danwri
Newbie
Greetings Film Camera Experts and Enthusiasts:
I have a black Rollei 35 S (2.8 Sonnar lens) with a problem: the focus can be turned in the direction of near-focus (counterclockwise facing the camera) 30 degrees farther than the nearest-focus marker "3 ft 0.9m". Normally in Rollei 35's, there is a focus hard-stop at "3 ft 0.9m". It seems the focus stop in this camera is broken.
The shutter clockworks are housed in the camera body; the lens contains only the shutter blades. A fork-arm (part 67L "blade pinion" in the repair manual) protrudes from the body and engages a pin inside the lens -- this is the connection between the clockworks in the body and the shutter blades in the lens.
When focus is turned 30 degrees beyond the normal focus stop, the lens backs away enough that the pin pulls out of the blade pinion. When next you press the shutter button, the blade pinion will disengage from the pin and the camera will be stuck in a bad state: you can wind, point, shoot, and hear the shutter click at the right speed, but the shutter will never open -- not at any speed setting.
I can fix it temporarily by 1) turning the focus beyond the normal focus stop, 2) using a toothpick to nudge the blade pinion so it's re-centered over the pin, 3) turning the focus clockwise to normal focus range engaging the pin, and 4) remembering never again to turn the focus past the normal focus stop. But I want to fix the broken focus stop.
From the front of the lens I removed the bezel (part 71 "cover ring") by breaking it away gently from the three glue-spots that held it on. The way I pulled it off is by screwing a Rollei Medium Orange filter into it. To my surprise this filter, although branded "Rollei 35" and found in the same camera bag as this camera, cannot be screwed onto the lens -- there is no receiving thread of the right size. If you try, the filter coincidentally screws into the cover ring, then you have an accidental but stable grip for pulling off the cover ring. Apparently I have the wrong filter for this lens -- was my filter made for the Tessar as opposed to the Sonnar lens? Do you know? Check out the attached picture of the filter.
With the cover ring removed, three screws can be loosened so you can rotate part 74 "Distance Ring" to calibrate focus. But this will not fix the broken focus stop. In the manual I see part number 75 "Stop Ring". I suppose I must continue disassembling to reveal the Stop Ring.
Is anyone here familiar with problems of this type, and can you tell me how easy it would be to continue disassembling to reveal the Stop Ring?
I'm hoping my Stop Ring is just bent and I'll be able to bend it back into shape, but I might have to buy a broken Rollei "for parts" to obtain a new Stop Ring.
Best regards,
Dan Wright
Mountain View, California
I have a black Rollei 35 S (2.8 Sonnar lens) with a problem: the focus can be turned in the direction of near-focus (counterclockwise facing the camera) 30 degrees farther than the nearest-focus marker "3 ft 0.9m". Normally in Rollei 35's, there is a focus hard-stop at "3 ft 0.9m". It seems the focus stop in this camera is broken.
The shutter clockworks are housed in the camera body; the lens contains only the shutter blades. A fork-arm (part 67L "blade pinion" in the repair manual) protrudes from the body and engages a pin inside the lens -- this is the connection between the clockworks in the body and the shutter blades in the lens.
When focus is turned 30 degrees beyond the normal focus stop, the lens backs away enough that the pin pulls out of the blade pinion. When next you press the shutter button, the blade pinion will disengage from the pin and the camera will be stuck in a bad state: you can wind, point, shoot, and hear the shutter click at the right speed, but the shutter will never open -- not at any speed setting.
I can fix it temporarily by 1) turning the focus beyond the normal focus stop, 2) using a toothpick to nudge the blade pinion so it's re-centered over the pin, 3) turning the focus clockwise to normal focus range engaging the pin, and 4) remembering never again to turn the focus past the normal focus stop. But I want to fix the broken focus stop.
From the front of the lens I removed the bezel (part 71 "cover ring") by breaking it away gently from the three glue-spots that held it on. The way I pulled it off is by screwing a Rollei Medium Orange filter into it. To my surprise this filter, although branded "Rollei 35" and found in the same camera bag as this camera, cannot be screwed onto the lens -- there is no receiving thread of the right size. If you try, the filter coincidentally screws into the cover ring, then you have an accidental but stable grip for pulling off the cover ring. Apparently I have the wrong filter for this lens -- was my filter made for the Tessar as opposed to the Sonnar lens? Do you know? Check out the attached picture of the filter.
With the cover ring removed, three screws can be loosened so you can rotate part 74 "Distance Ring" to calibrate focus. But this will not fix the broken focus stop. In the manual I see part number 75 "Stop Ring". I suppose I must continue disassembling to reveal the Stop Ring.
Is anyone here familiar with problems of this type, and can you tell me how easy it would be to continue disassembling to reveal the Stop Ring?
I'm hoping my Stop Ring is just bent and I'll be able to bend it back into shape, but I might have to buy a broken Rollei "for parts" to obtain a new Stop Ring.
Best regards,
Dan Wright
Mountain View, California
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EastVillageM3
Newbie
Hi Danwri! I have a Rollei 35s with exactly the same problem! Any chance you were able to work it out on your own?
zeitoun
Established
Hi,
I would strongly suggest to contact René Genest at Service Camera Pro in Quebec City, a real lover and one of the last expert of Rollei 35s. Just about the only way to do that is to call (+1 418 527 0880). He is not too good with emails !
Paul
I would strongly suggest to contact René Genest at Service Camera Pro in Quebec City, a real lover and one of the last expert of Rollei 35s. Just about the only way to do that is to call (+1 418 527 0880). He is not too good with emails !
Paul
danwri
Newbie
With no original replies to this thread, I continued trying to disassemble the lens from the front, was not able to obtain access to the "stop ring" or fix the focus stop, became disappointed, let the project sit for months, later re-visited the project, again could not figure out how to disassemble enough to fix the problem (even after studying the repair manual), lost patience, discarded the entire camera, shopped patiently on Ebay, and eventually bought a better 35S, as it turns out, for less than I paid for this one. That's how it went.
EastVillageM3
Newbie
Thank you both! I will reach out to René, and troll eBay in the meantime.