Need Help Stripping Down Apo Nikkor Lens

[JefStar]

Hi, can anyone point me in the right direction to find servicing/repair information for Apo Nikkor lenses. I need to strip it down to clean the optical elements and the iris mechanism.

Jeff

[Pfsor]

Lenses are not done so that you can strip them down and clean their optical elements in your DIY workshop - hence the lack of servicing info in amateur hands. The problem is not as much to strip them down as rather to assemble them back to their original specifications, you realise that.

[mdarnton]

I don't think that's really true. The lenses I have dealt with only go back together one way (correctly--you are going to take notes, right?) and there are no adjustments to do in assembling them. Sometimes you don't even need special tools. But someone who has to ask for a manual is probably not the one to be doing it.

The reason there's no manual is because they all come apart in just a couple of typical ways. What's exotic about it is that you may need tools that you don't have and wouldn't know exist. If you are really interested in this, buy a cheap Wollensak enlarging lens or something like that for 20 bucks and make your mistakes there. You'll find out fast if you really want to take a diaphragm down to bits when it comes time to put it back together!

People who repair things, which I have done for a living for the last 40 years, are always a bit queasy suggesting someone do his own repairs. On the one hand, no matter what it is, it often seems pretty straightforward to us. On the other hand, most of the population appears to have hands built entirely from thumbs. . . especially these days when everything can't be repaired and gets thrown out. In spite of all obviousness and logic, some people just can't do things right.

[Tin Can]

I have a large set of booklets that a mail-based camera repair school sold in the 70's.

I am also a handy guy with tools, a lifelong tinkerer, and professional mechanic.

The books are not much help, especially with a simple assembly such as a lens.

MDarton is correct, get a cheap lens and learn on it.

You will need tools. Some make their own and some pay the piper.

Look here. http://www.skgrimes.com/products/spanner-wrench

[Tin Can]

WARNING!

The spanner tools have sharp tips, beginners often fumble.

A slip could make a nasty wound.

When was your last Tetanus shot?

[Bob Salomon]

This is a great way to make a simple service for a camera repair shop into an expensive repair for the same shop! If you don’t know what you are doing don’t do it with things that have some value!

[ic-racer]

You are ahead of the game. Frequently the first post is "Need help re-assembling xxx lens"

[Sal Santamaura]

Many moons ago I obtained a 305mm Apo Nikkor. It had a bit of dust inside, probably infiltrated through the filter slip slot. I contacted the then-still-alive Steve Grimes to ask what he'd charge for disassembly and cleaning. Steve replied that he wouldn't take the job. Apparently, Apo Nikkors' stellar performance is just as much a result of assembly alignment as it is design, materials and construction, so Steve couldn't guarantee that it would be as good after he reassembled it.

My suggestion is that you try it the way it is before doing anything. Unless you're the person who purchased that 180mm Apo Nikkor that sold in eBay a few days ago, there are probably lots of others like yours readily available at very reasonable prices. If performance isn't up to your standards, just buy another one that's not in need of cleaning. :)

[Bernice Loui]

Not just APO Nikkor, there are MANY vintage optics-lenses that are hand assembled-hand tweaked to achieve the performance they have. Some of the vintage lens cells I've seen have pencil marks and notes on the edge of each lens element or lens cell assembly as part of how they were aligned and assembled.

The idea-belief anyone can take-apart a complex and individually tweaked lens then put it back together properly is no different than the same individual taking a swiss watch completely apart then trying to put it all back together with the same time keeping accuracy and functionality as before.

-Seriously, not recommended to correct a perceived problem.

This is precisely how once fine optical and uncommon lenses are destroyed by owners who wanna tinker. The effort and hidden tricks that make these lenses special is not always apparent or obvious.


Bernice






Many moons ago I obtained a 305mm Apo Nikkor. It had a bit of dust inside, probably infiltrated through the filter slip slot. I contacted the then-still-alive Steve Grimes to ask what he'd charge for disassembly and cleaning. Steve replied that he wouldn't take the job. Apparently, Apo Nikkors' stellar performance is just as much a result of assembly alignment as it is design, materials and construction, so Steve couldn't guarantee that it would be as good after he reassembled it.

