Continuing Issues with Rollei 35

It appears to have chipped off the black-painted metal on the other side of the rear element.

1.) Should I care? i.e. do you think I'll see effects from it in terms of image quality or characteristics? Would it be correct to guess that since it's behind the aperture and near the edge of the glass that it's only going to impact photos taken wide open at 3.5? (It's almost fully 'hidden' by the aperture blades at f/4.

2.) Looks like there's just a little retaining ring holding the rear element in place. Could I reasonably expect as a [not camera technician] with steady hands that removing the rear element, excising the paint chip, and replacing the rear element would be feasible and not likely make things worse? That is, am I going to ruin the perfect alignment of the rear element by taking it out and putting it back in, or is a Tessar reasonably serviceable by a person without an optical bench?

99.99% chance that paint sliver will not affect any image at any aperture.
this is a typical Tessar. Light travels the direction of the arrow, the | is the position of the aperture. The rear is a cemented pair. Use a cotton swab and wipe around the outside of the rear edge. If it does not move the paint sliver unscrew the front group and shake out through the front with the aperture wide open. The front elements are in a barrel and remove as an assembly to maintain correct spacing which is critical.

shutterfinger said:

99.99% chance that paint sliver will not affect any image at any aperture.
View attachment 251985 this is a typical Tessar. Light travels the direction of the arrow, the | is the position of the aperture. The rear is a cemented pair. Use a cotton swab and wipe around the outside of the rear edge. If it does not move the paint sliver unscrew the front group and shake out through the front with the aperture wide open. The front elements are in a barrel and remove as an assembly to maintain correct spacing which is critical.

Click to expand...

Immensely helpful, thank you! Without having looked at a lens diagram, had thought that I remembered Tessars having cemented doublets in the front. Also explains why my search for ‘Rollei 35 lens disassembly’ only found results about going in from the front. And that’s what I’ll do to get this out, although if the impact on image will be minimal I might wait until I have something to black out where the paint fell off.

The key question is: has this tiny bit had any effect on your pics. If not, leave it alone. Fifty years ago my Summicron 50mm had a small clump of grease or something on aperture blades. Fifty years later, clump still there. No detectable fault on pics. Best to just leave lens as is. Sometimes best to do nothing.

Unfortunately I did do something before that advice came through. It was harrowing.

Disassembly and cleaning went OK except one of the shutter blades got sightly bent around where a ring post slots into it. I was not ready for the shutter to come apart.

I don't know if it did it before (haven't had it long), but now noticing that the shutter button creaks and requires some force to make work. Not 'jammed' but maybe just a little harder to press than my F3's shutter button, which I always felt needed a little bit of a 'deeper' push than most other cameras. Is this common on Rollei 35's? Seems like such a small camera would benefit greatly from an easier shutter release.

The blade motion is snappy and accurate, but I still worry that the creaky shutter button is somehow related to the damage I did. Seems like a natural assumption, but is that really the cause?

The lever here is connected to the shutter. The little post below the flat screw head rotates and that opens that shutter. When the shutter is cocked, this is what it looks like.


A spring-timed mechanism that sits to the left of the lens/shutter assembly comes down on to the post for the amount of time specified by the shutter dial. Here you can see where its two pieces rest after the shutter has been fired, and before winding. For the small instant in between this photo and the last one, the lever with the lower blue arrow was pushing against the post on the lever connected to the shutter, causing it to open.


It happens so fast that I can't tell if the timing mechanism's lever is offering resistance because it's getting some from the shutter lever as it makes contact, or if the mechanism itself is resisting release. Since the mechanism's main arm travels a couple of mm before it make's contact with the shutter lever, I think it must be unrelated to any potential stickiness in the shutter blades.

But any ideas how to get the shutter button to work a little smoother? It's not impossible to use as-is, but it certainly affects the use of slower speeds handheld. It seems like pulling up on the shutter button before pressing makes the movement offer a little less resistance.

If it's too complicated or impossible to make it better, I will probably just buy a soft shutter release that screws into the cable release socket.

Another thing I think might be more directly related to my misadventures with lens removal is a slight looseness to the focusing ring. It has a very minute amount of play to it now, a tiny amount of pitch up and down when extended and locked, and the dampening feels like it 'slips' just a tad when moving between 3' and 4'. Is this something I'd have to drop the lens & shutter out again to address?

yessammassey said:

Disassembly and cleaning went OK except one of the shutter blades got sightly bent around where a ring post slots into it.

Click to expand...

Are you saying one of the shutter leafs got bent or the actuating lever and related parts? The shutter blades must lat flat against one another to be light tight. The main thing about Rolleis is the precision of the parts and mechanism operating silky smooth. I have straightened shutter blades before by laying them on a smooth flat surface such as a piece of glass or formica desk top and rubbing with the rounded end of a plastic screwdriver handle. A piece of dowel rod could be used.

shutterfinger said:

Are you saying one of the shutter leafs got bent or the actuating lever and related parts? The shutter blades must lat flat against one another to be light tight. The main thing about Rolleis is the precision of the parts and mechanism operating silky smooth. I have straightened shutter blades before by laying them on a smooth flat surface such as a piece of glass or formica desk top and rubbing with the rounded end of a plastic screwdriver handle. A piece of dowel rod could be used.

Click to expand...

Yes, the shutter blade. Right around a hole where it attaches to a post on a ring. The ring is kept tensioned by a spring hook when the shutter is open and the whole thing connects to the lever that’s circled in the first picture of my last post. I did flatten it out with somewhat with a pair of tweezers. Fortunately the crinkle is not close to any part of the blade that overlaps with the other two, and it seems the shutter won’t pass light from a pen light shined inside.

Guess I can drop the lens assembly out again and test the shutter button to confirm if the bent blade is the cause of the resistance. Good to know of a way to iron out the kink if it is.

Update: testing confirms that the shutter button resistance is not connected to the bent blade. It’s happening somewhere along the line from the button itself to the mechanism that strikes the lever on the lens that opens the blades. Retracting the blade lever does not affect the resistance on the button. The button seems to be ‘sunken’ just a few mm...

Is there any kind of lubricant I could potentially use for this? Can the shutter button be unscrewed without having to take off the top plate? Can I take off the top plate without having a bunch of parts fall out everywhere or a need to do some kind of complex work on the film advance?

Its time you downloaded the factory service manual. https://learncamerarepair.com/productlist.php?category=2&secondary=15
It should tell you how to disassemble the camera or at least have an exploded parts diagram. Read the intro as it will tell you the numbering order of the diagram.
I use TriFlow https://www.amazon.com/Tri-Flow-Squ...hild=1&keywords=triflow&qid=1597453753&sr=8-3 for camera/shutter servicing. A little works better than a lot. It may be available at a hardware store or bike shop near you.

Can the shutter button be unscrewed without having to take off the top plate?

You optimist you. Most(all?) drop out from the inside. ^^^Tri-flow has a good reputation like Mr. finger says.