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on May 22, 2020 11:58:11 GMT
Posted: May 22, 2020 11:58:11 GMT
Hello everyone  I've got a 50mm f1.4 in beautiful condition with only one problem: the focus ring has some play. If you turn in one direction it is really smooth but upon changing direction it has about 1.5mm play. It's not really a big problem but it can be irritating when trying to find focus quickly. I've read that for the f2 version you can easily unscrew the front portion and access the focus ring of the lens, is it the same case here? I've tried doing that (i applied very little force though) but it didn't come loose and I really don't want to break anything. Does anyone know how to do this / has some information on the build difference between f1.4 and the other versions? Thanks in advance Marius |
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on May 22, 2020 13:05:55 GMT
Posted: May 22, 2020 13:05:55 GMT
Hello marius, and welcome to the forum! You are correct about dismantling the front section on the ML 1.4... the front rim piece unscrews counter-clockwise. It usually doesn't take a lot of force to get it started, as there's no set screws or anything mechanical to lock it into place. If you're finding a lot of resistance and it's stubborn in moving at all, there's probably something else that's complicating the removal. Caked-on dirt and grime can make it hard to unscrew when it gets 'baked' into place by time and higher temperature exposure. You can ease it's grip with patience and some precision application of a cleaner like Goo Gone. Use a flattened Q-Tip with a drop or two of cleaner on the cotton to squeeze in between the grip ring and the rim piece to wipe it around the circumference of the rim at the base where the gunk would be. I wouldn't suggest pouring in or dropping any cleaner into that slot. It will be too much, and will wick into all the wrong places. If a standard Q-tip is too large to fit, use a round toothpick with cotton wrapped onto the tip to make a mini-Q to clean with. Let it sit for a bit and try it again when it's had a chance to soften the grime. As for a 'tool' to grip the front rim with... If you have a filter wrench sized to fit a 55mm filter, you can try wrapping a non-slip piece of rubber or a soft leather strip under it to get a stronger grip, and it should give you enough leverage to turn with. If you have a stiffer sheet of rubber (like, a bike inner-tube) you can lay it flat on a table and then take an upside-down lens placed on it to use the rubber as a gripper to turn against. However... there's something beyond getting the front rim unscrewed and the front element out after unscrewing it as well - the focus ring won't be immediately accessable without even further disassembling of the lens. The complication might be that a part of the focus assembly might be worn too far, and there's nothing to 'fix', short of replacing the part of the assembly that's worn. That means that you might need a donor lens to pull parts from. There's no way to confirm that could be an issue until you break the lens down far enough to inspect the parts. One other note. If you hear (and/or feel) gritty grinding noises when you focus in either direction, it's not a good sign. It could be metal bits or sand, and the best you might be able to do is to clean and regrease the helical to keep it from getting worse - or - replace the whole helical/focusing assembly from a donor. |
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on May 23, 2020 9:23:55 GMT
Posted: May 23, 2020 9:23:55 GMT
Thank you very much for the tips & the fast reply! I've just tried it and the front ring unscrewed quite easily, didn't need a lot of force. The 3 small screws that hold the focus ring were loose (i wonder how that happened though), now its back in perfect working order! I'm glad that this was such a quick fix, the focus itself is really smooth and now I can finally enjoy the lens fully |
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on May 23, 2020 12:49:02 GMT
Last Edit: May 23, 2020 12:50:37 GMT by lumiworx
It's great to hear it was an easy fix.
There might be times that you'll run across a lens or body that will have a small 'dot' of something on a screw head that's run down onto the top of the piece it's screwed into. That 'dot' (usually red or another brighter color) is a form of acrylic paint that the lens/body assembler will dab onto that meeting joint to semi-permanently lock the screw in place. If someone previously opened a lens for any reason (i.e., regrease the helical), they might have removed the dabs of paint (with Naptha, or nail polish remover), but didn't redo them when they finished the job.
Not every screw would need that treatment, as it depends on how tight the thread tolerence was on the screws to begin with - but - you could replace (or add) those dabs with slightly thinned-out nail polish if you have some handy.
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