[Aaron28]

I never get to take any pics as I am always up to my ears in peroxide, IPA and about a zillion tiny screws

hahaha!! I hear that! rosonol, vinegar, lens cleaner and various other things......about a year into 'collecting cameras' the lenses are just bonuses.....not everything can be saved but it is so satisfying/rewarding to bring a box back to life and look forward to running film through it........

what do you use the peroxide on? may have known but fergot I constantly ferget about IPA

[aslyfox]

this article tracing the development of the different Pentax lens series might be of interest to some

Comprehensive Pentax Lens Guide
Master the different Pentax lens series
By johnhilvert in Gear Guides on Mar 21, 2016

Read more at: Comprehensive Pentax Lens Guide - Gear Guides | PentaxForums.com

[Astro-Baby]

hahaha!! I hear that! rosonol, vinegar, lens cleaner and various other things......about a year into 'collecting cameras' the lenses are just bonuses.....not everything can be saved but it is so satisfying/rewarding to bring a box back to life and look forward to running film through it........

what do you use the peroxide on? may have known but fergot I constantly ferget about IPA

I use a dilute peroxide to annihiliate fungus on a lens. Some people suggest using an ammonia/peroxide mix at 50/50 but I find peroxide on its own is very effective. Usually use lab grade at 12% purity.

Generally my regime is this....

Lens hazy......use IPA. Start with a dilute mix of 50/ 50 with water and leave it for a few minutes. If it doesnt work increase time or move to pure IPA gradually increasing time. IPA like all my chems is lab grade stuff.

Lens with fungus....Peroxide bath for 5 minutes. Finally bath in IPA before flushing with water.

After an IPA dose the lens is flushed with just water but I may run to distilled water depending on the lens.

Coatings damaged or serious haze when all else has failed....Acetone bath. This is always a last resort.

Things to try when other stuff fails, a good quality handcream rubbed on the lens and left overnight can sometimes kill off fungus and remove haze if the haze is light. Wash lens down with mild detergent afterwards. Hand cream usually contains a mild antiseptic which the fungus doesnt like.

I am experimenting at the moment with washing powder with a mild bleaching agent in it for cleaning out barrels and parts that cant take hard edged chems like peroxide and acetone. A long soak in commercial soap powder will most likley kill off fungal spores.

Once clean I let lenses air dry and then polish with a microfibre cloth. When I reassemble I use a rocket blower and hold a vacuum cleaner over the lens while holding the lens. Careful here so the lens isnt sucked into the vacuum. Oh and always wear rubber gloves when working to stop any oil from my hands getting on stuff and also to protect my mitts from the effects of peroxide.

I like working on old stuff and get a sense of keeping stuff going for future users....its a real acheivement to get some of these old girls back into shape.

I keep swearing the next one will be the last but it never is. Must find time to take some real pics rather than just test shots though

[Fenwoodian]

.
Astro-Baby, nice post! I appreciate you sharing your experiences.

In the last couple of weeks, I've purchased 2 copies of one of my favorite bokeh lenses (Nikkor 50mm f/1.2). They were purchased for $100 and $150 USD. They were so cheap because of heavy infestation of fungus/rough-focusing/haze/etc. I did a CLA job on each one and now they're in excellent condition.

On the worst of the fungus encrusted elements, I didn't think that my standard treatment/removal regimen of hydrogen peroxide (3%) and naptha would do the job, so I experimented with three heavy duty chemicals: vinegar, "Lime Away", and "CLR". Well, these three heavy duty treatments did no better than my standard hydrogen peroxide and naptha treatment.

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Last edited by Fenwoodian; 05-06-2020 at 10:47 PM.

[Aaron28]

I use a dilute peroxide to annihiliate fungus on a lens.

great stuff !! yep had forgotten about using it with fungus......most 'kits' I get the lenses clean up rather quickly and nicely.....although a few have fungus and may need to revisit them especially the front element on a kodak retina iia which is horrible and did not try peroxide figured it was 'etched' severely...it would be great to run a roll through it...love retinas very slick little boxes......have a P&B tele vivitar that has haze but have not figured out how to get to the element to clean it got to everything else on/in that lens......most times I am working on a camera body

thanks so much for the info!! greatly appreciated!

[Astro-Baby]

Oh zooms....I never work on zooms. I had a dreadful experience with an Olympus some time back and decided after that not to touch zooms again. They are just too much trouble.

Fenwoodian.....lovely Nikkor glass. My personal fave is the f1.4 but I havent tried the 1.2.....prices are mad. My fave all timer was the Olympus 1.2 but prices have gone so mad now I cant afford one.

For anyone thinking of repairing and refurbing old glass bear in mind to get the know how I now have cost about 3 lenses being destroyed as I learnt how to know what the problem was and how to fix it so best to start with something not terribly exotic, rare or expensive.

[Benz3ne]

Once clean I let lenses air dry and then polish with a microfibre cloth. When I reassemble I use a rocket blower and hold a vacuum cleaner over the lens while holding the lens. Careful here so the lens isnt sucked into the vacuum.

Great breakdown! A tip for the vacuum cleaner, put tights over the nozzle and secure with an elastic band. Dust should make its way through, the force of vacuum should still be decent and if anything is sucked 'in' it'll end up at the front of the nozzle, adhered to the tights.

[...] so best to start with something not terribly exotic, rare or expensive.

Agreed - I've just done some light fungus removal on a SMC-M 50mm f/1.7. It feels like there is a surplus of them available, plenty with fungus to practice on and they're easy to assemble/disassemble.
Unfortunately I'd forgotten about the peroxide option for cleaning fungus so stuck with methanol then naphtha*, microfibre, blow and reassemble. I might take it apart again for the heck of it just to remove a bit more dust in due course. Not spotless, but a considerable improvement.

