Front element for 50MM Summicron

My suspicion is that these repairs go in and await a regular "coating" run at the plant that coats the lenses for Arsenal regular production. Therefore it may take longer at some times of the year, depending on the production schedules. I have dealt with Arax for a couple of years, and have yet to be disappointed with him. I have (so far) had three front elements polished and recoated via his services, and they have all been first rate.
 
I'm very curious about the quality of work these Arax guys do. I have a few Zeiss lenses that I would like to have polished. They are prewar so no coating wanted.

Problem is, a couple are collapsible 50/2 Sonnar in Contax RF mount and I understand that they want the lens out of the metal mount. In this lens, the front element is held by friction to the barrel and permanently held into the namering.

Also, I wonder if they have a minimum size - another is the TINY front element from a Tenax I 35/3.5 Novar.
 
I got my Elmar back a few days ago.
Although I haven't tested it with film yet, it looks good. 😛
Here are a couple of pics.
Notice the purple/blue coating on the front element; it was an uncoated prewar Elmar.

As for the minimum size, they can work on Elmar (19mm filter thread) so I guess the Tenax wouldn't be a problem.

John
 
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At last!

At last!

My compliments. It appears that you transformed a" pig's ear into a silk purse", to steal an old adage. I wait anxiously to see mine [enroute]
Johne
 
See, if you guys (and the previous owners) had simply protected that front element with a filter, you wouldn't have to go through all this! 🙂 🙂 🙂
 
Mike Kovacs said:
I'm very curious about the quality of work these Arax guys do. I have a few Zeiss lenses that I would like to have polished. They are prewar so no coating wanted.

Problem is, a couple are collapsible 50/2 Sonnar in Contax RF mount and I understand that they want the lens out of the metal mount. In this lens, the front element is held by friction to the barrel and permanently held into the namering.

Also, I wonder if they have a minimum size - another is the TINY front element from a Tenax I 35/3.5 Novar.
Click to expand...


I have heard that they will take a lens in mount, but would prefer not. As far as polishing an uncoated lens, well you can only take that so far. The success I have had with having three Leica lenses polished and recoated I attribute to the fact that it was basically "only" the coating that was abraded. Early Leica lens coatings are very soft. I would be very interested in hearing from someone who has had an uncoated lens polished. And, considering that, why not just go ahead and have it coated while you are at it? Are you very concerned about changing the characteristics of the lens, with just the front element coated? I would think the difference in the "look" from the lens would be minimal.
 
The lens arrived today. It appears that the front element no longer has any of the heavy markings and is so clear that it could be new [but with better coating than from the factory]. Now to try it out. ARAX and Gevorg Vartanyan proved to be pleasant to deal with on this venture. I found it hard to wait but Gevorg assured me that all was well and not to worry. I took his advice. There is a time element to be certain, but that is to be expected. Now a "throw away" is a prized tool.

John E.L.Robertson
 
Dan,

Thanks for comment. Which picture do you mean? The four are in gallery section "rate this picture.". This worries me. Can you be more specific? Thanks.
Johne
 
Johne,

If I'm not mistaken, Dan's comment is about the size of the two pics titled "Remember?" and "New Toy". (He's pulling your leg. 🙂 )

More seriously, I think the scanned images could be sharper.
What scanner do you use?
Have you checked the cleanliness of the scanner optics?
Here's a related link: http://www.vad1.com/photo/dirty-scanner/

John
 
@Blee017
I save in Tiff and use 600 pixels in jpeg for maximum for posting on sites such as this. Another site has a limit of 120 KB. Just a comment. [I find all this a bit daunting! as I tend to think in X and Super X B&W.
Johne
 
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