My suggestion is that you try it the way it is before doing anything. Unless you're the person who purchased that 180mm Apo Nikkor that sold in eBay a few days ago, there are probably lots of others like yours readily available at very reasonable prices. If performance isn't up to your standards, just buy another one that's not in need of cleaning. :)

[JefStar]

Well I was hoping for some advice. What I got was a lot of "Naysayers"

My thanks go to mdarton and Randy Moe for injecting some positive comments at least.

These types of lenses are fairly basic items, from a mechanical point of view that is. I have opened it and I have come to a point where it would be nice to know if there are any hidden fixing points, or not, so I do not exert unnecessary force.

It appears I am asking in the wrong forum, apologies to all.

[Randy]

Yes, go to the "Vintage Lens Disassembly and Re-Assembly" forum - they can help.

I took apart my B&H 11X14 1C years ago - like to of never got it back together...damn aluminum threads. I doubt that I got the lens elements aligned just right because it is soft'ish when shooting wide open, but close down a stop or two it is just right.

[Sal Santamaura]

Well I was hoping for some advice..It appears I am asking in the wrong forum, apologies to all.You're in the correct forum and got good advice. I accept your apology for wasting our time.

[Bernice Loui]

One APO Nikkor bites the dust..

Ripping a lens apart is easy, the really difficult part is putting it back together properly with proper alignment for designed in performance.
Lens appears "basic" due to it's superficial simplicity, but is the actual complexity of this lens completely understood, appreciated and respected?

So, yes this APO Nikkor can be put back together.. How can this precision optical instrument be tested for meeting specification as designed as intended?

And no. this is not a B&H photographic vintage lens that was never designed and intended to have this level of optical performance.

I'm sure this APO Nikkor will "Function" how well does it function now that it has been "cleaned"... ? The Naysayer comment is much about ego-arrorgance, rather than understanding and respect for a precision optical instrument.


Bernice




Well I was hoping for some advice. What I got was a lot of "Naysayers"

My thanks go to mdarton and Randy Moe for injecting some positive comments at least.

These types of lenses are fairly basic items, from a mechanical point of view that is. I have opened it and I have come to a point where it would be nice to know if there are any hidden fixing points, or not, so I do not exert unnecessary force.

It appears I am asking in the wrong forum, apologies to all.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Well I was hoping for some advice. What I got was a lot of "Naysayers"

It appears I am asking in the wrong forum, apologies to all.

Do not mistake our intentions to keep you from harmful mistakes for negativity.
.

[JefStar]

This was originally (wrongly) posted to Lenses & Lens Accessories page

Hi, can anyone point me in the right direction to find servicing/repair information for Apo Nikkor lenses. I need to strip it down to clean the optical elements and the iris mechanism.

Jeff

[Pfsor]

Hi, can anyone point me in the right direction to find servicing/repair information for Apo Nikkor lenses. I need to strip it down to clean the optical elements and the iris mechanism.

Jeff
I can. The right direction is right here - http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?145673-Need-Help-Stripping-Down-Apo-Nikkor-Lens&p=1441624#post1441624

[Oren Grad]

Threads merged.

[pepeguitarra]

I love this!!

[mdarnton]

I should just let this one lie here stinking, but I know that anyone who has problem customers will quickly identify with the "You know, this one is just the way it should be, and I would be remiss to mess with it and possibly change something" method of getting rid of customers who show too much interest in micromanaging and nit-picking a job and then ultimately complain about your work to everyone they know. So what I would recommend the OP do, since he's relatively new, is look through peoples' posting histories, and get a feel for people's posting style before you take their advice. If someone's main history is of dissing other people and complaining, maybe you should take that into consideration.

[minh0204]

If someone's main history is of dissing other people and complaining, maybe you should take that into consideration.

The forum has an "Ignore list" feature, which can be put to effective use.