Exchange rear elements on Yashica mat 124

rai

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I can exchange the rear elements of the focusing lens and taking lens on my yashica mat 124?
Thanks!!!!
 

Rick A

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Are you asking us or telling us?
 
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rai

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Sorry, I do not speak good English !!! I'm wondering !. the taking lens has fungi. I cleaned everything! Is not totally clean. The focusing lens is clean and I thought exchange the rear parts.
 

gone

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You have a good idea, but it won't work. You'll have to buy another camera probably. That would be cheaper than sending yours out to have the lens professionally cleaned.
 

summicron1

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No, the lenses are different formulas. The rear elements are not interchangeable.

However, if you got the taking lens as clean as you can, why not take some pictures with the camera before you move on? I bet you a buffalo nickel you will be pleasantly surprised. I recently shot some pics with a 95 year old lens that looks as if someone used an ice-scraper on the inside of one of its elements, and you can still see the outline where the fungus was, but the images it produces are lovely.
 

TooManyShots

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I believe the viewing lens is a 3 elements design but your taking lens is a 4 element design. You have to swap out the entire lens set. Not just part of it.
 
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rai

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Now test the camera ! Thanks for the help!
 

Gadfly_71

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No, you can't swap the cells.

I had a similar issue with mine when I bought it but a thorough cleaning took care of the issue. I was lucky, the fungus had died before the glass/coatings were etched. Best suggestion for cleaning; cotton swab soaked in Listerine then air dry in full sun. You can then gently clean with lens cleaner before reassembly.

My 124 (non-G) was the best $40 I ever spent!
 

David Lyga

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Is the taking lens a 2.8 and the viewing lens a 3.5? If so, probably not able to do this as the formulas are different, but you could TRY and report the results.

But try this: remove that fungus element and wipe it with lighter fluid. Is it better? If not, then try this: put a light coating of skin lotion on both sides of that element. Wait at least ten minutes. Then wash it off. For some reason, skin lotion (massage lotion) very often works wonders with fungus. - David Lyga
 

jochen

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Hello,
even if you could find a rear element of the taking lens of a second damaged scrap camera, you cannot completely be sure that this rear lens element will give you perfect performance because each lens has a slightly different focal length and is centered and matched individually, sometimes the thickness of washers is different. Maybe you would get a much worse performance than with your fungus lens.
 
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