I bought one of these lenses really cheap on EBay a few months ago. The reason I got it so cheap was because the seller correctly said it had a stiff focus ring. It is a beautiful lens and it works beautifully except for this one flaw. Today, I followed your instructions almost to the letter and now I have a Brad new lens except it was built over 40 years ago! I love your presentation style. You never leave out steps or take shortcuts. Terrific! I used mineral spirits and alcohol as solvents. Worked great! A few drops of lacquer thinner loosened the tight screws. Thanks again. I would never have attempted this without your expert guidance. BTW, these Nikkor lenses are a marvel of precision engineering and manufacturing!
Thank you very much! Your guidance helped me make my lens usable again. I enjoy all of your videos, it is very satisfactory to watch mechanical proficiency; to see unusable things become usable.
Thank you for making these videos and sharing your experience. I recently bought similar lens on ebay auction and it arrived completely stiff. The seller never mentioned that it was faulty, so I managed to receive 50% off the paid price. I am looking forward to making the repair you filmed. Many thanks and all the best to you.
I tried it on my 55 mm f2.8 Micro-Nikkor and it worked like a charm! Thank you so much for posting. Focus ring would not budge before and it is very smooth now. I was amazed how sticky the old grease had become.
Thank you very much for the excellent tutorial. I recently bought the very same lens. Good condition but with a stiff focus ring. Thanks to your video I was able to lubricate it myself. I hope, one day you make a similar lubrication video for the Nikkor 50 1:1,2. Kind regards, Wilma
I have the same lens with the same problem. You have given me the confidence to service it myself and avoid a very high technician charge. Good tip about the JIS00 driver - I must buy one. Many thanks!
As always, great job. Tried a PTFE grease and then some oil (bled out) from Molykote DX and both times it was too much resistance. I ended up using two drops of fine sewing machine oil on the inner helicoid on a AF lens.
Hi Mike very good video as usual but I got a question : for cleaning the helicoid why do you use zippo fluid for the outer ring and isopropyl for the inner one ? Any reason to it ?
Thank's, Sometimes I just try different solvents to cleaning the helicoids in different lenses, and Lighter Fluid seems to be a very good solvent but I stinks, Isopropylalcohol is on the other hand also a good solvent and it stinks less than Lighter Fluid. But at the latest I use Oduorless Petroleum, it does a great job as a cleaning solvent and it's not that smelly.
@@mikeno62 Thanks for this detailled answer and thx again for all your work. I think that you are with Richard Haw the two best Nikon lens saviors :)))
Thank you for sharing. Used to have 6 of this lens, from 2xxxxx to 5xxxxx, all had stiff focusing ring, and only one of them focuses precisely at infinity. The Carl Zeiss 25mm 2.8 ZF mount lens I own suffers the same near focus problem, spent a whole night to fix it, which I can now fix in 5 min, they share similar CRC design. It seems to me that Made in Japan products are not that assuring.
Some of the 55.8 micro I re-greased or tried had stuck rear mount screws, it's worth mentioning that the 3 screws holding the lens group can be unscrewed without taking off the rear mount. Just remove the black part of the rear mount is enough. The copper part that appeared at 18min30sec is another tightly screwed element. I broke one or two screws of that part. Causing unable to disassemble the CRC helicoil. Then, using WD-40 can temporarily lubricate those helicoils, but need re-WD-40 it in a few months.
