Lubricate a 50mm Rigid Summicron

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kiemchacsu

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Dear gents,

I have a beautiful Rigid and while still using it well to take photos, I do believe that the lens could be smoother. I've compare my lens with a modern summicron and found that focusing in my lens is a bit stiff.

I searched here and linked to an article original from The classic camera repair forum, this was a message from Will Inoue
Ok I figured it out. So I will share the procedure here for anyone else who may be interested.

Remove front lens assembly (glass) by grabbing firmly and rotating CCW. Remove inner plate with serial number (press fit). Remove infinity lock with small pin face wrench. Under the infinity lock is a screw. Remove. The knurled focus scale portion of the barrel will now lift off. Rotate lens focus so brass helical and bayonet mount are approximately flush and mark both with a tiny mark on bottom of lens. This will allow you to reassemble helical properly. This is a very important step - don't forget! Remove inner lens stop with two screws. Lens will now separate by turning helical. Clean well and re-lube including brass stop. Very little grease is required. Reassemble by reverse procedure. Helical will take trial and error, but once the helical and bayonet mount are flush and your marks lines up, you know you have it. Note: there is an idler portion of the focus that requires grease also but is held together by a spanner nut from behind. This nut was very tight on my lens (wouldn't budge) and fortunatley I didn't need to re-lube this as it was still nice and smooth. I hope this helps. -Will
Click to expand...

My question is:
1/ Has anyone done something similar to what he said?
2/ Is it necessary to part the focus mechanism to lubricate it? Is it possible just to put a few drops of lighter fluid and/or watchmaker's/gun oil on the focussing helical if at least a part of it is accessible from outside as someone said here

Thank you for your time!
 
You should not use oil or lighter fluid to lubricate the lens. Both have solvents which evaporate over time, and can haze the lens and/or damage the coatings.

You should clean off all the old grease with lacquer thinner, then apply a good quality grease sparingly. There are various types of grease available, thinner grease is better for cooler climates, heavier grease for warmer places. The grease I use comes from a photographic tool supplier, and comes in weights from #10 to #80. #30 iss the best all-around type.

You can usually find general-use lens grease on eBay.
 
kiemchacsu said:
Dear gents,

I have a beautiful Rigid and while still using it well to take photos, I do believe that the lens could be smoother. I've compare my lens with a modern summicron and found that focusing in my lens is a bit stiff.

I searched here and linked to an article original from The classic camera repair forum, this was a message from Will Inoue


My question is:
1/ Has anyone done something similar to what he said?
2/ Is it necessary to part the focus mechanism to lubricate it? Is it possible just to put a few drops of lighter fluid and/or watchmaker's/gun oil on the focussing helical if at least a part of it is accessible from outside as someone said here

Thank you for your time!
Click to expand...

I've done it similarly to an old Summicron, Summitar, and Summar. Easy as pie really. I only used lighter fluid to clean off the old grease before applying new helical grease. Lighter fluid doesn't act as a lubricant, so I'm not sure why anyone would even recommend it as such.
 
rivercityrocker said:
Lighter fluid doesn't act as a lubricant, so I'm not sure why anyone would even recommend it as such.
Click to expand...

I suspect it is a lazy repairman's trick. A small amount will soften the remaining hardened grease and for a short time, until the cheque clears, the helical will move more smoothly before gumming up again. A bit like the oil flood cla 😡
 
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