Polishing the Industar-22

[Valkir1987]

I got another parts Zorki 1c this afternoon, and I thank the person who gave it to me, it keeps me busy. The camera is missing several parts but is not unrepairable. The camera came with the I-22 and I was happy with it because the last camera's I got where only body's without the lens. The infinity lock is missing and the two screw pins are missing too.
I just disassambled the lens to clean it and the inside optics where almost clean. I removed the dust with a blower brust and put the lens back together.

The front element however shows signs of cleaning, and if I look closer these seem to be disturbing the front glass. Small scratches can be seen.

Is it worth to give up the coating of the front element by polishing the front element? Which polish should I use?

Thanks in Advance 🙂

 

[reagan]

Are you wanting good photos or clean glass? Shoot with it first... then decide how "flawless" the lens needs to be.

My 2.cents... 😱

 

[robbiechad]

Hi, Ive got an Industar 61LD, that has more bubble and scratches on the front element than you would ever hope to see, bubbles from poor glass and scratches from poor cleaning, it still mages to take some decent pictures,take photos with yours, you will be surprised how much punishment these FSU lenses take both during and after manufacture, quite honestly they are not worth the effort of stripping and cleaning unless you are an expert and have the right tools, just buy another one! car boot and garage sales offer excellent bargain opportunities.

 

[alternatve]

I have a Industar 50, which is very much the same as the I-22.

It came with a mass of scratches on the front element, like someone used his shirt to clean the front element all day! But, it still takes great pictures though it's a bit softer now. Great for portraits? The basic design, being a Tessar Formula and all, still produces great results.

Regards,
Samuel

 

[ErnestoJL]

I have an I 22 and an I 50 in standard Zorki (1e and 4) bodies.
Both are in very good shape in spite of their age. I know they are Tessar clones, not Elmar clones as I supposed some time ago (Thanks Zorkikat!).
Their formula is very good (sharp and contrasted) for general photo, in fact sharper than too contrasted.

IMHO, why don´t you check the lenses performance? Shoot a roll or two under different lighting situations. I think that even looking bad, they would be nice performers.

I had a very pleasant surprise with an old non coated pre war CZ Jena Tessar I got with my Contax. Hope yours will be similar.

Cheers
Ernesto

 

[Valkir1987]

Thanks again for the replies, but something went wrong with the forum some hours ago, many posts and topics are missing! I was reading a very nice article on the Zorki 6! 😕

To keep you updated: I removed the front element and put it on a nap which I put on a multi tool. I polished the front glass with the scratches, and the result was shining and the lens looked clear. But the cleaning scratches which had been there before where somehow too deep (as probably said by Xmas and another poster)
The surface of the lens changes, and some kind of tiny hills are left behind if you look closely. And it seems this is optically worse than the situation before, when you look trough the lens. (nothing is actually sharp but extremely buggy and soft)

It should be polished further to get the scratches away, and this requires another polish which is more expensive than a spare lens. So I decide to look for an old spare I 50 to swap front elements or try to place its optics inside the tube of the I-22.

 

[John Robertson]

Repolishing of lens elements is a specialist job, requiring special equipment. any attempts using multi-tools or anything similar will totally destroy the lens.
There are specialist firms who do this work and can coat and recoat lenses, but the work is expensive and there are very few FSU lenses whose value could justify the cost.
Throw the lens in the bin and find another, there are still plenty around.
I used to make my own astro-telescope concave mirrors, it was a very lengthy job, requiring a dozen grades of grinding paste, then increasingly finer and finer jewelers rouge, then vacuum coating with either silver or aluminium. This was on a disc of glass 4inch in diameter or larger, with a focal length of 36+ inches. I know how difficult this was so working on an optical lens 1/2 or so in diameter, requires a degree of precision very far in excess of that.