Unumbered Elmar 50mm lens - worn out?

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Krnome

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I got my first developed negatives from my 1929 Leica II today! I have scanned some of them and here is one of the pictures. I used an unumbered Elmar 50mm lens on Kodak Color 200 ISO. It looks like if the picture is taken with an older mobilephone-camera. However, I have an older scanner which might not be the best to scan negatives. The 50mm has a lot of light scratches in the middle of the objective. I have another shot where I have used a 90mm Elmar (my other lens)

First Pic: 90mm Elmar (1933) - Nice lens without visible scratches.
image2_zps7ace979e.jpg


Second Pic: 50mm Elmar (unumbered) - Lens with several scratches, but not very deep scratches.

image0-001_zps7e1305db.jpg


Is it possible to repair the 50mm with the scratches? Polish?
 
Shine a flashlight in one end (not directly into your eyes) while you're looking at inside from the other end. I wonder if you'll find that there's a lot of fogging, internally, in which case a good cleaning might help.
 
You have sidelight falling aross the front surface of the leans. If you can't see obvious fogging when you shine a light through it the lens is probably not that bad. I get alarmed when I shine a light through even a well performing lens because there's usually all kinds of cr** in there but it doesn;t necessarily show up on the negative. I am pretty sure you will be astonished at the improvement a simple lens hood will make.
 
I tried the flashlight test again, now I see it's a bit moore fogging than I saw yesterday. Here are some pictures of the lens:

IMG_2373_zps676cd03d.jpg


IMG_2356_zps947b9078.jpg


IMG_2374_zps9c935f52.jpg


What do you think? What should I use for cleaning?

mdarnton said:
Shine a flashlight in one end (not directly into your eyes) while you're looking at inside from the other end. I wonder if you'll find that there's a lot of fogging, internally, in which case a good cleaning might help.
Click to expand...
 
That is internal fogging and you cannot clean it out yourself easily unless you know how to handle a prewar Elmar.

Good news is, if you do know how to (dis-)assemble a prewar Elmar, cleaning should be easy since there is no coating to damage.

There's more to it than just (dis-)assembly, it should likely be fine-tuned to correct specifications afterwards too, or you will still have out of focus photographs.

Generally, this is a repair persons job to perform, not a Do It Yourself kind of job.

The lens is most likely worth it though, a nickel prewar Elmar is a great lens and collectable too if in good condition. I love mine and wouldn't sell it ever!
 
Hi,

A good technician as getting it back together can spoil it. Or take it to bits carefully and don't forget to mark the lenses on the sides, to show front and rear. Putting one in back to front is the standard trick with several others. And, remember, I said get a technician to do it.

Regards, David
 
Thanks for your answer! I do not know how to disassamble or clean the lens! What should I do? Learning by doing? or Get an expert? I do not know about anybody who can do this in Norway!

buzzardkid said:
That is internal fogging and you cannot clean it out yourself easily unless you know how to handle a prewar Elmar.

Good news is, if you do know how to (dis-)assemble a prewar Elmar, cleaning should be easy since there is no coating to damage.

There's more to it than just (dis-)assembly, it should likely be fine-tuned to correct specifications afterwards too, or you will still have out of focus photographs.

Generally, this is a repair persons job to perform, not a Do It Yourself kind of job.

The lens is most likely worth it though, a nickel prewar Elmar is a great lens and collectable too if in good condition. I love mine and wouldn't sell it ever!
Click to expand...
 
Hello!

I have been in contact with Youxin Ye and Kamera-Service. Youxin will CLA my lens for $60 + $50 shipping.

Kamera-Service will CLA my lens for 85 Euro, [FONT=&quot]shipping and 10 Euros handling per order will be added on the invoice).[/FONT][FONT=&quot]If the helicoid (focussing) needs the be cleaned and regreased, that will be 25 Euros extra.[/FONT]

Which of them will you recommend me? I do not have any experience with sending cameraequipment for servicing in other countries.
 
I only know about Youxin. He's very highly regarded. Great, competent service at a very good price. However, he's not set up to handle the more extensive lens repairs. So, if you're just looking at a thorough cleaning out of haze and whatnot, and making the aperture and focusing work nice, he can do it competently. If you have issues beyond that, you might want to look further for a lens specialist. In the US, we have Focal Point who can do the more intensive lens repairs. I hear they're more expensive, but they have added capability over folks like Youxin (or DAG Camera Repair, or Sherry Krauter Golden Touch).

I just don't know Kamera-Service, so I can't give you any info on them. They might be great, or not.

Regardless, if you haven't been inside lenses before I definitely recommend sending yours off to an expert and not trying to do the cleaning yourself. Its worth the money.

Good luck!
 
Okay, thanks for your kind respons! I hope so too. I got the Leitz lens hood - FIKUS, which can take lenses from 3,5 up to 13,5.

buzzardkid said:
Kamera-Service is a good address for lenses, not so much for camera bodies. I have experienced this myself and others have independently confirmed so too.

Your Elmar will have a new lease on life and will produce much better images! Still, get a lens hood with it to further increase image quality!
Click to expand...
 
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