Debris in Rolleiflex taking lens -- what to do?

Hi all,

I love my Rolleiflex 3.5A. For quite a while now, I've noticed a speck of debris in the taking lens. Here's an image of what I mean:

You can click on the image to get a closer view. As you should be able to see, there is a little black object at the bottom right of the lens.

The camera seems to be working fine. I thought my shutter was stuck but it turns out it was (most likely) just the self timer! I've been shooting with it like this for years now and haven't really noticed any issues due to the debris. But regardless, my questions are:

1. Is this debris concerning? Could it damage the camera?
2. Can I easily remove it? Maybe I could try to put the camera in bulb mode to open the shutter and use some compressed air -- is that a good/bad idea?

Thanks for your help

The debris looks to me like the black paint they use around the circumference of the lens elements. You should be able to get a tool to unscrew the rear element of the lens and blow it out with the shutter open.

While you are in there you might want to make sure that more “debris” will not come loose soon and need another operation.
And you might also want to find permanent flogging (matte) paint to patch the missing stuff in the lens.

Black debris should really cause no issues, light colored stuff could scatter light. You could simply live with it until the lens needs to be opened for other reasons eventually.

Now is the time… shutter (at a minimum) needs overhaul. Little pieces of loose stuff shouldn’t be rattling around.

on the other hand, if you’ve been shooting like this for years, why worry about it now.

It won't affect your photos, so I'd just leave it. It's simple enough to unscrew the elements in these cameras and clean the optics though. They just unscrew, clean, and screw back in. No starting place on the threads to worry about. If it's between the cemented elements, just leave it alone. I never use the self timers on old cameras as they can hang up, and just treat old cameras as if they don't one.

If you want to unscrew the front lens group, use a rubber stopper on the outer serrated edge. The inner ring with two slots for a spanner is holding the front lens element in the barrel and won't give you access to the front of the shutter blades; the rear element and main mounting barrel will still be in place.

You ask: Can I easily remove it? > with the right size rubber ring, most likely. It will take some pressure and force most likely.

Maybe I could try to put the camera in bulb mode to open the shutter and use some compressed air -- is that a good/bad idea?
^^^^^ > I would consider that a bad idea. First, the speck is inside a relatively sealed area with no openings big enough for it to escape (slots for the shutter blades and aperture blades are the closest thing to openings). Second, the odds are that you will dislodge more paint chips, spread dust and possibly grease into new places, and life will be made much more difficult.

The lens is a Tessar. Tessar have air spaced elements at the front and a cemented pair at the rear. The shutter and aperture blades are between the air and cemented pairs.
The black speck is either between the front elements or the rear of the front element. If its between the front elements unscrew the trim ring, if its on the rear of the front element unscrew the serrated edge.
speck is at A or B.

Thank you all for your quick and helpful responses!

My thoughts are that I will have the camera serviced as soon as I can. I'm not much of a mechanic, so I don't dare unscrew the lens e.g. myself. We're in lockdown here at the moment, so it'll have to wait. In the meantime, it appears that I should be able to shoot with it OK, barring more shutter problems.

By the way, I never use the self timer either, but only gave it a go as a last ditch effort to free the stuck shutter, and somehow it worked. Maybe the self timer lever was slightly pushed when I had the camera in a bag? I'm not sure.

Once again, thanks for the help!

Diffraction said:

Thank you all for your quick and helpful responses!

My thoughts are that I will have the camera serviced as soon as I can. I'm not much of a mechanic, so I don't dare unscrew the lens e.g. myself. We're in lockdown here at the moment, so it'll have to wait. In the meantime, it appears that I should be able to shoot with it OK, barring more shutter problems.

By the way, I never use the self timer either, but only gave it a go as a last ditch effort to free the stuck shutter, and somehow it worked. Maybe the self timer lever was slightly pushed when I had the camera in a bag? I'm not sure.

Once again, thanks for the help!

Click to expand...

Self timers are very useful as a sub for a cable.

The thing with them destroying cameras is vastly overblown. I have literally never encountered a timer that either didn’t work or couldn’t be brought to work with naphtha fumes and perhaps a gentle push or two.

The timer is not as hugely precision dependent as the shutter and is often quite separate physically from the rest of the mechanics.
Putting a swap with naphtha on or around the lever is very unlikely to hurt anything else.

It’s a very useful function.
Don’t let FUD keep you from trying it.

Rolleiflex TLR's use a modified CN-1110-000 Synchro Compur #00 shutter. The modifications are the face plate, cocking, release, and self timer setting levers of the shutter.
The modified levers drop over the edge of the shutter case and are operated by secondary levers connected to the controls you see on the exterior of the camera. The self timer being at the top left of the camera has a more complex linkage than the standard release. The leatherette can swell and impair the movement of the setting lever when the shutter is released.
Lack of use can cause the self timer to be sluggish but 5 to 10 operation cycles should free it up. If the self timer becomes sluggish after a few hours of non use then the shutter will have to be serviced to correct it.
This is an internal view of the standard CN-1110-000 shutter.

Yellow- sef timing set lever; green- cocking; teal- release.. Rolleiflex 3.5

Removing the front lens cell/element for cleaning requires care not to scratch the lens; opening the camera to service the shutter and servicing the shutter requires good mechanical skills.

Are you unhappy with the negatives??

Diffraction said:

Hi all,

I love my Rolleiflex 3.5A. For quite a while now, I've noticed a speck of debris in the taking lens. Here's an image of what I mean:

You can click on the image to get a closer view. As you should be able to see, there is a little black object at the bottom right of the lens.

The camera seems to be working fine. I thought my shutter was stuck but it turns out it was (most likely) just the self timer! I've been shooting with it like this for years now and haven't really noticed any issues due to the debris. But regardless, my questions are:

1. Is this debris concerning? Could it damage the camera?
2. Can I easily remove it? Maybe I could try to put the camera in bulb mode to open the shutter and use some compressed air -- is that a good/bad idea?

Thanks for your help

Click to expand...

Were you standing next to a muddy puddle when a bus drove by?

Huss said:

Were you standing next to a muddy puddle when a bus drove by?

Click to expand...

Haha, sadly not. That would be easier to remove! Are you referring to the discolorations on my Rolleiflex? Sadly I bought quite a beater, though it is optically fine (apart from my debris). It was quite cheap though, and I didn't know whether I'd like a TLR when I got it. With hindsight a good Autocord might have been better, followed by investing in a great Rolleiflex.

Re negatives: They seem fine to me. I've noticed some haze at times, but I'm pretty sure that's due to flare. I don't think I've noticed the debris in the shots.

Diffraction said:

Haha, sadly not. That would be easier to remove! Are you referring to the discolorations on my Rolleiflex? Sadly I bought quite a beater, though it is optically fine (apart from my debris). It was quite cheap though, and I didn't know whether I'd like a TLR when I got it. With hindsight a good Autocord might have been better, followed by investing in a great Rolleiflex.

Re negatives: They seem fine to me. I've noticed some haze at times, but I'm pretty sure that's due to flare. I don't think I've noticed the debris in the shots.

Click to expand...

Considering the weird shapes shutters and almost open apertures introduce, a black speck should be impossible to detect, except a homeopathic drop in contrast and brightness.

Hard light is never flattering to cameras.