Advice Needed - Should I ship my LF lenses to get them CLA'ed before selling them?

[Alan Gales]

Do not have your lens shutters CLA'd before you sell them. You will never recoup the costs.

Recently CLA'd lenses do bring a little more money and then only if you include the paper work from the technician who CLA'd them as proof.

I've sold a ton of large format and medium format lenses and cameras on eBay. I used to do this to make money to fund my hobby. I never had a shutter CLA'd before selling it. Even if it needed it badly. I'd just advertise it as it was. The reason is I had watched many CLA'd lenses sell and knew that they didn't bring that much more money. Unless you know a technician who can do the job for free or for little to nothing, I'd leave the shutters as they are.

[Kevin Crisp]

I'm with Alan on this. If they are working fine (and it sounds like they are) then sell them, advertised as working fine.

[Oslolens]

so that any prospective buyer could have the same peace of mind about the gear as I do.

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If you enjoy it, you could measure all the times on all the speeds in normal and cold conditions with an app. I see 1 second as the most important, measured with light or sound. The second thing to check is center resolution after stopping one stop down, and far corner resolution at f16, so customer know what is possible. Nikon list their circle of coverage at f16, and I was surprised to see my 210mm apo symmar being tack sharp in the middle at biggest aperture.

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[8alonzo8]

Please note that having them cla'd before a sale, you'll probably rule out as potential buyers people who have expertise to service shutters themselves or want to have it done by their technician of choice.

Ron, good point that I hadn't considered.

[8alonzo8]

I will continue to look around and may just go the "as-is come by and test it" consignment route if I can't find any local professionals.

[Peter De Smidt]

You might contact Bob Watkins at Precision Camera Works (now in the Napa area) to find out if he does CLA and repairs on shutters and lenses. I think he does, and if so I'm sure you'd be satisfied with his work.

Bob has moved to California, and I believe he is having some health issues. He's had one of my cameras for over a year, and I'm not optimistic about getting it back.

[8alonzo8]

Peter, thanks for that update. Losing your camera is a really unfortunate situation.

[8alonzo8]

If you enjoy it, you could measure all the times on all the speeds in normal and cold conditions with an app. I see 1 second as the most important, measured with light or sound. The second thing to check is center resolution after stopping one stop down, and far corner resolution at f16, so customer know what is possible. Nikon list their circle of coverage at f16, and I was surprised to see my 210mm apo symmar being tack sharp in the middle at biggest aperture.

Sent fra min SM-G975F via Tapatalk

Hmm...ok. I am very interested in performing this type of test and simply didn't know there was a reliable app for such tests. Please let me know which app you recommend or your method for performing these measurements.

[Steve Goldstein]

Hmm...ok. I am very interested in performing this type of test and simply didn't know there was a reliable app for such tests. Please let me know which app you recommend or your method for performing these measurements.

If you'd give some indication of your locale you might be able to find someone local who owns a shutter speed tester, like a Calumet or a Phochron XA. There are other, more professional, units out there but either of these will be accurate. Many phone apps are sound-based so are generally OK at lower speeds but not necessarily at higher ones. The Calumet has been out of production for years, the Phochron is available new, but purchasing either may not make sense if your goal is simply to sell some lenses.

[Tin Can]

Some LF users here shoot without a 'good' OE mounted shutter

There are many ways to a perfect exposure

Some will want the lens and shutter unrepaired, untouched including uncleaned