Retrotech - Prinzflex (Chinon) 135mm f2.8 Lens - Focusing Ring Backlash Repair & Vintage Lens Test
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 5 июл 2024
- In this combined Retrotech and Fixit video we're taking a look at a 1970s Prinzflex 135mm f2.8 lens. Prinzflex was a brand name used by Dixons shops in the UK - they bought in products from other manufacturers and put their Prinzflex badge on the item. From my research, this lens appears to have been made by Chinon (as were some, but not all, of the other Prinzflex lenses).
The lens had a fault when it arrived - there was a huge amount of backlash on the focusing ring, making it very difficult to lock onto focus. In the video we'll take the lens apart enough to fix the focusing backlash and restore the lens to working condition.
If you just want to find out about the fault and see it being fixed, skip to 3:03
After that we'll do some tests with the lens to see how sharp it is and show some examples of the footage you can get with these beautiful vintage lenses.
If you've enjoyed this video and/or it's helped you with your own lens, and you feel so inclined as to leave a donation, you can leave a PayPal donation by following the PayPal.me link here: paypal.me/GrumpyTimRUclips?lo...
Intro music:
"As Yet Untitled"
By GrumpyTim (available to download from GrumpyTim's Bandcamp page)
grumpytim.bandcamp.com/
www.grumpytim.com 
Наука
![Sean Rii, Karyon, Sharzkii - Taungule [My Love] (Official Visualizer)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/eJoMuypbSzQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Excellently made video!
Cheers Jamm, thanks for watching and commenting :-)
I was wondering g where you get your camera repair tools at or where I could get them. I'm in the USA but hopefully that won't matter. I just got a helios 44m that has backlash also... hoping your fix will work on it... thanks for the wonderful video very well done. Thank you
Hi James, most of my camera repair tools have come from Amazon and Ebay, most of the time you'll see the same stuff for sale on both platforms. I guess some of the most useful tools are a lens wrench, a set of good jewellers screwdrivers (it's a bit difficult to tell the quality of the ones available online - I've had mine for years, probably long before internet shopping was a thing, so you might need to try a few sets to find good ones). I use various thicknesses of rubber sheet for all sorts of repairs on all sorts of equipment including improvised friction devices like the one I used in this video - I got my rubber sheet from ebay. A lens vice can be useful for repairing damaged filter threads on the front of a lens but it's not always essential, I think I got mine from Amazon, but it might have been ebay. Another tool I sometimes need is a collet wrench or filter wrench - these are size specific so I tend to make them as I need them rather than trying to buy a whole load of them. Sometimes the biggest problem is knowing what to call the tool you're looking for - if you don't know what it's called, then how can you search for it!!!! you can get commercially available friction tools if you search for something like "rubber lens repair tool".
I haven't had to strip any of my Helios 44 lenses so I'm not sure what system of focusing ring attachment they use - it does tend to vary from lens to lens - if you've got backlash in the focusing ring it's almost bound to be something that's loose, and just needs re tightening carefully. There may well be some videos on Helios 44 repair that might give you a glimpse of the focusing ring attachment, even if they don't refer to it in the video - just knowing how your particular lens comes apart can help to get you started.
Hi. Tim..from argentina. i brougth chinon 35mm 2.8 used.. but aperture baldes that's stuck. you know how to open front part of lens? you video its very helpfull.. thnx a Lot 👍👍👍
Hi SiSelnfo ProSoft, Just checking, were you asking if I knew how to open the front of your 35mm Chinon f2.8 lens? I have a 35mm Prinzflex f2.8 which might or might not be the same as the Chinon, I haven't checked. It looks like on my lens the front bezel (or name ring) has to come out first, using a friction tool like the rubber disk I've used in some of my videos. Then you can use a lens wrench to remove the front element - I haven't looked beyond that but either the elements will come out one by one, or they'll be part of an assembly and come out as one (check out my Makinon 24mm f2.8 video for a general guide to doing this ruclips.net/video/id0Dxyj8ZKI/видео.html ).
The most likely cause of your aperture blades sticking is old oil that's got onto the blades - you might be able to remove this oil without removing the aperture blades (removing the aperture blades is a tricky job and I wouldn't recommend it unless you're fairly confident that you can do the job). Sometimes you can get away with removing all the glass elements (front and back) and then using a cotton bud soaked in alcohol (IPA or similar) to gently and carefully soften the oil on the aperture blades until they move again. Once moving, you can close the aperture and clean more oil off using more cotton buds. I wouldn't use this method for new lenses that I planned to use with auto aperture on the camera because the blades could still be sluggish but if you're using vintage lenses on digital cameras, you'll be closing the aperture manually before you take the shot, in which case, sluggish blades don't really matter that much.
Hey Tim, I have a chinon 200mm. Does the lens come apart the same way as you 135mm?
Hi Xavier, I haven't worked on a Chinon 200mm so I don't know for sure. If it has a built in lens hood like my 135mm then it's fairly likely to be a similar method - extend the lens as far as it will go (the shortest focal distance) and look for a tiny grub screw behind the lens hood - if there's no grub screw or no built in lens hood, then the front bezel may be attached in a different way.
