E 35 GT lens broken in half - what to do with it?

[efix]

Hey guys,

so it seems my E 35 GT has seen its final days. Recently, after a drop, I found its lens broken in half. Not the lens itself, but the lens barrel, plus some major dents on the body. It may be an easy fix (for someone who knows how to do it), but it just as well may not. The wiring inside the lens barrel still seems to be intact, but some metal parts are bent. The barrel broke right where the aperture ring meets the distance scale.

I already had it repaired twice a couple of years ago because of the Pad Of Death problem, and already shelled out some 200 € for that, so I don't really want to throw the camera away. Do you think there's a chance of getting the lens fixed again?

Alternatively, I wonder whether it might be worthwhile to get the lens adapted to M-mount. That would probably be the more expensive option, but also the more nerdy one 😉

I don't shoot a lot of film anymore anyway, and the camera has been gathering dust for the past year.

 

[nparsons13]

From your description of the break, it sounds as if the thin scalloped retaining ring may have popped off the threaded inner lens tube. Follow figs. 90-94 in the E35 service manual (http://www.scribd.com/doc/19302555/Yashica-Electro-35-Service-Manual#scribd) to take off the front lens cell and the mode selector ring. If the outer threading on the inner lens tube and the inner threading on the retaining ring are not damaged, you may be able to screw the ring back on the end of the tube and rebuild the lens. No guarantees, but this could be a fairly simple fix. Of course, a drop hard enough to pop the lens apart may have caused other damage as well.

 

[johnnyrod]

Shame the manual has been deleted. I am trying to ascertain if the aperture blades are the same as in a Copal SV shutter - they are in the Lynx but what about the Electro? Am trying to find some replacement blades for a repair.