I'm stumped on how to fix my Zeiss 100 f2 zf.2. Front fell off.

I cant figure out how to unscrew the plastic front part that screws into the filter threads. I can see it should be an easy repair once that's out. The whole part is connected with three screws, but that front plastic part is in the way. Does any one know if there's a trick to it? Thank you in advance.

You need a friction tool.

The "beauty ring", the ring with the lettering on it, should unscrew from the face of the front lens part. Find a sturdy cylinder that will fit inside, only touching the flat part of the beauty ring, and place a sheet of rubber or something with a grippy surface over the end of the cylinder. Press this contraption down firmly on the beauty ring and rotate counter clockwise to unscrew it. Use something that will not mar the ring and take care to not bend or scratch anything. Mind that the screws don't fall out and get lost!

Go to 2:50 on this video to see a friction tool in action:


You should be able to figure it out from there!

I tried and it didn't budge. Good call on the screws.

Try dribbling a small amount of alcohol around the threads and let it set for a few minutes before trying again. It may have dirt or even some form of glue around on the threads to keep it from backing out unintentionally.

Gentle heating with a hair dryer might help as well...

Of course, some lenses have the beauty ring glued in without threads, but those tend to be the cheaper consumer grade lenses of the late 1990's.

I would bet this lens ring will screw off with some patience and persuasion; good luck.

Excellent advice from Kino. If you can get to them, I generally will set a screwdriver into a stuck screw's slot after the alcohol has sunk in, and give it a light tap w/ a small block of wood. This will usually help break loose something that's stuck from age. You don't have to hit it hard, 1 time usually does it, and it brings the screwdriver bit into better contact w/ the screw, which helps when you try to twist it out.