Lens barrel wobble on QL17 ?

[kubatyszko]

Hello,

I happen to have 4 QL17's, 2 GIII's and and 2 regular "new" pre-GIII.
The GIII's both have very noticeable lens wobble, and I already started my attempt on repair - removed the leatherette, top and bottom plates, the front plates that hide most of the mechanics, removed the front element and for now I'm stuck on removing the second lens element until I find a good tool for the job.
I have seen all the manuals, service and very good picture-based illustration on how to get to the shutter so that's not an issue.

My concern is, that the wobble doesn't seem to be just the whole lens (that's barely noticeable, and all 4 of the mounting screws are tight as they should be).
The whole lens barrel seems to wobble a bit, and I think there were some people who had similar issue - what was the final culprit ? where should that be tightened to resolve it ? (I assume I need to keep dismantling stuff much further than I got so far).

Thanks

 

[zuiko85]

I have a GIII that does the same thing and all the ones I have handled seem to have it to some degree. Come to think of it quite a few of my OM mount Zuiko's also have some play in the barrel. I would say that if the performance is good then it would probably be counterproductive to risk more disassembly.

 

[kubatyszko]

I couldn't stop and kept digging, removed the whole lens board (really easy after removing the leatherette) - 4 or 5 screws and it all comes out.

For the further reference - if the play seems to be between the focusing ring/knob and aperture rings then the problem is 100% on the rear retaining ring - this is what holds the front lens via the shutter to the back of the lens board - to fix - ensure that the ring is tight - you may need to remove the whole lens board for easy access to the ring.
It is accessible from the back, but the grooves for the wrench are partially covered by the black internal hood (removable only with the lens board off).

If the play is only on the focusing ring/knob then it's just the helicoid and there isn't much that can be done other than putting thick grease (but then when it dries out in some time focusing will get hard)