Judging from the not infrequent near focus problem of 55 2.8 micro, I personally prefer the 55 3.5 micro over 55 2.8 micro, much simpler design, not too inferior optical quality
That's a good tip, and another important thing is the screw driver, it has to be a good quality JIS 00 or JCIS 00. If the screw is too tight put 1-2 drop's of nail polish remover, it will be so much more easy to unscrew. If you use a PH00, I'm very sure the screw driver will damage the screw head. (I have try it too, then I change all my screw drivers to JIS or JCIS screw drivers)
Thanks Jorge, sometimes it's the inner Helicoid that get's stuck, and sometimes it's the houter Helicoid (focus ring) that get's stuck. But I don't have a video about the focus ring assembly, but when I get this lens again I will make a video about, how to fix the stiff focus ring. Cheers Kenneth
@@mikeno62hi Mike, I dont know yet, I am waiting for the screwdrivers news and new helicoid grease, also new glasses, my eyes are not able to work confortable with small screws anymore...I tried to take of the mount, but as you said it is very hard, so I ordered a new screwdriver to make more pression...the one you use with newtons is awesome but goes up to 150 dollars here so...i will avoid it by now until i feel it is necessy... after this lens , if everything goes fine ill try with an other one that is also a nice glass, nikkor 85mm 1.4 ais, with the eaxtly the same proble that you post in the other video you have about that lens ( also a great video and very helpful!!!)
Thank you a lot. I really appreciate your work. It makes me understand how it was possible to rescue such a lens aha. However, have you already must to clean the diaphragm? Do you know how it works? Second question : how many time is it necessary to clean this lens again ? Once a year, every six months... ? Thank you !
Hi, thanks for this vid, helped me decide to open my good old 55 micro nikkor, but I not for the same problem, mine has a stiff "external" helicoil problem, I am stuck where I can't separate the last two external rings (focusing and underneath) , there are two small screws inside holding a flat piece of metal makinit impossible to further turning and so liberating the two parts. Any idea? I have two pictures I can share, but don't know how...
Hi, you talk briefly about torque in Nm on the screws of lenses, wich made me curious... Do you know more about it or can you tell from experience wich torque values are appropriate for these kind of screws. I imagine, if you use a torque screwdriver and you start at lowest possible Nm and raise the value until you can loosen the screw, you have the correct torqe for this screw...is this right? Some info on this topic would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Thank you so much for your very helpful videos. I have followed them with very satisfying results. I am trying to access the front lens of the Nikkor 55 Micro f2.8 which has fungus. Do you have any guide to do this.
Isn't that Tri-Flow grease too fluid? Won't it migrate to the iris blades the same way the original grease migrates in those 55mm Nikkors? I think it will.
I may have lost my position on the brass ring with the little tab on it (the one you put a mark on). I was trying it before I got to the part of the video to mark it. Is there a way of finding the correct position again?
Hello Kenneth. I like the rubber cones you use on many of your projects. I've seen some are modular fitting inside each other. Any tip on where to find it? thanks LM
great tutorial! I tried to disassemble the external helicoid that was blocked, making reference marks, but I can no longer find them. I find myself now with all the separate pieces and making various attempts, the parts do not fit anymore. can you help me? thank you!
Hi Mike, great work, as always! I still have issue with the external focus, do you plan to fully disassemble this lens one day? The external one seems more complicated to work with, I couldn't figure myself how to go through. Thanks, best regards! Michel
Thank's Michel, I do not at the moment have a Micro-Nikkor 55mm 1:2.5 AI-s, but when I got one, I will make a video about the external focus system. Cheers Kenneth
No, the 2 lenses are very different, here you can see another video, whats the different between the 2 lenses: ruclips.net/video/xTgNthRnGpo/видео.html
Thanks Robbie, the problem will sooner or later show up in this lens, because the grease will over time get stiff, and there is only one real solution to fix that. If or When disassemble this lens, REMEMBER to set small marks where the helicoid get off the thread, the repair manual will not tell you anything about that, (I don't have a repair manual for that lens...) thats just my own experience. Cheers Kenneth
Thanks for making this video.. Just like you mentioned, the screws on the bayonet are pretty tight, simply won't unscrew. It appears to be glued in or something, and Im afraid I might strip the screws by trying too hard. Any suggestion on how to unscrew them without damaging them?
Thank's Nick, it can sometimes be a real problem to unscrew the old screws from the mount, but with the use of "nail polish remover" with Acetone on a cotton bud and then add a few drops on the screw head and let it sit 10-20 seconds, and then it should be possible to unscrew. You can see how I show it in this video that's also about the Micro-Nikkor 55mm 1:2.8: ruclips.net/video/H-u3ohL--T4/видео.html
31:00 the lens on the front assembly for my lens has a bunch of fungus on the inside and I tried every way of getting it out but no luck. The screws are ridiculously tightly packed inside. Any advice?