Some lenses need the front name ring removed first, either with a friction tool like the one I used for the name ring on my lens (medicine container with a disc of rubber stuck to it) or a lens wrench if it's the type of name ring with the 2 holes for a lens wrench. Once the name ring is off, there can be some screws behind it to get the front bezel off. Take care when removing the front name ring, firstly not to damage the front element and secondly, in case the front element is then free to fall out once the ring is removed - it wouldn't be so good to have the glass fall on the floor!!!
I've also worked on lenses that have a removable ring on the front of the focusing ring that needs to come off before you can get to the screws behind in order to take the focusing ring off.
Hope this helps a tiny bit.
Im not even sure they changed the focus ring grip as part of the rebranding. I have a chinon branded 135mm lens which has this same grip and a chinon 35mm which has a similar grip to the chinon one you showed here, i just think chinon redesigned the style of grip on later models and the rebrand is just a later version only changing the bezel marking.
Hi Brandon, I think you're totally right - since I made this video I've seen plenty of Chinon lenses, the early ones seem to have the "animal skin" like grip that I showed in the picture and then they swapped to various patterns of rubber grip like my lens. So the total amount of customisation was just to fit a different name ring in the front!!!
There were so many lenses rebranded for stores "own brand" ranges - like my Super Ozeck II which I've seen under various other names, but it appears to have been manufactured by Ozunon. Or my Aicoset lens (I haven't done the video for that one yet), which might be manufactured by Kiron but I've got no solid proof yet. There can be some nice little gems to be found for very little money if/when you get lucky.
Cheers for watching and the additional info.
Hi I just brought this lense for my Praktica. Can you tell me what size the lens cap is thank you.
Hi Vix J, The filter thread is 55mm so one of those cheap 55mm centre pinch lens caps from ebay will do the trick - they all seem to come with a leash (a bit of nylon string) that you can tie on yourself if you want, but I tend to just throw that bit away - I don't really want a lens cap clattering around when I'm taking photos - that's what my back pocket is for.
Hello. Do you know how to fix the aperture blades that's stuck?
Hi Izzat, is it the same lens you have that has the sticking aperture blades?
There are a few things that can cause aperture blades to stick - a mechanical issue, such as the return spring failing or part of the mechanism getting bent or even re-assembled incorrectly. Probably the most common issue is oil or grease from the focusing helicoid getting onto the aperture blades - if it's only a small amount of oil making the blades sluggish, you might get away with removing the glass elements and carefully cleaning the blades with Isopropanol on the end of cotton buds but if the blades are severely stuck the solution is disassembly - this is something I wouldn't recommend unless you are fairly used to taking things apart for repair, otherwise you're likely to end up with a pile of parts rather than a working lens.
I did do a second video, looking at the aperture mechanism on this lens (I didn't go as far as taking the aperture blades out but it would show you enough to check the mechanism that moves the blades) - you can see that video here: ruclips.net/video/sgGAseUTiog/видео.html
@@GrumpyTim yes. Thanks a lot dude!
Hey hello I have the problem that I did disassmbled the whole lens, and even so I fixed the some problems I was silly enough to forget to take photos, would it be possible for you if you could show the opened mount, and aperture mechanism in another video?
Ah, that's always a pain when you can't remember quite how the thing goes back together!!!! How much of the aperture mechanism did you need to see? I can easily take off the mount to show the mechanism beneath but I wasn't planning to strip that lens to the point of taking the iris out. If you think you can see enough with the mount taken off I'll do a short video showing that - it'll be a few days before I get round to doing it though.
Let me know and I'll see what I can do. Cheers
@@GrumpyTim
Yeah that would be so nice!
I would be very happy if could use the lens.
There should be a small plate(or something like a large ring with a small lever) in front of the aperture mechanism, but this was easy to disassemble, and is just one more screw, at least I do think so.
But I do have to see the aperture mechanism from above.
I would be so thankful if this would be possible
I'll see what I can do - I'll try and do a video in a few days - it might not be the best video I've ever produced but it'll hopefully show you what you need.
Hi Jamjapi I'm just shooting the video looking at the rear end of the lens so I should be uploading it later today. I'll add another comment later when it's ready.
Hi Jamjampi I've just uploaded the video showing the rear end of the lens, hope it helps :-)
That's interesting. Never considered trying to repair a lens as I wouldn't want to end up with a pile of useless bits.... Besides all my vintage lenses still work on my vintage cameras!
I think I'd be a bit less confident trying to dive into a modern lens with "in lens" stabilisation and electronic focusing and all that.
It's a risk buying second hand lenses unseen on Ebay but so far I haven't got any junk lenses - I've had to fix a few faults like this one but nothing too serious yet. I've got kind of hooked on using vintage lenses, they're beautifully built and in some cases give a very different look to my videos.
@@GrumpyTim fair enough. What cameras do you use to film RUclips videos on?
Just a Panasonic Lumix GX80 for everything - I use Nikon for my professional photography but I'm using older cameras without video facility so the Lumix is my go to video camera. At some point, when I have money, I'll get a second Lumix so I can take two angles simultaneously.
@@GrumpyTim I use two Sony handy cams, their cheapest. Doesn't do much in the way of depth of field but good for the sort of videos I do and the sound is good enough for now too.
With the exception of maybe some of the "arty" videos I do I think I could easily make do with handy cams - and I wouldn't be stopping to change lens every couple of minutes!!!! But I'm a bit of a gear gear oholic when it comes to photography stuff though so I kind of like using the stuff I use.