Musashi1205
Established
I recently found a copy of this lens nearby for an acceptable price and bought it. The owner bought it about 20 years ago in Japan and had no clue that it’s going to haze up and needs CLA every now and then to prevent etching the element permanently. He told me that it had been cleaned some time before, and I thought I could give it a try. Anyway, the price was good with original front cap and hood. Front lens is nearly pristine, some minor “cleaning marks” on the rear element. But some haze on the inside. It’s obviously a very early one, and for a lens of this age it’s in pretty good shape!
So I tried to clean it several times with isopropyl alcohol or lighter fluid and similar stuff but without effect.
The pictures seemed promising though, even wide open. Actually the main reason for me to want it in the first place was to use it at 1.2. (I actually don’t see the point about having a lens like that and only use it stopped down...)
I already own a almost mint 1.4 but I really wanted the 1.2 for even shallower depth of field and the out of focus effect/bokeh. Since I started to collect and use Canon LTM lenses some time ago this particular lens was missing. I kind of like that dreamy softness, but with a little post production this can be handled really good also for strong portraits. A little bit of contrast, clarity and subtle sharpening helps a lot. But it still could be better I thought...
The etched middle element annoyed me very much, it makes the lens softer and weaker in backlit situations than it was originally intended. So I researched much more about it and came to the conclusion that I wanted to try to get rid of it. I found a supplier for glass polishing equipment and ordered a small bottle of cerium oxide slurry with an average of 2,3 microns sized particles.
I applied a little bit of it to a cotton pad and polished manually and very very gently for about 10 minutes.
And guess what? It helped quite a bit. I managed to polish off about half of the haze. So I repeated the polishing, again very gently by hand (actually one single finger) with almost no pressure for another 10 minutes or so and finally all the haze was gone. I didn’t figure if there was any coating on this inner lens, I couldn’t find anything online so far. But as it was etched anyway I couldn’t make things worse. And it looks like new now. I maybe wouldn’t go so far to say it’s perfect, I don’t think that would be possible without proper machines, but it is definitely way better than having a hazy lens!
I now have a nice and clean lens in my collection that gets used for its special look and I love it for what it is and the work I have put in it.
Wide open it’s sharp enough, it can be processed even further and the shallow depth of field and bokeh are a dream.
As I had the lens open that second time I also removed and cleaned the aperture blades and put them back in place.
I wouldn’t advise anyone to try this at their home, severe damage could occur to the lens by doing something wrong. Also working with cerium oxide is nothing one should do without protection gear (glasses and gloves at least). Proper tools are needed to open a lens and separate some of the inner elements. It needs quite some practice, and this is definitely not a cheap lens to test your skills.
On the other hand the Canon LTM lenses I know and own are not complicated to work with when you have the right skills and tools.
I am not a professional lens technician nor do I pretend to be one, I practiced with some other much cheaper lenses in my collection which needed some little repair here and there.
I felt cheated sometimes when I brought lenses to a renowned technician here when he just turned a screw, opened a lens, swiped over it with a microfiber cloth and closed it again, needed one week for that and charged me 30€ or more. So I started to watch videos, read A LOT, bought and made my own tools and risked something sometimes. I still remember that 0,5mm ball bearing Hop off the table and jump away... NOOOO! Well luckily I found it again and put it back in place, a Helios 44-m.
Turned out that I am not bad at this, and I also enjoy it very much.
I did this only with my own lenses which I am not going to sell anyway. These lenses get used for my leisure and also sometimes for paid jobs. Lately I had an assignment to shoot an corporate event and I used some of my Canon LTM lenses as well as my other modern E-Mount lenses.
It’s a pleasure to work with them.
I hope some of you find this informative. It’s meant to not give up old lenses that others may not consider worth keeping. Maybe there is a way to fix them.
Here is a link to my related Flickr for anyone interested:
http://https://flickr.com/photos/146474230@N05/sets/72157676037031687
http://https://flickr.com/photos/146474230@N05/sets/72157676515698607
So I tried to clean it several times with isopropyl alcohol or lighter fluid and similar stuff but without effect.
The pictures seemed promising though, even wide open. Actually the main reason for me to want it in the first place was to use it at 1.2. (I actually don’t see the point about having a lens like that and only use it stopped down...)
