PDA

View Full Version : Who Can Repair Lens Filter Ring Damage?



RedSun
20-Sep-2012, 16:48
We have a 210mm lens that has some damage on the very front. I think it is worth about $200 in decent condition. So it may be worth it to get it repaired.

Who are the good repair men? What are my options? I'm not sure if I want to spend $100 or more to get it fixed....

Leigh
20-Sep-2012, 17:14
Any camera repair shop should be able to do that, even a bad shop.

There are tools designed specifically for straightening filter threads. They're pretty cheap.

If you want to buy one and do it yourself, go to Micro-Tools.

- Leigh

David R Munson
20-Sep-2012, 17:58
Buy the tool from Micro-Tools. Alas, I have found Leigh's statement about shops being able to make such a repair to generally be completely untrue. Most I've encountered have said they'd have to send whatever dented thing off to a repair center for an estimate.

Reasonable shop owners with mechanically inclined sensibilities seem to be all but extinct.

Leigh
20-Sep-2012, 19:02
That's a very sad state of affairs. I don't doubt that it's true.

When I was working in a repair shop full-time, we had the tools at the front counter and would repair the lens immediately, gratis.

But of course that was when America took pride in itself and cared about what it did, not just about how many $$$ it could make.

- Leigh

RedSun
20-Sep-2012, 20:15
I have a lens filter ring tool from Micro-Tools, but is is unsatisfactory. It is a little like the one shown in picture. For a very tiny dent, it may work. But for most of the damages, it would not work. I do not know how the pro shops do it. Just bend back by using brutal force?

80838

David R Munson
20-Sep-2012, 20:23
That's a very sad state of affairs. I don't doubt that it's true.

When I was working in a repair shop full-time, we had the tools at the front counter and would repair the lens immediately, gratis.

But of course that was when America took pride in itself and cared about what it did, not just about how many $$$ it could make.

- Leigh

I ran into it when I came back from abroad and immediately dropped my 210mm lens. I called around to at least a dozen places each in two cities and nobody could do it on-site. I was shocked and disappointed to say the least.


I have a lens filter ring tool from Micro-Tools, but is is unsatisfactory. It is a little like the one shown in picture. For a very tiny dent, it may work. But for most of the damages, it would not work. I do not know how the pro shops do it. Just bend back by using brutal force?

80838

Last time I used one, the preferred method was to use something like a piece of leather to keep from mashing the threads, and just work back and forth in small increments. Depending on the particular dent and the particular dented thing, a piece of hardwood dowel will work well to manually work over the affected area. In a pinch the padded (again, use a piece of leather or something) jaws of channel-locks or an adjustable wrench will also work, but require more care because it's a lot easier to completely screw things up.

Fun tip: I've also used the adjustable wrench trick to fix dented bicycle wheel rims after particularly severe run-ins with potholes, etc.

goodfood
20-Sep-2012, 20:27
I drop my 210mm Apo Symmar less than a foot land on the carpet floor. It got a ding and can't put filter. It is not easy to find a camera repair shop now a day. I found a plastic bottle cap almost the same size of the filter ring. I file it round edge or use sand paper to round it (make sure is perfect round), then push into the filter ring. You can't believe the ring is so soft and come back to shape. Hope this can help.

RedSun
20-Sep-2012, 20:57
Well, I tried it on a Bronica lens. Well, to the end, the dent goes away, but it is almost impossible to attach a filter ring. That is the whole purpose of fixing it.

I'm not sure if I want to try it again on this lens:

80839

John Schneider
21-Sep-2012, 09:50
Well, I tried it on a Bronica lens. Well, to the end, the dent goes away, but it is almost impossible to attach a filter ring.80839

For this you need some lapping compound. It's an abrasive-filled, sulfur-containing high pressure oil that will gently cut away the binding metal without the parts not seizing: http://www.newmantools.com/clover.htm

McMaster carries this as well, but their page is not as descriptive.

Drew Wiley
21-Sep-2012, 09:56
My buddy slipped on a wet rock a couple weeks ago and dinged a filter thread on one of his Contax 6x6 lenses. Neither of us had a pair of pliers in our pack, and we were still a
week's walk away from the nearest road. He did it australopithecene style, and found a soft branch and beat on it with a rock. It worked, and he got his filters on again. Dealing
with another lens which actually fell in the creek was a little more complicated, but it's back in service now too.

Leigh
21-Sep-2012, 12:08
The repair tool consists of two semicircular metal dies that can be forced apart by a threaded shaft.
The dies are threaded, to mate with the threads on the filter ring. This prevents damaging the threads.

In use, you align it at the deepest point of the dent, then move it back and forth slightly while expanding the tool in increments.
This forces the rim back to its proper contour without damaging the threads.

- Leigh

Sevo
21-Sep-2012, 12:22
Beware, these tools put a fair amount of stress on the front lens element, and may crack them (even more so the relatively large thin front elements on modern LF lenses). However the wood dowel method is not that much safer either. Personally I leave bent LF filter threads be and only use either method on them when I cannot avoid taking apart the lens for some other reason (haze, fungus etc.) - there are enough alternatives to attach a filter to a LF camera.

RedSun
21-Sep-2012, 12:39
My buddy slipped on a wet rock a couple weeks ago and dinged a filter thread on one of his Contax 6x6 lenses. Neither of us had a pair of pliers in our pack, and we were still a
week's walk away from the nearest road. He did it australopithecene style, and found a soft branch and beat on it with a rock. It worked, and he got his filters on again. Dealing
with another lens which actually fell in the creek was a little more complicated, but it's back in service now too.

