Clean Yashica 124 G Lens

[ajishc]

HI All,

My Yashica 124 G lens looks foggy when I look through it with shutter set to B. I want to clean this myself.

How do I open the lens to get access to the inside part?

I searched this forum and other forums and found some help. Looks like I have to open the lens from inside the camera and need a spanner wrench (or something like that) for it? Not sure what that is?

Can anyone who may have done this before help me here on how to clean the lens.

Below is a pictures taken with my 124G. You can see the glow around the rose. This is because the lens is foggy (i think so).

Ajish

 

[rolleistef]

the difficulty with disassembling a lens is that you need to do a bit of collimation when you reassemble it, and it can be pretty difficult if you don't have the correct tools. You might think about sending it to a workshop, it shoudn't be too expensive to clean.

 

[VictorM.]

To get some idea of the work required, look at the Rolleiflex reair manual: http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/repairmanuals.html It's actually easier than it looks, but you should practice on a camera you don't care about.

Thomas Tomosy also has several general repair manuals that explain general procedures and then, for some cameras, more specific routines. You may be able to find his books in a public library.

 

[Wayno]

I was recently given a 124G and noticed that it had a lot of condensation inside the lens before I used it. I removed the rear lens group and cleaned off the condensation, but unfortunately a haze remained that could not be cleaned off:



This light haze didn't seem to make any difference to the results which were nicely sharp and contrasty.

The fog inside your lens is probably on the same surface. To remove the lens cell you need either a long reach lens spanner (most normal sets aren't long enough to access the rear cell of a TLR), or an improvised tool such as a paint scraper. I used a steel rule for mine. If you choose to do it yourself be very careful as it's all too easy to scratch the glass if you slip. A repair shop shouldn't charge very much at all for this type of cleaning.

If you take out the rear group you can also access the rear surface of the front group if it needs cleaning - lock the shutter on bulb with the diaphragm fully open. The lens group just screws back in till it's snug when you're finished - no need for collimation.

 

[ajishc]

Thanks Wayno, I will try with a steel ruler.

Ajish

 

[Wayno]

Please be very careful! With my camera the ruler just cleared the surface of the glass when it was in the notches. It would be safer to grind a concave shape out of the end of the makeshift tool to ensure there is plenty of clearance between steel and glass. If the lens cell is tight don't force it as you might slip.