Elmar Black 9cm

[jmel]

Hello,

I am new in this forum and I would like to raise the following question

I have an Elmar Black 9 cm. This is in very good condition but it has a soft haze I want to dismantle the lenses to clean it . Someone can say to me how it is done ; which is the procedure order.





[FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

I'll offer some simple advice which may well upset you; it's DON'T.

Read these forums for long enough and you'll discover all the things that can go wrong and how hard it is to put right. And, now and then, they'll add "so I sold it on ebay" which explains a lot...

Someone who does it all the time will know what to do and, if they work for a serious repair shop, will have the tools and parts to put it together again. Plus - most important - they'll know from bitter experience what not to do or touch.

My experience of having Leica lenses tested, cleaned and so on is that it costs from about £20 to £50 )and the high figure was exceptional: a Summar).

I hope this is some help.

Regards, David

 

[ktran]

To add to David's advice:

If you end up trying to clean haze from inside a lens/between elements, you WILL replace that haze with scratches (aka "cleaning marks"). There's really just no other way about it. In fact, the glass in those lenses is notoriously soft, especially the inner, uncoated elements.

All that being said, I have had a modicum of success taking apart and cleaning/repairing a handful of lenses. I'm not a professional by any stretch of the imagination, but I've had the fortune of 1) being able to talk to some experienced repairmen in person along the way and 2) having worked on cameras and lenses that I got for free or bought for less than what I spent on lunch yesterday.

Depending on the model of 9cm Elmar you have, you might be able to use a spanner wrench and back out the rear elements. On my lens, this is where there is some "haze," but it turns out that this haze is actually etched onto the glass itself and is therefore not repairable. The lens is still fine though, and is still perfectly able to take good pictures.

All this to say: if you want to learn, then by all means go ahead, but be very aware of the risks. And unfortunately, my 9cm Elmar (1953 chrome model) may be entirely different from yours, and I never really attempted to do much with mine anyhow!