relubing an Industar-61 L/D

[stet]

I just followed Matt Denton's great page on relubing the I-61, and I'm wondering if I inadvertently messed something up by doing so. Now the domed ring wiggles, and the rear ring is screwed down hard. Is it possible that that hard-caked wax that I scraped out of there actually held that thing firmly in place? This is the part that actually threads into the camera body, so this means the lens wiggles around it. Not much, but it happens sometimes when focusing or changing aperture. Anyone else have this problem?

And, as usual, it seems, I have another question: At infinity, should things I'm focusing on line up in the patch with this lens? It happens with my Canon and CV lenses, but not this one.


-Rick

 

[Pherdinand]

When i relubed the i-61L/D of another rff member, i noticed similar to you that the thick excessive grease was kinda compensating for the imprecisely manufactured parts. The fitting is indeed far from tight, i think that's how it is made. The edges are very roughly finished and things wobble around. It's really cheap stuff; the jupiter-8 i relubed in the same time was made following much tighter tolerances i think.

 

[pshinkaw]

Yes, the grease is actually a form of packing that minimizes wobble and compensates for loose manufacturing tolerances.

There is a gel lube sold by Radio Shack in the US that is the consistency of petroleum jelly but is not supposed to liquify at common ambient temperatures. It is laos not supposed to off gas. It seems to work very well as a packing lube. The white lithium grease that most of use is slick, but not quite thick enough to prevent motion.

-Paul

 

[stet]

rats. Oh well. I did use a thicker grease, though, something simply called "Super Lube" that I found at Sports Authority. The focusing ring moves smoothly but nice and slow/stiff.

I brought all my stuff to class last night so I could use the loupe there to check for infinity, since, the Canon 50 reversed wouldn't fit in there, but the loupe was too big also. To properly check focust he glass has to rest on the rails and the loupe on the glass, right?

 

[pshinkaw]

Your post doesn't indicate what body you are using. If you have access to the film rails, as I assume you do, the glass rests against the inner rails if there are two pairs. Most Soviet cameras have only one pair of rails, so I would use those.

The purpose of the loupe is to magnify the tiny (for me) 24X36mm image. Use the loupe so you get the most useful image and magnifaction from it. Personally, I have trouble with many loupes, and I use them reversed and handheld in order to get them to focus. A 50mm lens reversed will also suffice as a loupe.

My eyesight is bad enough that on Soviet cameras with Leica thread mounts (LTM) I simply rely on setting the flange-film distance at 28.8 MM (+/- 0.02mm). If that doesn't give me sharp pictures, the body goes into the box labeled "to be fixed some day soon"

-Paul

 

[stet]

hm, maybe I could reverse the loupe. I'm using a Canon 7s, and the circumference of the loupe was too large, and it rested crooked over a little ridge at the bottom edge of the camera.

My eyesight is bad enough that on Soviet cameras with Leica thread mounts (LTM) I simply rely on setting the flange-film distance at 28.8 MM (+/- 0.02mm). If that doesn't give me sharp pictures, the body goes into the box labeled "to be fixed some day soon"

heh ... I laughed, but I don't totally understand what it means to set the flange-film distance.

 

[kiev4a]

Microtools have various weights of camera grease. Some folks just use white lithium grease.

 

[pshinkaw]

Since you are using a Canon 7S I wouldn't worry too much about the flange-film distance. (Which is the distance between the face of the lens flange and the film plane.) Unless it's been repaired by an amateur before or it is in bad shape, that model shold be OK. I only have a concern about Soviet LTM cameras.

However, if the I-61LD still has a lot movement in it, attempting to verify its focus may be futile. I would deal with the movement first before trying to check it' focus.

-Paul

 

[stet]

You shouldn't have to get so close with a loupe. Use one with a 1" focal length or use the 50mm not reversed. I've even used a regular magnifing glass about 3" in diameter.

Really? I thought I'd have to lay it right on the glass, becuase when I used the Canon 50 reversed I could hold it up and get it crisp and in focus at a certain point, but if I moved it closer or farther it would blur.

Just guesstimating distance right now, the patch is focusing well at 3 meters. I can't believe there's not a tape measure in this house.

 

[pshinkaw]

I have a kitchen floor with 12" tiles. I just fold a newspaper over the back of a chair and move it around.

One of those hooded binocular magnifiers works well too if you dn't have any vision issues. They cost less than $8 at Harbor Freight and some hobby and sewing stores.

-Paul