair manual about them.
@@mikeno62 Do you run a business that services lenses or do you just do youtube videos? I have a lens with an oily aperture to the point the blades are sticking. No oil on the glass and otherwise the glass is in mint condition for such an old lens. I know how to reach the aperture and from this video I am confident I can clean the existing oil off, but I worry that will be temporary because I have to assume the old grease has broken down for oil to migrate to the aperture. I use this lens adapted so oil on the blades is not a huge issue. However, as mentioned before the blades stick. I can move the aperture lever to stop them down, but I worry that I am then applying more pressure than is normal and that may end up causing additional damage than if I just clean the lens. The helicoid I am still not confident about, and it is unclear to me what type of grease to use. I know Japan hobby tool sells grease and Helimax SP, but I am confused on the weight I need.
Hi Kenneth, thank you for these amazing and insightful videos. Have you ever cleaned a Konica 50mm f/1.9 Hexanon? Im having trouble with the front elements, they seem to be cemented. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Mike, would you please show a disassembly of the ef 20mm f2.8l
Sorry I don't have the ef 20mm f2.8l
@@mikeno62 It is a fantastic prime lens. Less poplar but blows the 70-200mm f2.8 away. I can send you mine if you clean the dead fungus from the elements
Super Video.
Brilliant!
Hi, Mike, I know that the aperture should be dry but I also heard that the blades in factory where lubed with some thin coat of oil or smth. Is it true? should it stay dry or must lube a bit?
Hey Mike!
I purchased a Contax G1 with a Planar 2/35 that has haze in the rear lens assembly. I was able to remove the back assembly easy enough, but the haze is in between the lenses of the back group. Do you have any recommendations on how to open the back group lens housing? It looks like it’s threaded, but for the life of me I can’t get it apart.
Hi Mike, I disassembled my Hasselblad Planar 80mm T* lens based on your video and now when I reassembled back and cocked the shutter, the aperture blades don’t open fully, more like at 5.6. And the shutter closes at all speeds as if it’s released at 1/500, very quick at all speeds. Do you know what the problems are? Thanks a lot.
Does anyone know if is possible to use an ultrasonic cleaner with IPA to clean it without disassembling it?
This is all very well if you can remove the aperture blades. Unfortunately, the blades that I want to clean are part of the leaf shutter assembly and cannot be disassembled.
great job thank's alot
The second one shall be : "How not to lubricate threads with oil". BTW, do you have experience with Rolleiflex SL26 Pro-Tessar Lenses? I would like to avoid disassembling by try and error way and all screws/elements are really stiff.
Yeah, by experience i also discover that, some type of oil is not so good for helicoids. Sorry I do not have experience with the Rolleiflex SL26 Pro-Tessar Lens.
Thankyou
Hello, I have a Leica Summitar 50mm, the blades are disassembled but couldn’t reassemble them, may I kindly ask you if you accept to ship my lens to you to fix it and re-ship it back to me and I pay you the shipping and your labor charge?
Thank you.
Hi, I was planning to make a similar video because I've seen this practice being precognized as the "easy way" to work with diaphragms by some "gurus". Cheers.
that's precisely what this is... "the easy way". not "the best way" or "most effective way".
I use refined gasoline (Nefras С2 80/120 or Нефрас С2 80/120) to clean aperture without disassembly.
Hello, K. hope everything is fine with you, sensei. hopefully the pandemic will be over soon.
Hello Richard
Yes i am fine, but I have been very busy at work for very long time, but now it's going much better, and luckily I do not had the Corona :-). I have only been very little on Facebook, because I have spending my time to do more important things, that have waiting for a long time. So now I will have more time to do my videos on my RUclips channel :-). About the pandemic situation in Denmark, things are going much better but of course, we still have to take good care and keep distance, and use a lot of hand alcohol disinfection (not drinking it...).
All the best regards from Kenneth
🖤
Hola ,es mejor lavar cuerpo entero ,sin lentes ,con FAIRY ,detergenta de platos ,sin sacal lamelas sin nada i sale mejor ,se seca bien i ok ,asi arregle mas de 100 diafragmas ,es mas seguro i mas rapido ,sin romper nada ,bueno concuidado i pasiencia .😂