Jupiter-9 CLA?

[Overconfidence]

So I'm in the process of acquiring a silver J-9 from a fellow RFF'er and I am prepared to CLA it if it's really far off. I plan to use it on a Zeiss Ikon ZM (with LTM > M adapter, of course).

Basically I have three questions. What are the chances that, if the focusing is really far off, it will be fixable by a CLA? Where could/should I send the lens for a CLA, if at all (I am located in eastern Canada, Montreal right now but will be closer to Toronto in May if that is better)? How much will this cost (again, if it's advisable)?

Thanks!

 

[malkmata]

Last year, I made a mistake of getting a crappy J-9 from a dishonest seller from EBay. The aperture ring was totally off, focusing is very stiff and the glass had fungus in it. The seller misrepresented it in his listing as excellent condition.
I sent it Yuri of fedka.com. They cleaned the glass like new, realigned the aperture ring and although he said the cams of the lens are already worn they were able make the focusing usable.
His rates are reasonable too. They are in New York City. www.fedka.com

 

[Overconfidence]

Last year, I made a mistake of getting a crappy J-9 from a dishonest seller from EBay. The aperture ring was totally off, focusing is very stiff and the glass had fungus in it. The seller misrepresented it in his listing as excellent condition.
I sent it Yuri of fedka.com. They cleaned the glass like new, realigned the aperture ring and although he said the cams of the lens are already worn they were able make the focusing usable.
His rates are reasonable too. They are in New York City. www.fedka.com

Sweet, looks like a good place to go. Do you know if he is available locally, i.e. without shipping? I might be heading to NYC in a month or so, haha.

 

[wolves3012]

A lot depends on its history. J9s have a bad reputation where they've been tinkered with. They have complicated helicals that need correct reassembly and if the optics have been swapped about they can be un-fixable...however, a good one is supposed to be excellent, so fingers crossed!

 

[john neal]

Why not go to Kim Coxon's site www.pentax-manuals.com and read the excellent J9 service article by Brian Sweeney?

At least then you will know what you are in for on a DIY adventure

 

[brachal]

Yuri may be available for a face to face meeting if you're in NYC. Drop him an email; he usually responds very quickly. I've used his repair service a on a couple of cameras and one lens and recommend it without reservation.

I love the results I get with my J-9. IMO they're definitely worth fixing up.

 

[januaryman]

Yuri has a guy in Brooklyn, I think his first name was Jerry, do the CLA on the lenses. He did one for me and a great job it was.