To Oil or Not TO Oil!

[Range-rover]

Hi all,

After using my Nikon S3 for a while and noticing the focusing was
not as smooth as it could be, I decided to take apart the focusing mount.
I removed both parts and cleaned it with lighter fluid, the Q-Tip were pretty
dirty, when I put it back together and put a lens on it, it does work much
smoother and focusing is faster. I didn't put any oil inside again I left it
as is, will that be okay? I just don't have any oil fine enough to put in
there my extra fine oil just gums it up, any advice on this.

Range

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I think the general consensus is no oil. The brass or bronze of the helicoid is very good at doing its job sans-lube. I've noticed that oil tends to make focusing harder since that helicoid is pretty fine and it also turns the razor wheel. Conversely, the razor wheel turns the helicoid and oil plus the tiniest amount of dirt will make it very difficult.

Phil Forrest

 

[Range-rover]

Thanks Phil, the oil did add the heavy feeling to the focusing which I did not like,
Hows things.

Range

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Things are tumultuous though quite positive.

Phil Forrest

 

[Keith]

I had a Nikon and used lithium grease for this ... a very light smear!

 

[Stefcuoz]

I use CRC for my Nikon's RF, and never have a problem.
logically a very small drop with a needle... certainly not using the sprayer!

 

[Platinum RF]

From a video clip of Nikon designers who were talking about replicate Nikon SP, they said they tried different ways to lubricate the helical thread, 4B pencil worked the best, I guess they use graphite to coat the focus helical.

 

[bsdunek]

In my camera repair days (before digital) we used a special helical grease. Micro-Tools has it:
http://www.micro-tools.com/store/P-HG-30/Grease-Helical-30-Medium-8ml.aspx
It's very temperature stable, and doesn't outgas and coat the lens elements. I've seen the outgassing problem when the wrong grease/oil is used. Especially oil will do this. Cleaning the oily film off lens elements is a pain. I just did an old Agfa folder, and it took a lot of time. Coatings can also be damaged. Be careful what you use.

 

[MaZo]

I had to disassemble S2 helical quite recently. At first after cleaning with Ronsonol I put some graphite grease which worked OK in Russian lenses before. However the stiffness returned. 😛 Then after second cleaning I left it dry and voila - I don't hurt my middle finger anymore. So no oil for me.

 

[Range-rover]

Thanks for the info guys, I decided not to grease for now it's working great. When
I used the Voigtlander 25mm it's so easy to turn now I can shoot with one hand, the
Nikkor 35mm it's a little harder but works better as well.

Range

 

[ssmc]

I know this is slightly OT but I found the focusing in my S3 2000 to be ever-so-slightly loose and "whizzy" which seems at odds with what others report with the repro model. So I dismantled it, cleaned and lubed the helicoid. I ended up doing a it a couple of times because the Permatex white lithium grease just didn't feel right so I cleaned it out and used Syncolon Super Lube instead. After running it through a few dozen times (off the camera) and removing the slight excess that squeezed out, now it feels beautiful. FWIW.

 

[JNewell]

The problem with most oils is that they have all kinds of additives, many of which are going to evaporate and may leave haze on optics. The other risk is that some will become gummy over time.

I have only done a couple of lenses. What I did was to use a tube of grease I got from Leitz 30 years ago and wipe a trace into both sides, assemble and work a little, then disassemble and wipe it as dry as I could with a microfiber cleaning cloth (the ones with the terry-cloth-like surface). That seems to do the trick and I know the grease is suitable for optics because of its source.

 

[Highway 61]

What I did was to use a tube of grease I got from Leitz 30 years ago

Greases made 30 years ago cannot be seen as something safe, and Leitz lenses made 30 years ago very often have haze in them... 😉

In the case of the Nikon rangefinders, the helicoid is in the camera body and far away from the lens barrel and optics, so the outgassing and migrating problem is way less critical.

Those helicals can run dry, but a very tiny amount of good modern white lithium grease applied on the helical parts with a 00 drawing paintbrush after a very good cleaning and degreasing of the brass threads won't harm anything.

 

[JNewell]

Greases made 30 years ago cannot be seen as something safe, and Leitz lenses made 30 years ago very often have haze in them... 😉

In the case of the Nikon rangefinders, the helicoid is in the camera body and far away from the lens barrel and optics, so the outgassing and migrating problem is way less critical.

Those helicals can run dry, but a very tiny amount of good modern white lithium grease applied on the helical parts with a 00 drawing paintbrush after a very good cleaning and degreasing of the brass threads won't harm anything.

Not sure why you think an old tube of grease that shows no signs of separation (I have seen that) is not safe - and Leitz-serviced lenses, other than the DR Summicron, do not tend to haze back up unless there are environmental reasons for doing so.

 

[noisycheese]

We have some brave people here - I would never attempt to work on one of my cameras. 😱

 

[Highway 61]

Not sure why you think an old tube of grease that shows no signs of separation (I have seen that) is not safe - and Leitz-serviced lenses, other than the DR Summicron, do not tend to haze back up unless there are environmental reasons for doing so.

The problem isn't with what the grease looks like, but what it was made with. If it's kinda some synthetic grease with no petroleum or oil base, good. If not...

The safety test is to put a dollop of grease on a glass sheet for several weeks/months at ambient temperature, then carefully look at what happens around the dollop. If the glass around the grease dab remains dry and clean 100%, good. If it's covered with an oily deposit obviously creeping off the grease dollop, bad.

 

[Range-rover]

We have some brave people here - I would never attempt to work on one of my cameras. 😱

Hi,
It really nice when it works out good, the S3 had a few problems when
I got it, advance lever would not return, focusing was sluggish and the finder was
a bit hazy, with a little time it's working real good now.

Range