I recently bought a Mamiya Press 50mm f/6.3 lens that turned out to have a significant optical problem. For various reasons, it's not practical to return it at this point.
The issue is that the lens is significantly soft on the left side of the image; the center and right side are quite good. So it's optically misaligned in some way — tilted or decentered. I may decide to take it to a camera repairman because it wouldn't hurt to have the shutter cleaned and adjusted, too, but I'm wondering about opening it up and trying to fix it myself. Partly, this would be fun for me. If it doesn't take six days of trial-and-error madness, that is.
One (I think remote) possibility is that the mount is warped. (My camera is fine; my 100mm lens works quite well on it, with fairly consistent across-the-frame performance.) If the mount is warped, it's beyond my limited talents to diagnose or fix. But it's also possible (more likely, I think) that the problem is in the alignment of the lens elements themselves.
I'm not afraid to open it up, per se. I've disassembled several camera lenses before, and put them back together in good shape. I have a few of the specialized tools one needs for such things.
So my question is whether this lens can be adjusted with a reasonable chance of success — i.e. is it at least reasonably easy to open up without provoking a disaster; are there any reasonably accessible built-in optical adjustments to control the position and/or tilt of one or more of the elements (or cells). Is shimming a practical option, or maybe the only option? Basically, is it feasible to give this a try, or is the lens simply not adjustable in any practical way. So, anyone with any experience opening this lens up? Hints would be greatly appreciated.
The issue is that the lens is significantly soft on the left side of the image; the center and right side are quite good. So it's optically misaligned in some way — tilted or decentered. I may decide to take it to a camera repairman because it wouldn't hurt to have the shutter cleaned and adjusted, too, but I'm wondering about opening it up and trying to fix it myself. Partly, this would be fun for me. If it doesn't take six days of trial-and-error madness, that is.
One (I think remote) possibility is that the mount is warped. (My camera is fine; my 100mm lens works quite well on it, with fairly consistent across-the-frame performance.) If the mount is warped, it's beyond my limited talents to diagnose or fix. But it's also possible (more likely, I think) that the problem is in the alignment of the lens elements themselves.
I'm not afraid to open it up, per se. I've disassembled several camera lenses before, and put them back together in good shape. I have a few of the specialized tools one needs for such things.
So my question is whether this lens can be adjusted with a reasonable chance of success — i.e. is it at least reasonably easy to open up without provoking a disaster; are there any reasonably accessible built-in optical adjustments to control the position and/or tilt of one or more of the elements (or cells). Is shimming a practical option, or maybe the only option? Basically, is it feasible to give this a try, or is the lens simply not adjustable in any practical way. So, anyone with any experience opening this lens up? Hints would be greatly appreciated.
Last edited:
