canon 35mm f1.8 cla how to?

[Merkin]

I picked up a canon 35mm f/.8 at a pawn shop today. It is in reasonably decent condition, but it is beginning to get a little bit of fungus on the inside. The fungus looks wispy, is only around the outside edges, and doesn't look like it is attacking the lens itself yet. Since I don't have an LTM camera, and I already have a CV 35mm f/1.4, it isn't worth the money to me to have it sent off for a cla, considering i will still need to buy an adapter to use it on my M. Are there any guides out there that will give the procedure for disassembling it and CLA'ing it myself?

 

[Al Kaplan]

Don't attempt it! It's not just the lens elements that have to be precicely put back in place! There's also the focusing mount with the rangefinder cam, and the cam and the optics don't move the same distance as one another while focusing.

It's a great lens and the photos will look pretty much the same as the first model 35/2 Summicron produces. You don't mention what you paid for the lens, but it might not really be worth getting it cleaned. Keep it in a dry place without the caps, let the sun get to it, and the fungus won't go away, but you can certainly slow it down while using the lens for another ten or twenty years at least.

More likely than not the fungus is feeding on the Canada balsam that was used to glue certain elements together. Cleaning the lens thus would involve uncementing those groups of elements first, and then regluing them afterwards. Just enjoy the lens!

 

[Merkin]

Don't attempt it! It's not just the lens elements that have to be precicely put back in place! There's also the focusing mount with the rangefinder cam, and the cam and the optics don't move the same distance as one another while focusing.

It's a great lens and the photos will look pretty much the same as the first model 35/2 Summicron produces. You don't mention what you paid for the lens, but it might not really be worth getting it cleaned. Keep it in a dry place without the caps, let the sun get to it, and the fungus won't go away, but you can certainly slow it down while using the lens for another ten or twenty years at least.

More likely than not the fungus is feeding on the Canada balsam that was used to glue certain elements together. Cleaning the lens thus would involve uncementing those groups of elements first, and then regluing them afterwards. Just enjoy the lens!

Considering I paid less than ten bucks for the lens and the brown leather case, it isn't really worth spending money on it. Do you think it would be valuable enough that I could trade it to someone for a collapsible industrar 22? Since I don't need a second 35mm lens, I don't really want to spend the money for an adapter.

 

[RF_newbie]

Hi Merkin, i will give you $25 for it. :smile:
here is my 2 cents on the subject: Listen to Al.
There are a few how to camera repair sites that give pretty good info on the tools you will need to buy (or make) and how to go about dissembling a lens. and then clean it. But for $40 most camera repair shops will do it for you. Canon 35/1.8 or 2.8 is a pretty nice lens. If you got it cheap you can use it the way it is, and if you like the results , take it to a local shop and spend the 40 bucks.
Good luck

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Oh hell, get a CLA! It is a great little lens, I love mine. KEH will probably do it for a hundred bucks, and you could surely find somebody to do it more cheaply. These go for around 300 in great shape.

 

[Nokton48]

I picked up a canon 35mm f/.8 at a pawn shop today. It is in reasonably decent condition, but it is beginning to get a little bit of fungus on the inside. The fungus looks wispy, is only around the outside edges, and doesn't look like it is attacking the lens itself yet. Since I don't have an LTM camera, and I already have a CV 35mm f/1.4, it isn't worth the money to me to have it sent off for a cla, considering i will still need to buy an adapter to use it on my M. Are there any guides out there that will give the procedure for disassembling it and CLA'ing it myself?

I have recently sent a few of my Canon Rangefinder lenses (85mm f1.5, 35mm f2, and 19mm f3.5) to Essex Camera Repair in New Jersey. Usually the charge is about $85 for a CLA, maybe yours, a bit more, with the fungus. For what you paid for it, I'd have them clean it out and sterilize it, which will stop the fungus in it's tracks. It's a great lens, and worth cleaning. There is also John Van Stelton (Focal Point) in Colorado who will recement lenses, but he charges a fair price for his talents, but you could ask him.