Disassemble Zeiss Tessar lens front element - Rolleiflex

rrunnertexas · Aug 12, 2015

I am new to a pretty nice looking Rolleiflex automat 3.5 with a Zeiss Tessar lens. The front element of the lens has what I believe are spots of mold between the elements.

I want to take the lens apart in order to clean the spots.

There is a very small screw on the outside of the lens cover which I believe has to be removed. After that the cover may just unscrew?

I searched, but did not find anything regarding taking the lens apart to clean.

Has anyone with a Rolleiflex done this work successfully?

Any thread out there that shows how it is done?

Thanks,
David

baachitraka · Aug 12, 2015

Don't do it.

Sent from my GT-I9301I using Tapatalk

piu58 · Aug 13, 2015

The tiny spots does not matter. But a non aligned lens does.

JPD · Aug 13, 2015

Exactly which Rolleiflex model is it? Post a picture? You should NOT need to loosen a screw to remove the taking lens groups. The lens groups are just screwed in to the shutter and easily removed. At least on most Rolleis you can then unscrew the front and second lens element mounts to clean the lens surfaces.

You will not disturb the alignment as long as you don't remove the shutter.

JPD · Aug 13, 2015

APUGuser19 said:
A Tessar is a 4 element lens. Typically a doublet and 2 separates. Depending on particular design the doublet may be behind the shutter or in front. You can't know which till you take it apart. I see no reason not to unscrew at least the front pair from the shutter for a look-see. It will unscrew from the shutter like any other lens. Rolleiflexes has extremely thin brass washers underneath the front shroud, so beware of these. After the front shroud is off, you're right there at the shutter/lens assembly. Unscrew the front as you would a view or Graflex-type lens. From there it will become evident whether this is the cemented doublet if you can't clean it from the backside.

The Tessar has the two separate elements in front of the shutter, and the cemented doublet at the back.

JPD · Aug 13, 2015

APUGuser19 said:
There--all answered. You have 6 out of 8 chances of being able to clean the lens. If that doesn't work, then it's between the doublet and you'll have to resort to the methylene chloride soak and a re-balsam job.

Problems with the cemented surfaces on a Tessar are very rare, luckily.

Alan9940 · Aug 13, 2015

Hello David,

Do a search on YouTube; there's a decent video showing how to remove & clean the taking lens elements.

Best regards,
AlanH

rrunnertexas · Aug 20, 2015

rrunnertexas · Aug 20, 2015

I was able to take the front element out by unscrewing it, without a problem. The inclusions are between the elements and I was not sure how to get them apart to possibly clean.

I did see what I believe is a super tiny screw head on the side, but it was so small I could not get it unscrewed.

My solution.... the camera has been sent off for service since I could not figure it out. Maybe a "pro" can?

I still want to know how it comes apart though....

po-stit · Apr 21, 2016

rrunnertexas said:
I was able to take the front element out by unscrewing it, without a problem. The inclusions are between the elements and I was not sure how to get them apart to possibly clean.

I did see what I believe is a super tiny screw head on the side, but it was so small I could not get it unscrewed.

My solution.... the camera has been sent off for service since I could not figure it out. Maybe a "pro" can?

I still want to know how it comes apart though....

Hello @rrunnertexas im exactly in the same spot as you. I have some haze marks between the two from elements on a Rolleiflex Tessar and i can't figure it out how to separate both. I see the tiny little hole that looks like a screw but im not sure.
Did you ever figure it out how to separate both elements?

Thanks

Disassemble Zeiss Tessar lens front element - Rolleiflex

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