I think you can try to use a cotton bud and add some Isopropylalcohol 99% then add it on the screwhead, let it sit a short time then add more, most of the time helps to loosen screws and retaining rings. You probably have to try a few times to make sure the screw can be unscrewed. REMEMBER to use a JIS screwdriver, it's very important!
hi Mike, I just did it like this but Ifound out that the external helicoid is also sticky, how do i can clean it? had do upload any video about it? Regards
I Haven't try the 135mm 1:2.8, but I have made some film's about the 135mm 1:2 PART 1: ruclips.net/user/edit?o=U&video_id=mlf3DB5nRIs PART 2: ruclips.net/user/edit?o=U&video_id=0PdkBmlkS20 PART 3: ruclips.net/user/edit?o=U&video_id=NBaRgz5kVKo
Here is a better film in 2 part's Part 1: ruclips.net/video/tSopFzPM-wA/видео.html Part 2: ruclips.net/video/OAe1Qvq2Iyo/видео.html Hope it can help you. Cheers Kenneth
It was just because it was more easy to use the Isopropylalcohol from the bottle, and because the lens element still was on the helicoid part, so I didn't need to take out the lens elements. normally I would disassemble the whole focus system and clean it with Lighter fluid.
One of the finest, gentlest, informative and practical video I have never seen recent times.. God Bless you..
I bought one of these lenses really cheap on EBay a few months ago. The reason I got it so cheap was because the seller correctly said it had a stiff focus ring. It is a beautiful lens and it works beautifully except for this one flaw. Today, I followed your instructions almost to the letter and now I have a Brad new lens except it was built over 40 years ago! I love your presentation style. You never leave out steps or take shortcuts. Terrific!
I used mineral spirits and alcohol as solvents. Worked great! A few drops of lacquer thinner loosened the tight screws.
Thanks again. I would never have attempted this without your expert guidance.
BTW, these Nikkor lenses are a marvel of precision engineering and manufacturing!
Thank you very much! Your guidance helped me make my lens usable again. I enjoy all of your videos, it is very satisfactory to watch mechanical proficiency; to see unusable things become usable.
That's great Caleb :-)
All this! And without ads!? I’m forever grateful, a fantastic tutorial and very generous man. Thank you.
Thank you for making these videos and sharing your experience. I recently bought similar lens on ebay auction and it arrived completely stiff. The seller never mentioned that it was faulty, so I managed to receive 50% off the paid price. I am looking forward to making the repair you filmed. Many thanks and all the best to you.
I tried it on my 55 mm f2.8 Micro-Nikkor and it worked like a charm! Thank you so much for posting. Focus ring would not budge before and it is very smooth now. I was amazed how sticky the old grease had become.
Thank you for your videos, they are helping me overcome my fears and slowly fix my own lenses.
Thank you very much for the excellent tutorial. I recently bought the very same lens. Good condition but with a stiff focus ring. Thanks to your video I was able to lubricate it myself. I hope, one day you make a similar lubrication video for the Nikkor 50 1:1,2. Kind regards, Wilma
I'm happy it could help you Wilma :-)
Thank you for your wonderfully informative videos with or without sound. They are appreciated. The slide show mode, NOT so much.
I have the same lens with the same problem. You have given me the confidence to service it myself and avoid a very high technician charge.
Good tip about the JIS00 driver - I must buy one.
Many thanks!
Way better. Close and precise camera work. Well done.
BRAVO ! You are a perfect teacher ! Now I've to emulte you on my lens ! Thank you very much !
Thanks :-)
Thank you very much. now my micro nikkor is clean and perfectly working again!
you remind us of classic german mechanicians
thank you
Thank you!! Easy to understand. Thanks again!
many thanks, I fixed two of my lenses following your video.
As always, great job.
