I have used this method many times I use a few drops of lighter fluid to free up the sticky grease then add a couple of drops of a very light machine oil. I apply using a medical syringe with a needle. Looking from the rear there is sometimes room to insert the needle on to the helicoid to apply solvent & oil. Have a careful look with a small torch to see if its possible. Some old lenses eg. M42, Minolta MC & a few others can be done in this manner. Once applied spend some time to work the focus to mix the drops of oil into the old grease Saves dismantling the lens. This method works well but never as good as a complete CLA.
Hi, would Liberty 0il be a good oil to use for your method? Would it be fine to combine the two oils with the syringe for the application? How long would this method work until the lenses needed to be CLA'd. I wonder if this would work with the original Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm F/1.8 zebra 8 aperture blade version.
@@princeharbinger I use sewing machine oil, never tried combining the 2 of them together. I think the application of the oil tends to last fairly well as the lighter fluid evaporates daily fast. I have lenses done this way that are still working well after 2 - 3 years ago. Make sure you do not use too much of either or you will end up with a real mess.
I love watching your videos on how to clean various lenses and apertures and compared to other videos on TH-cam, I trust your approaches, as you really seem to know what to do and what not to do. Now I have a question whether yu could make a video of a Pentacon Praktica 50mm/1.8 lens which I have and which has a very stiff focussing ring and how to take it completely apart and clean the focus ring and the lens elements? That would be awesome.
Hey! First of all thank you for your Videos! Any Idea to loose a Focus Ring in a yashica Electro 35 gs? Mine can not do the whole Focus range. I can only open it from the Front until i get to the shutter mechanic. Thank you again
Your videos Shine a lot of light. I recently acquired a Pentax 645 80 f1.9 and the lens locked up and now its moves freely but extremely gritty. I can't remove the front glass element easily by unscrewing and can see helicoid threads. should I ad some lighter fluid to the front instead of taking apart the back? Thanks so much
Thanks Chris, I only use the lighter fluid to loosen the stiff old grease so I can move the focusing ring, and then I can begin to disassemble the lens. If there is a lot of sand and other dirt stuff on the helicoids, you should be very careful when turning the focus ring. Before you begin to disassemble the focusing system you should measure the lengths of the focus helicoids at infinity ♾️ because it’s your only reference when assembling the lens. If the front ring / name ring is very tight, you can add a few drops of Isopropylalcohol 99% or so on the thread and wait a bit, then maybe add a few more drops and gently try to unscrew the nameplate.
Hi. My Prakticon 50 1.8 PB mount won’t move at all. I’ve soaked it in Isopropyl, tried hot water but nothing. I was able to move it for a few milimeters but now i can’t turn it back so I can assemble it.
I have an minolta that I am currently cleaning at the moment, the helicoid is stuck like a rock. I tried alot of methods like applying lighter fluid, I trird boiling it, and also soaking it in acetone. Does any one have tips?
Pretty sure the post office was rough as hell with one I was trying to sell on ebay. Anyway, the guy gets the package, the focus ring won't turn..... ugh.. so i get it back. I also realized that the fstop ring is turning.. but does NOT control anything. I opened it up and it almost looks like there's a part missing between the mechanism and the rest.
Separate question regarding I have an old nikon em and when I forward the film it sounds gritty . Is there anything I can do to lubricate the film advance to stop this noise. Or is it to be left to a pro..Also I have a Pentax bc1 . The film advances for the first few frames but then seems not to fire when I press the shutter. But if I move the connection where a power winder is it springs and only then can I fire the shutter? Is it worth repairing. Great videos 👍
Hello, mikeno62. Hope you have time to read this comment. I really enjoy watching your videos, even tho I never opened a camera. I got a Ricoh KR-500 (you can not find anything about it online). It is supposed to use the same chassis from many Cosina mechanical cameras like FM10. The issue is whenever it is left untouched for a few hours, when I advance it, during the return of the advance lever, the shutter fires (or slips). Then I advance it very slowly, the issue goes away. Another phenomenon is when I advance it quickly, the 1s shutter will be too short (open the curtain for less than 1s). Looks like something is slippery inside if I advance it normally after not using it for a few hours. Could you please point me to a repair video, or some articles that I can study and fix the problems? Appreciate your help. Regards, Charles
See if pulling it out gently when you turn it to 18mm because my autofocus on my 18-55 works but it can’t get a focus below 35mm because the front glass has to move forward (if I’m making any sense) it tries but it’s not proper distancing of the glasses
wow, really helpful, thx a lot ; i just bought three kiev 16u lens, and of course the focus ring can't move at all ;( have you ever worked on such lenses, any suggestion if i should operate from the front or the back ? all 3 of them are stuck : Mir-11M, Vega-7-1 and Tair-41M seller told me they were fine, and I can not return them thx for your help, i'll drink a cup of iso 99% cup on you, if you can help me ;)
I have used this method many times I use a few drops of lighter fluid to free up the sticky grease then add a couple of drops of a very light machine oil. I apply using a medical syringe with a needle.
Looking from the rear there is sometimes room to insert the needle on to the helicoid to apply solvent & oil. Have a careful look with a small torch to see if its possible.
Some old lenses eg. M42, Minolta MC & a few others can be done in this manner. Once applied spend some time to work the focus to mix the drops of oil into the old grease
Saves dismantling the lens. This method works well but never as good as a complete CLA.