I already own a almost mint 1.4 but I really wanted the 1.2 for even shallower depth of field and the out of focus effect/bokeh. Since I started to collect and use Canon LTM lenses some time ago this particular lens was missing. I kind of like that dreamy softness, but with a little post production this can be handled really good also for strong portraits. A little bit of contrast, clarity and subtle sharpening helps a lot. But it still could be better I thought...
The etched middle element annoyed me very much, it makes the lens softer and weaker in backlit situations than it was originally intended. So I researched much more about it and came to the conclusion that I wanted to try to get rid of it. I found a supplier for glass polishing equipment and ordered a small bottle of cerium oxide slurry with an average of 2,3 microns sized particles.
I applied a little bit of it to a cotton pad and polished manually and very very gently for about 10 minutes.
And guess what? It helped quite a bit. I managed to polish off about half of the haze. So I repeated the polishing, again very gently by hand (actually one single finger) with almost no pressure for another 10 minutes or so and finally all the haze was gone. I didn’t figure if there was any coating on this inner lens, I couldn’t find anything online so far. But as it was etched anyway I couldn’t make things worse. And it looks like new now. I maybe wouldn’t go so far to say it’s perfect, I don’t think that would be possible without proper machines, but it is definitely way better than having a hazy lens!
I now have a nice and clean lens in my collection that gets used for its special look and I love it for what it is and the work I have put in it.
Wide open it’s sharp enough, it can be processed even further and the shallow depth of field and bokeh are a dream.
As I had the lens open that second time I also removed and cleaned the aperture blades and put them back in place.
I wouldn’t advise anyone to try this at their home, severe damage could occur to the lens by doing something wrong. Also working with cerium oxide is nothing one should do without protection gear (glasses and gloves at least). Proper tools are needed to open a lens and separate some of the inner elements. It needs quite some practice, and this is definitely not a cheap lens to test your skills.
On the other hand the Canon LTM lenses I know and own are not complicated to work with when you have the right skills and tools.
I am not a professional lens technician nor do I pretend to be one, I practiced with some other much cheaper lenses in my collection which needed some little repair here and there.
I felt cheated sometimes when I brought lenses to a renowned technician here when he just turned a screw, opened a lens, swiped over it with a microfiber cloth and closed it again, needed one week for that and charged me 30€ or more. So I started to watch videos, read A LOT, bought and made my own tools and risked something sometimes. I still remember that 0,5mm ball bearing Hop off the table and jump away... NOOOO! Well luckily I found it again and put it back in place, a Helios 44-m.
Turned out that I am not bad at this, and I also enjoy it very much.
I did this only with my own lenses which I am not going to sell anyway. These lenses get used for my leisure and also sometimes for paid jobs. Lately I had an assignment to shoot an corporate event and I used some of my Canon LTM lenses as well as my other modern E-Mount lenses.
It’s a pleasure to work with them.
I hope some of you find this informative. It’s meant to not give up old lenses that others may not consider worth keeping. Maybe there is a way to fix them.
Here is a link to my related Flickr for anyone interested:
http://https://flickr.com/photos/146474230@N05/sets/72157676037031687
http://https://flickr.com/photos/146474230@N05/sets/72157676515698607
shawn
Veteran
Nice, I bought one that had a hazy inner element but I lucked out and it came off very cleanly with naptha. Took a couple of soaks.
While I had it apart I soaked the bottom half (aperture assembly) in naptha to get the old grease/oil out of the aperture blades. Took awhile but they came out very clean. I hope getting that old grease out will stop (or at least reduce) the haze from coming back. Time will tell.
Have fun,
Shawn
While I had it apart I soaked the bottom half (aperture assembly) in naptha to get the old grease/oil out of the aperture blades. Took awhile but they came out very clean. I hope getting that old grease out will stop (or at least reduce) the haze from coming back. Time will tell.
Have fun,
Shawn
Ko.Fe.
Lenses 35/21 Gears 46/20
If you Google it, you will find Canon LTM lenses third party service. With those lenses it is not always just wipe it off. Some of them are getting fog inside of the glued elements. So, it is the lottery.