Tried a PTFE grease and then some oil (bled out) from Molykote DX and both times it was too much resistance.
I ended up using two drops of fine sewing machine oil on the inner helicoid on a AF lens.
There seems to be different kinds of TriFlow. Some in squeeze tubes, aerosols and bottles, which exact TriFlow is best for this Nikkor 55/2.8?
@@GabeTaracatac Helicoid Grease #10 from Japabn Hobby Tool Co. Ltd. is the lightest grease I know of and own.
My lens from 1980 is now like New, many thanks. I followed your video.
Hi Mike very good video as usual but I got a question : for cleaning the helicoid why do you use zippo fluid for the outer ring and isopropyl for the inner one ? Any reason to it ?
Thank's, Sometimes I just try different solvents to cleaning the helicoids in different lenses, and Lighter Fluid seems to be a very good solvent but I stinks, Isopropylalcohol is on the other hand also a good solvent and it stinks less than Lighter Fluid.
But at the latest I use Oduorless Petroleum, it does a great job as a cleaning solvent and it's not that smelly.
@@mikeno62 Thanks for this detailled answer and thx again for all your work. I think that you are with Richard Haw the two best Nikon lens saviors :)))
Gracias Mike, mañana intentare arreglar mi Macro 55mm, saludos
Thanks for the video. Which Wera torque screwdriver would you recommend. Thank you
Perfect! That is the video which i was looking for! Thank you!
That very good it worked for you :-)
Cheers
Kenneth
Excellent, mycket bra! Tack!
Very good job thank you very much you are a lifesaver.
The cause off all off this was bad grease used by Nikon. Grease was heavy in oil which leaked out off the grease onto the aperture blades.
Thank you for sharing. Used to have 6 of this lens, from 2xxxxx to 5xxxxx, all had stiff focusing ring, and only one of them focuses precisely at infinity. The Carl Zeiss 25mm 2.8 ZF mount lens I own suffers the same near focus problem, spent a whole night to fix it, which I can now fix in 5 min, they share similar CRC design. It seems to me that Made in Japan products are not that assuring.
Good to know that, I have not yet re-grease my Carl Zeiss 25mm 2.8 C/Y mount but will do it sooner.
Some of the 55.8 micro I re-greased or tried had stuck rear mount screws, it's worth mentioning that the 3 screws holding the lens group can be unscrewed without taking off the rear mount. Just remove the black part of the rear mount is enough. The copper part that appeared at 18min30sec is another tightly screwed element. I broke one or two screws of that part. Causing unable to disassemble the CRC helicoil. Then, using WD-40 can temporarily lubricate those helicoils, but need re-WD-40 it in a few months.
Judging from the not infrequent near focus problem of 55 2.8 micro, I personally prefer the 55 3.5 micro over 55 2.8 micro, much simpler design, not too inferior optical quality
That's a good tip, and another important thing is the screw driver, it has to be a good quality JIS 00 or JCIS 00. If the screw is too tight put 1-2 drop's of nail polish remover, it will be so much more easy to unscrew.
If you use a PH00, I'm very sure the screw driver will damage the screw head.
(I have try it too, then I change all my screw drivers to JIS or JCIS screw drivers)
Thanks alot for the great tutorial !
Can i use the same grease on a Nikon ai 55mm 1.2 and is it hard to disassemble ??
Maybe some tips how to do it??
Thank you for the video! Is there a reason for using triflow here instead of a normal helicoid grease such as the #10?
master performance!!bravo again!!!
I have that lens in that condition so I am gonna folow your video!! :-)
Thanks Jorge, sometimes it's the inner Helicoid that get's stuck, and sometimes it's the houter Helicoid (focus ring) that get's stuck.
But I don't have a video about the focus ring assembly, but when I get this lens again I will make a video about, how to fix the stiff focus ring.