Hi, would Liberty 0il be a good oil to use for your method? Would it be fine to combine the two oils with the syringe for the application? How long would this method work until the lenses needed to be CLA'd. I wonder if this would work with the original Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm F/1.8 zebra 8 aperture blade version.
@@princeharbinger I use sewing machine oil, never tried combining the 2 of them together. I think the application of the oil tends to last fairly well as the lighter fluid evaporates daily fast. I have lenses done this way that are still working well after 2 - 3 years ago. Make sure you do not use too much of either or you will end up with a real mess.
I love watching your videos on how to clean various lenses and apertures and compared to other videos on TH-cam, I trust your approaches, as you really seem to know what to do and what not to do. Now I have a question whether yu could make a video of a Pentacon Praktica 50mm/1.8 lens which I have and which has a very stiff focussing ring and how to take it completely apart and clean the focus ring and the lens elements? That would be awesome.
Hey! First of all thank you for your Videos! Any Idea to loose a Focus Ring in a yashica Electro 35 gs? Mine can not do the whole Focus range. I can only open it from the Front until i get to the shutter mechanic. Thank you again
Can I use Singer Sewing machine oil instead of isopropyl alcohol or lighter fluid?
Your videos Shine a lot of light. I recently acquired a Pentax 645 80 f1.9 and the lens locked up and now its moves freely but extremely gritty. I can't remove the front glass element easily by unscrewing and can see helicoid threads. should I ad some lighter fluid to the front instead of taking apart the back? Thanks so much
Thanks Chris, I only use the lighter fluid to loosen the stiff old grease so I can move the focusing ring, and then I can begin to disassemble the lens. If there is a lot of sand and other dirt stuff on the helicoids, you should be very careful when turning the focus ring. Before you begin to disassemble the focusing system you should measure the lengths of the focus helicoids at infinity ♾️ because it’s your only reference when assembling the lens. If the front ring / name ring is very tight, you can add a few drops of Isopropylalcohol 99% or so on the thread and wait a bit, then maybe add a few more drops and gently try to unscrew the nameplate.
Hi there, To try this with a Leica R 24mm 2.8 would I go in from the rear or the front?
Hi. My Prakticon 50 1.8 PB mount won’t move at all. I’ve soaked it in Isopropyl, tried hot water but nothing. I was able to move it for a few milimeters but now i can’t turn it back so I can assemble it.
I have an minolta that I am currently cleaning at the moment, the helicoid is stuck like a rock. I tried alot of methods like applying lighter fluid, I trird boiling it, and also soaking it in acetone.
Does any one have tips?
Pretty sure the post office was rough as hell with one I was trying to sell on ebay. Anyway, the guy gets the package, the focus ring won't turn..... ugh.. so i get it back. I also realized that the fstop ring is turning.. but does NOT control anything. I opened it up and it almost looks like there's a part missing between the mechanism and the rest.
The same thing is happening to me with a lens that I purchased online. Were you able to fix your lens?
what the difference size between a JIS Type S #00 vs 2.5mm as you use it? please
I have a focus ring on a lens that’s too loose and has to be gripped hard to turn to get focus what’s the best way to fix it
Separate question regarding I have an old nikon em and when I forward the film it sounds gritty . Is there anything I can do to lubricate the film advance to stop this noise. Or is it to be left to a pro..Also I have a Pentax bc1 . The film advances for the first few frames but then seems not to fire when I press the shutter. But if I move the connection where a power winder is it springs and only then can I fire the shutter? Is it worth repairing. Great videos 👍
Hello, mikeno62. Hope you have time to read this comment. I really enjoy watching your videos, even tho I never opened a camera. I got a Ricoh KR-500 (you can not find anything about it online). It is supposed to use the same chassis from many Cosina mechanical cameras like FM10. The issue is whenever it is left untouched for a few hours, when I advance it, during the return of the advance lever, the shutter fires (or slips). Then I advance it very slowly, the issue goes away. Another phenomenon is when I advance it quickly, the 1s shutter will be too short (open the curtain for less than 1s). Looks like something is slippery inside if I advance it normally after not using it for a few hours. Could you please point me to a repair video, or some articles that I can study and fix the problems? Appreciate your help. Regards, Charles
My 18 to 55 mm lens is not doing auto focus until its full zoomed to 55mm please help what can be the issue
See if pulling it out gently when you turn it to 18mm because my autofocus on my 18-55 works but it can’t get a focus below 35mm because the front glass has to move forward (if I’m making any sense) it tries but it’s not proper distancing of the glasses
wow, really helpful, thx a lot ; i just bought three kiev 16u lens, and of course the focus ring can't move at all ;( have you ever worked on such lenses, any suggestion if i should operate from the front or the back ?
all 3 of them are stuck : Mir-11M, Vega-7-1 and Tair-41M
seller told me they were fine, and I can not return them
thx for your help, i'll drink a cup of iso 99% cup on you, if you can help me ;)
Hello. I have a zeiss 35mm f3.w Tessa’s lens for contaflex. Is it possible to send you an email for availablity
Thanks!
I read that when cleaning lenses that 99% alcohol can dissolve paint. But 70% alcohol is safer. Not sure about dissolving grease.
why lighter fluid lol?