*donning appropriate H&S gear, of course.

[Astro-Baby]

Ohhh I like that tip for the tights on the vaccy nozzle. Very nifty.

Heres another tip for keeping dust at bay as well. Use an old cardboard box tipped up as a kind of hollow to work in. When removing dust dampen the insides of the box with a mister. The dust is electrically charged and will tend to drift towards the damp box rather than to the lens. I used to use this technique with spraying surfaces with an airbrush to stop dust getting on the high gloss lacquer finish.

Oh also should have mentioned all the glass ai work on is glass. The lens hardware ends to be brass and aluminium because its old and made from solid materials. Dont go using strong chemicals on modern lenses which may have a lot of plastic and even the ‘glass’ may be plastic.

I also steer clear of late model ‘classics’ like Canon new FDs and Minolta MDs because they are quite often glued together in sealed units and are impossible to work on.

[stevebrot]

I plan on buying a K1 myself in the near future and was wondering if a vintage lens gives a certain look.

Welcome to the Pentax Forums!

Vintage lenses are like vintage fine wines and much like a fine wine, one may describe their attributes in florid prose. For example:

While not universally acclaimed, the late-1960s vintage Auto-Rikenon 50mm f/1.7 (Tomioka-forged) has qualities that will satisfy even the most discriminating palate of the optical connoisseur. While delivering wistful bokeh with hints of new love and lush florals, it does so with infinite smoothness of focus and minimal labor of hand and is happy servicing both broad vistas and intimate subjects. Pairing with a suitable late-60s body is recommended, though not mandatory as this fine lens is not picky about company.

In simpler and less funny terms, "vintage" usually means a lens that does not support one or more features of modern cameras and which may have been manufactured decades before many users on this site were born. In Pentaxland, the convenient boundary might be the early 1980's Pentax-A manual focus lenses and anything older. Are they equal to or better than modern glass? Sometimes, yes. Are they worth shooting with? From an artist's or hobbiest perspective, quite likely. Are they a pain to use on modern cameras? In short, there may be challenges. I do know, however, that I don't plan on selling any of mine any time soon.


Steve

[stevebrot]

While we can wax poetic about the charms of "vintage" or "pre-AF" glass, a very practical aspect is the possibility of saving money vs buying digital-era lenses, and also being able to experience more exotically-specified lenses than is readily available in K-mount.

I don't like to emphasize the cheapness aspect, but will admit that it sweetens the pot. I own two "vintage" moderately long manual focus zooms, both of which have allowed me to take some decent photos. One, a Pentax-A 70-210/4.0 is always in the bag and the other, a Tamron SP 70-210/3.5 (19AH) is taken out for special occasions. Pentax recently announced the new D FA 70-210/4.0. In theory, it would be an excellent replacement for either or both of my vintage zooms at the same range and maximum aperture. After all, it's auto focus and the price is likely to drop to the mid-$700 range (on sale) and optical quality is likely to be quite good to excellent with no more bulk or weight than what I have. Will I bite? I dunno...


Steve

[stevebrot]

Recently saw a Minolta 1.2 sawn down to fit digital - almost cried

Dang! I recently saw one of those in a local shop with an asking price of $800 USD! Surgical solutions are just plain wrong for that class of glass.


Steve

[iheiramo]

Dang! I recently saw one of those in a local shop with an asking price of $800 USD! Surgical solutions are just plain wrong for that class of glass.


Steve

Would you please stop creating needs. Week ago I didn't even think about Minolta. Now I know there's one f1.2 close by for 339€ and I really should pay my credit card debt before I buy anything

[Astro-Baby]

Haha.....its always best to leave class glass from the wonder age to me and my kin of weirdo retro lovers who are willing to put up with the pain. Rather like an ancient monk flogging himself and willingly putting up with much suffering us retro folk are willing to put up with the pain for the glory that is pre 1980.

And now let us pray......
Hallowed be the 70s for they were a time of plenty to us undeserving of such blessings. Forgive them that sin against the classic glass and choppeth it down for the passing pleasure that is digital for they know not what they do and smite down the unbelievers of a film comeback and the false prophets who sayeth digital is the only true way, may their sensors Be forever dusty and missing of a pixel or two and may their silicon be forever frozen and maketh them misseth the golden shot while waiting on that which makes them shout *&£#@*# and rend their clothes and gnash their teeth which is to say a reboot so that they may open their eyes and see the wonder of classic film which doth not demand or require the false idols of matrix metering, auto focus and yea even the dubious benefit of automatic exposure. Praise be to the Pentaxians, Nikkorites, Canonites and even the peoples of the strange cults of Rokkor and Zuiko from whom all blessings flow even unto the undeserving digital heathen.

---------- Post added 01-29-20 at 04:17 PM ----------

Dang! I recently saw one of those in a local shop with an asking price of $800 USD! Surgical solutions are just plain wrong for that class of glass.


Steve

Thats a steep price, I would expect about £300 but if it were super minty it might hit that. I do see prices vary wildly from region to region. Japan seems very expensive, US less expensive, UK in the middle. Some of this stuff though is absurdly over valued.

[Aaron28]

For anyone thinking of repairing and refurbing old glass bear in mind to get the know how I now have cost about 3 lenses being destroyed as I learnt how to know what the problem was and how to fix it so best to start with something not terribly exotic, rare or expensive.

oh yeh have destroyed a couple but have repaired more than killed.......zooms are tough with no luck yet came close with a sears 28-70 but all the elements came out before I could track the chain for proper return placement/order.....it focuses but not properly!! have a couple m42 that need fungal removal but they will wait have other thing to do

[luftfluss]

5 Reasons Why You Need Vintage Lenses in 2020

(Pentax is well represented)

Youtu.be

Youtu.be