Elmar 50 f3.5 cleaning help

martinjames

martinjames

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Can someone tell me, or point me to, clear information regarding a DIY cleaning of the elements for this lens? That is, how to get things apart and go about it?

Okay, I thought this would be a real easy search but I've tried a variety of search term combinations here and on the web in general… amazingly little results, it seems to me, considering how many of these things are out there in the world! I see comments about how easy it is… but no details.

I have no problem, btw, in sending lenses to professionals for serious work but I have one here that I just want to mess about with myself.

Thanks!
 
Especially for this purpose I bought Thomas Tomosy`s, "Leica Camera Repair Handbook: Repairing & Restoring Collectible Leica Cameras, Lenses & Accessories" but never started to open my own copy of the Elmar 50/3.5 ... :eek:
 
I have done the Fed copy, using Tomosy as a guide, and it was very straightforward. When I tried the real Elmar, I found it was not so easy as I cannot get the screw out of the side of the barrel. Not sure if it was already damaged, just too tight, or my screwdrivers are too soft, but it will not undo.

Apart from that, it should be fairly easy, except that getting all the iris blades back in will probably be a real pig.

Best of luck :)
 
For cleaning the elements it is not necessary to dismantle the whole lens. The fog is always on the glass at both sides of the diafragm. You only have to remove the front lens to get there. This lens is hold by a ring at the front. Apply carefully some acetone or thinner on the ring until it gets loose so you can screw it out like a filter ring. Then get the front lens out with a piece of tape. With the front lens removed, open the diapragm and clean the exposed lens surface with a cotton stick and your breath. Clean the lens you've taken out also and reassemble. With coated lenses you should be extra careful.

Erik.
 
Thanks for the input. Upon further inspection, and comparison with pictures of later Elmars:
The later versions (1950s) have the usual pair of notches in the ring surrounding the front glass for applying a tool. Mine is an early nickel model and has no such notches. Does this then indicate a more complete dismantling is required? Or is there a way to still do as Erik has outlined?

I should add that the ring does have threads...
 
Last edited:
martinjames said:
Mine is an early nickel model and has no such notches. Does this then indicate a more complete dismantling is required? Or is there a way to still do as Erik has outlined?
Click to expand...

First apply thinner or acetone, to make the ring loose. Then use a rubber stopper of the same dimensions of the ring and try to screw it out. A rubber ring that fits and pointed nose pliers may help. Do not damage anything. If you can not get the ring off, give the lens to a professional repairer.

Erik.
 
If it is coated, do not touch it. Let DAG do it. The out coatings are soft, the interior ones can not be touched with anything. The pros use chemicals or ultrasonic cleaning.
 
Ronald M said:
If it is coated, do not touch it. Let DAG do it. The out coatings are soft, the interior ones can not be touched with anything. The pros use chemicals or ultrasonic cleaning.
Click to expand...

The OP's lens is early, nickel and has a front ring without 'notches'. The chances of it being coated are fairly slim. Having said all that coating will stand careful handling if present.

The far bigger risk is that front ring without 'notches'. If it has been undisturbed since 1935 or whenever the danger is that whatever one uses to shift it might slip and scratch the front element.

But (!!!) once again, a scratch on the front of an Elmar doesn't, in my experience, seem to affect results.

So I'd not worry too much.
 
This Elmar is indeed an early (1932) type, no coatings to worry about. Overall glass condition is so-so… which is partly why I was mucking about with it to begin with. Not really a candidate for pro cleaning. But I didn't want to make it any worse, which is why I gave up on trying to open it up. I was getting nowhere with the attempts to get the front retaining ring to budge. Oh, well…
It appears Leitz didn't wait long to change that ring to include the tool notches. I was looking at some examples listed for sale that date to only a year after mine, and the notches are present. (Assuming these rings were original, of course.)
 
Beware the natural coatings....

"In the early part of this century, astronomers began noticing something curious about their refractors. They were transmitting more light after a 20 to 30 year period than when they were brand new! It was soon discovered that the exposed surfaces of the objectives had reacted with the air to form a natural coating on the glass, and this coating allowed more light to be transmitted"

Some of the old lenses have quite a natural coat now, which may improve performance, as claimed by my zeiss repair guy, who made me swear not to clean a 1937 sonnar 1.5 he repaired for me.
 
How soft are soft coatings?
I have a 1950 coated elmar that's starting becoming cloudy inside. I tried to take a picture although the picture makes it look worse than it really is. Is it cleanable at home or does it need a pro?

20220724_101716.jpg
 
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