Cheers
Kenneth
@@mikeno62hi Mike, I dont know yet, I am waiting for the screwdrivers news and new helicoid grease, also new glasses, my eyes are not able to work confortable with small screws anymore...I tried to take of the mount, but as you said it is very hard, so I ordered a new screwdriver to make more pression...the one you use with newtons is awesome but goes up to 150 dollars here so...i will avoid it by now until i feel it is necessy...
after this lens , if everything goes fine ill try with an other one that is also a nice glass, nikkor 85mm 1.4 ais, with the eaxtly the same proble that you post in the other video you have about that lens ( also a great video and very helpful!!!)
Thank you so much Sir, this video saved my lens
Thank you a lot. I really appreciate your work. It makes me understand how it was possible to rescue such a lens aha.
However, have you already must to clean the diaphragm? Do you know how it works?
Second question : how many time is it necessary to clean this lens again ? Once a year, every six months... ?
Thank you !
Hi, thanks for this vid, helped me decide to open my good old 55 micro nikkor, but I not for the same problem, mine has a stiff "external" helicoil problem, I am stuck where I can't separate the last two external rings (focusing and underneath) , there are two small screws inside holding a flat piece of metal makinit impossible to further turning and so liberating the two parts. Any idea? I have two pictures I can share, but don't know how...
Hi, you talk briefly about torque in Nm on the screws of lenses, wich made me curious...
Do you know more about it or can you tell from experience wich torque values are appropriate for these kind of screws. I imagine, if you use a torque screwdriver and you start at lowest possible Nm and raise the value until you can loosen the screw, you have the correct torqe for this screw...is this right?
Some info on this topic would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Thank you so much for your very helpful videos. I have followed them with very satisfying results. I am trying to access the front lens of the Nikkor 55 Micro f2.8 which has fungus. Do you have any guide to do this.
Great information!
Isn't that Tri-Flow grease too fluid? Won't it migrate to the iris blades the same way the original grease migrates in those 55mm Nikkors? I think it will.
This is awesome.
I may have lost my position on the brass ring with the little tab on it (the one you put a mark on). I was trying it before I got to the part of the video to mark it. Is there a way of finding the correct position again?
awesome work sir!!!
What if Focus ring is stuck, does not turn at all? Is that a worse problem than just stiff?
Nice to have commentary
Hello Kenneth. I like the rubber cones you use on many of your projects. I've seen some are modular fitting inside each other. Any tip on where to find it? thanks LM
You can get them here: japanhobbytool.co.jp/shopdetail/000000000011/opd/page1/recommend/
great tutorial!
I tried to disassemble the external helicoid that was blocked, making reference marks, but I can no longer find them.
I find myself now with all the separate pieces and making various attempts, the parts do not fit anymore.
can you help me?
thank you!
Hi Mike, great work, as always! I still have issue with the external focus, do you plan to fully disassemble this lens one day? The external one seems more complicated to work with, I couldn't figure myself how to go through. Thanks, best regards! Michel
Thank's Michel, I do not at the moment have a Micro-Nikkor 55mm 1:2.5 AI-s, but when I got one, I will make a video about the external focus system.
Cheers
Kenneth
@@mikeno62 Hi Kenneth, nice, I gonna wait for that! Mine is already much better now, it was full of fungus and mold :( cheers, Michel
Hi Sir, Does this steps of disassembly will work on nikkor 55mm 3.5 micro ais? Thanks! Great video as always
No, the 2 lenses are very different, here you can see another video, whats the different between the 2 lenses: ruclips.net/video/xTgNthRnGpo/видео.html
Thank you.
nice job well done, im considering buying one of these lenses is this a common problem
Thanks Robbie, the problem will sooner or later show up in this lens, because the grease will over time get stiff, and there is only one real solution to fix that.
If or When disassemble this lens, REMEMBER to set small marks where the helicoid get off the thread, the repair manual will not tell you anything about that, (I don't have a repair manual for that lens...) thats just my own experience.
Cheers
Kenneth
Thanks for making this video.. Just like you mentioned, the screws on the bayonet are pretty tight, simply won't unscrew. It appears to be glued in or something, and Im afraid I might strip the screws by trying too hard. Any suggestion on how to unscrew them without damaging them?