Wow! I wish I could be this lucky. I do not know much about the Contax lens, but it sounds like the ring is soft. Also, if not done properly, the filter ring can be further ruined when trying to force on the filter.

RedSun
21-Sep-2012, 12:45
For this you need some lapping compound. It's an abrasive-filled, sulfur-containing high pressure oil that will gently cut away the binding metal without the parts not seizing: http://www.newmantools.com/clover.htm

McMaster carries this as well, but their page is not as descriptive.

Can you explain further? For such a big dent, the filter ring should first be removed. Then a metal clamp or press should be set or made to fit the diameter of the ring. The ring press/clamp is then pushed the filter ring and straighten the ring back to its position. Finally, the filter ring thread should be clear of any imperfection....

Leigh
21-Sep-2012, 12:46
This is probably the strongest argument for always having a filter on a lens.

People scoff at the idea of the filter providing protection, until they have to pay
to get a lens repaired, or forgo using filters due to a bent lens rim.

If you bend the front thread, just replace it.

- Leigh

RedSun
21-Sep-2012, 12:47
Beware, these tools put a fair amount of stress on the front lens element, and may crack them (even more so the relatively large thin front elements on modern LF lenses). However the wood dowel method is not that much safer either. Personally I leave bent LF filter threads be and only use either method on them when I cannot avoid taking apart the lens for some other reason (haze, fungus etc.) - there are enough alternatives to attach a filter to a LF camera.

The filter ring should come off before the repair is done. Or we risk more damages....

Robert Budding
22-Sep-2012, 12:17
I'd send it to real machinists:

http://www.skgrimes.com/

Leigh
22-Sep-2012, 12:34
The filter ring should come off before the repair is done. Or we risk more damages....
If you remove it, what will provide support during the re-forming process?

- Leigh

normanv
22-Sep-2012, 12:49
I bought a 90mm lens for a Mamiya RB67 cheap because it had a dented filter ring. I used the
old method of shaping a piece of wood to a close fit for the outside of the ring and another with
a curved end to fit inside and the bashed it with a hammer (actually I was very careful) After a
few taps I was able to screw the lenshood on. Cost, nothing!

Steve Goldstein
22-Sep-2012, 12:56
This is probably the strongest argument for always having a filter on a lens.

- Leigh

Some people don't want the extra glass surfaces in front of their lens. The solution I used was to get a junky old filter in the proper size and remove the glass. This provides filter thread protection without an added filter, just be careful about vignetting if it's a very wide lens. It's also handy for lenses where the front element is frightfully close to a mounted filter - the 110mm SSXL comes to mind.

Jody_S
8-Sep-2014, 20:19
I have a problem. I got all excited because I was finally able to buy a large petzval at a price I could afford ($20 for an 18" f4.5 projection petzval), and the seller shipped it to me wrapped in a single layer of bubble wrap, in an envelope. The lens weighs almost 5lbs; the hood and rear barrel were damaged possibly beyond repair. By some miracle (the god of old brass lenses?), the glass survived intact; it's remarkably clean. Of course the seller is telling me it's not his fault (I didn't follow his logic, to be honest, but that's what he said).

This is my usual method of fixing these:


I used the old method of shaping a piece of wood to a close fit for the outside of the ring and another with
a curved end to fit inside and the bashed it with a hammer

However, the brass is folded at right angles on some of these, I'm worried about pieces breaking off, or leaving it looking worse than it already is. I can't imagine any of the cheap filter-ring repair tools would work on a lens this size. Any suggestions?
121535
121536
121537

David Karp
8-Sep-2014, 21:51
. . . Alas, I have found Leigh's statement about shops being able to make such a repair to generally be completely untrue. . . .

I purchased a 210mm f/6.1 Caltar Pro from a pretty well known and reputable dealer. It arrived with a dented filter ring that was not disclosed in the description. I contacted them and told them about it. To their credit, they said that they would take it back and repair the dent. They also reduced the price and paid for shipping it back to them and again to me. It came back looking like they beat it up with a hammer, grabbed it with a pliers, chewed on it, etc. It really looked bad. I contacted them again and told them that there were tools for this sort of thing, and described the micro tools device. They said that they were unaware of it (!), apologized, and reduced the price again. I was able to screw a step up ring on the lens and it has remained there since. It is a nice lens (a modern Schneider Xenar), but their inability to make or even recognize a professional repair was pretty surprising.

Ian Gordon Bilson
8-Sep-2014, 21:54
I restored a heavily damaged lens with a severe deformation by hacksawing the damaged section out. An ugly repair,but the lens now accepts filters again.

Richard Johnson
8-Sep-2014, 22:21
Or just sell the shutter for $125 and the elements for $50 and buy a better 210 with the proceeds. If you are patient you can get a great 210 for $200 or less. Sometimes the shutters sell for more than the lens/shutter together!

Drew Bedo
9-Sep-2014, 06:38
I have full confidence in Mike Hakheem at Professional Camera Repair here in Houston Texas. This is a small family operation just inside "The Loop" on Richmond near The Galleria shopping district. Mike can make your filter threads round again.

https://local.yahoo.com/details;_ylt=AwrSyCV.AA9UQV0AiDHumYlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTB1OHJlNW41BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHZ0aWQDVVNMQzAzXzQEdDFwb3MDMQ--?id=18998728&stx=&csz=Houston+TX

A group of camera collectors meet there the second Saturday of each month at 10AM to talk about cameras old and older, and a few of us actually do some photography! Please drop by if you aqre in town. Come by for camera talk, donuts and coffee.