Lens painting and Shintaro

[Archlich]

Hi,

I'm tempted to have one of my lenses painted, but had been scared of the possible 1-2 years turnaround time of Shintaro, as I intend to use my lens.

Is there anyone who had recently received their lenses from Shintaro-san - what is his turnaround time now, for a single lens (instead of some heavily abused M3)?

I have also tried to contact Lumiere, the partner of Youxin Ye's painting business, but to no avail - they may not be replying mails written in English. Anyone has any idea how could I contact them, or any other talents that offer lens painting service?


Thanks,

Steve

 

[JayM]

I'm interested in this kind of information too and have heard that turn arounds are quite long. CRR isn't taking anything new till August. My impression is that their turnaround for painting isn't that fast either.

A wait of a month or two isn't a big deal for me but longer than that and it gets into the question of buying a spare camera just to have it repainted which makes it a different sort of decision for me.

 

[Archlich]

Anybody had experience with Kanto Camera Service - do they speak English?

 

[RFluhver]

I do. I emailed them about 2 years ago to ask about CLA. They replied in English. Anyway, I subsequently opted for Youxin instead for cost savings.

But I did go to their store in Kawasaki to buy some of those special battery adapters. And yes, at least back then they had one staff member who spoke basic English, enough for my simple transaction. For something complex like a repaint, I probably wouldn't do business with them on my own. I'd take a Japanese-speaking mate or something.

 

[Archlich]

Thanks for the info RFuhver!

I just got reply from Kanto, and surprisingly, the mail's English is pretty good. I'd like leave a detailed report here for future reference:

They stated that they usually overhaul the lens while doing repaint, and the total cost would be 20,000 JPY (overhaul) + 40,000 JPY (paint job), plus 5% tax. If the lens's serial number is lower than approximately 1900000, they will have to recoat one of the inner elements, which will cost an extra 20,000 JPY.

Turnaround is said to be 3-4 months. Better (and more credible) than one to two years I guess, plus Shintaro-san currently seems not accepting any painting commissions from strangers at all.

 

[surfer dude]

Er, excuse my ignorance, but if you paint your lens, how are you gonna get a picture?

 

[EZfan]

Repaint Summaron 35/2.8

Repaint Summaron 35/2.8

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=181550
Just done it last weekend 😀

 

[dogberryjr]

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=181550
Just done it last weekend 😀

Wow! You've done a nice job there.

 

[muser53]

Er, excuse my ignorance, but if you paint your lens, how are you gonna get a picture?

SD, you've got to make sure to leave a small "pinhole" works great!

 

[EZfan]

Wow! You've done a nice job there.

Thank dogberryjr 🙂