Thank's Nick, it can sometimes be a real problem to unscrew the old screws from the mount, but with the use of "nail polish remover" with Acetone on a cotton bud and then add a few drops on the screw head and let it sit 10-20 seconds, and then it should be possible to unscrew.
You can see how I show it in this video that's also about the Micro-Nikkor 55mm 1:2.8:
ruclips.net/video/H-u3ohL--T4/видео.html
@@mikeno62 Thanks a ton :)
Thank you for sharing
Thanks for helping me repair my nikon 55mm 2.8 Micro, one question, my focus ring is loose, how to fix?
I have made another video about the outer helicoid and the stiff focus ring, you can see it right here: ruclips.net/video/H-u3ohL--T4/видео.html
Thank you Mike
31:00 the lens on the front assembly for my lens has a bunch of fungus on the inside and I tried every way of getting it out but no luck. The screws are ridiculously tightly packed inside. Any advice?
I think you can try to use a cotton bud and add some Isopropylalcohol 99% then add it on the screwhead, let it sit a short time then add more, most of the time helps to loosen screws and retaining rings. You probably have to try a few times to make sure the screw can be unscrewed. REMEMBER to use a JIS screwdriver, it's very important!
I have this lens and this is the problem with it. I may just take a crack at cleaning this. I really like this lens and want to use it again.
Hi.. Would this same Technique on a 85mm 1.4 of the same vintage?
mikeno is it the same on the 50mm F1.2 .
I want fungus cleaning tutorial for Nikon 200mm f/4 AI-s
Micro-NIKKOR . Thanks and regards in advance
I have the same issue with the lens.
I bought all the needed tools to fix it but I lack the required patience.
Do you fix lenses for thirds?
whats the problem?
stiff focus ring?
Or it cant focus to infinity?
Stiff ring. The optics are perfect.
I guess I'll just use it like this since the purpose of it is only still/product photography.
hi Mike, I just did it like this but Ifound out that the external helicoid is also sticky, how do i can clean it? had do upload any video about it?
Regards
When I come a cross a Micro-Nikkor 55mm 1:2.8 Ai-s with that issue, I will make a video about how to fix it. It's on my To-Do list.
Hi. Is this process identical for the Nikkor 135mm f2.8 Ai/Ais?
I can't seem to find a tutorial anywhere .Thanks
I Haven't try the 135mm 1:2.8, but I have made some film's about the 135mm 1:2
PART 1:
ruclips.net/user/edit?o=U&video_id=mlf3DB5nRIs
PART 2:
ruclips.net/user/edit?o=U&video_id=0PdkBmlkS20
PART 3:
ruclips.net/user/edit?o=U&video_id=NBaRgz5kVKo
you're the best.
I can't find the JIS screwdriver. Any suggestion?
You can take a look here, it's the same JIS I buy: www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/JIS-Driver-Set/IF145-115?o=1
mikeno62 Thank you!
Is the 55mm F3.5 Micro identical?
Lavikka Photography No, here you can see the difference in another of my earlier film: ruclips.net/video/tSopFzPM-wA/видео.html
Here is a better film in 2 part's
Part 1: ruclips.net/video/tSopFzPM-wA/видео.html
Part 2: ruclips.net/video/OAe1Qvq2Iyo/видео.html
Hope it can help you.
Cheers
Kenneth
Thanks I appreciate that.
I have both versions and use both regularly with bellows The f3.5 is sharper at f22 than the 2.8 and the 2.8 is sharper wide open.
Surgical lens doctor!
انت كريم جدا
E excellent
In☁️
Why didn't you use the lighter fluid for cleaning other helicoil. The 99% Isopropyl alcohol is more difficult to find.
It was just because it was more easy to use the Isopropylalcohol from the bottle, and because the lens element still was on the helicoid part, so I didn't need to take out the lens elements. normally I would disassemble the whole focus system and clean it with Lighter fluid.
mikeno62 thank you for your answer. Good job 👏.
Как много воды...