This is my first post on the forum and I think this is the right place to post, so please go easy on me.

So just this morning, my Super Takumar that I use and love decided to break on me. It suffered no injuries at all and just spontaneously broke!

My Super Takumar 50mm f1.4 has a stuck focus ring. It only rotates slightly, but the lens does not move back and forth at all. On the top of that, the aperture ring moves smoothly, but the when wiggling the focus ring the aperture blades moves too. So when I'm at f1.4 the lens is wide open, but when I focus closer, the blades close in to around f2.4 and when I focus farther, the blades move back to f1.4.
And now a tiny black screw just fell out from the lens. I believe from the back.

I contacted one of my local repair stores, and he said he could have it fixed for $65 CAN. Is there any other places I can send to that can fix this for a cheaper price? Or is it an easy fix that I can do myself?

Thanks,
Eric

[Musto Pentaxian]

This is my first post on the forum and I think this is the right place to post, so please go easy on me.

So just this morning, my Super Takumar that I use and love decided to break on me. It suffered no injuries at all and just spontaneously broke!

My Super Takumar 50mm f1.4 has a stuck focus ring. It only rotates slightly, but the lens does not move back and forth at all. On the top of that, the aperture ring moves smoothly, but the when wiggling the focus ring the aperture blades moves too. So when I'm at f1.4 the lens is wide open, but when I focus closer, the blades close in to around f2.4 and when I focus farther, the blades move back to f1.4.
And now a tiny black screw just fell out from the lens. I believe from the back.

I contacted one of my local repair stores, and he said he could have it fixed for $65 CAN. Is there any other places I can send to that can fix this for a cheaper price? Or is it an easy fix that I can do myself?

Thanks,
Eric

Hi Eric, the dress ring on the front of the lens (the one with the writing on it) unscrews, use a crutch foot or similar rubber circular item, once that is off you will see 2 sets of 3 screws, 1 set holds on the filter ring, and the others from memory connect the focus ring to the helicoid.
I suspect one or all of those screws are loose. The hardest part will be getting off the dress ring. Good luck!
Cheers
Chris

[heyitsericc]

Hey Chris,

Thank you for the reply. So to clarify I wrap the dress ring with something rubber to provide a better grip? Do I just use brute force to unscrew the dress ring? Is there a direction I unscrew or have to loosen any screws first?

I'm not sure if this helps, but whenever I wiggle the focus ring, it moves with the dress ring and the distance ring, which is what it should normally do. But I can also wiggle the dress ring itself without moving the other two parts. So I'm guessing something is loose?

Thanks again Chris,
Eric

[Musto Pentaxian]

Hi Eric, it sounds to me like the dress ring is already loose, try unscrewing it anti-clockwise, or maybe post a pic or two. But just to clarify, by the dress ring I mean only the ring face with the text on it, not the part that the filter screws on to, that is a separate part, which is held on by the screws mentioned earlier.

I'm sure I've seen other posts about dismantling Takumars on this site, which had some pics, which would help you further.
I'll see if I can post a pic or two.

[vladimiroltean]

Did you repair it?

[vladimiroltean]

Did you repair it?

Never mind, I did repair mine, which had the same problem. After removing the focus ring, distance scale and aperture ring, I also removed the 3 screws that were holding the optical group tied to the mount group. Upon removal, I noticed that the lens had 2 missing screws, and thus, the whole assembly was loose. Luckily, I had another Takumar for parts, so I took 2 screws from that. I hope it does the trick.