Lens repolishing/recoating on the cheap

[wkh]

Sadly, they do not have a website, but here's their profile on Ukrainian equivalent of eBay:

https://lenses.olx.ua/#about_us

You'll have to register to write a message, but the registration is fast. If you'll have any difficulties contacting them, contact me and I'll be happy to help

Dear LeoniD,

Just wondering whether the Arsenal link you shared still do lens polish/recoat/(recement?). I have a Rolleiflex 2.8C Xenotar with worn coating and balsam separation that needs some helps...

WK

 

[LeoniD]

Dear LeoniD,

Just wondering whether the Arsenal link you shared still do lens polish/recoat/(recement?). I have a Rolleiflex 2.8C Xenotar with worn coating and balsam separation that needs some helps...

WK

I think yes. My friend got the frontal element of his Rolleiflex restored recently. It's kinda hard to see bc he didn't take an intentional "before" pic(photo 1), but it's kinda worn and scratched, and pic 2 is "after".

 

[wkh]

I think yes. My friend got the frontal element of his Rolleiflex restored recently. It's kinda hard to see bc he didn't take an intentional "before" pic(photo 1), but it's kinda worn and scratched, and pic 2 is "after".

That looks great. I also have a Nikkor-O 35mm f2 ai lens with badly worn front coating which can certainly use a good recoat.

How do I reach out to them to initiate the repair estimate? Does the older link you provided still work? Is there anything that I should be more considerate about send things to and from Ukraine now there is a war going on?

Many thanks in advance for your help!

 

[LeoniD]

That looks great. I also have a Nikkor-O 35mm f2 ai lens with badly worn front coating which can certainly use a good recoat.

How do I reach out to them to initiate the repair estimate? Does the older link you provided still work? Is there anything that I should be more considerate about send things to and from Ukraine now there is a war going on?

Many thanks in advance for your help!

It does seem to work, yes. There's also the phone number of the guy +з8о95о754594 (replace the letters with numbers, I know he has a Telegram account, probably Viber too)
Regarding the being more considerate part-well, there's always a chance that your lens will be destroyed by a russian missile, but not any higher than it being lost by your postal office

 

[wkh]

Many thanks and I do hope that you are safe in this unfortunate war.

I have taken the front group apart last weekend and confirm the defects (1st lens coating wear and two point balsam separation in the 2nd/3rd doublet).

I have emailed Foto Olbrich in Germany based on the recommendation of other Photrio members and they referred me to Dr. Prenzel in Optik Labor instead but with some stark warning regarding the risk of lens cracking during re-cementing and recoating.

Personally, I think the lens cracking warning is a bit overstated. The most dangerous part is probably heating up the doublet to separate the glasses. However, I believe that due to the flat gluing surface of the Xenotar lens the differential expansion stress should be minimal. There is of course risk of stress cracking during polishing, but I would assume any optical technician with reasonable skill would know to avoid that. However, it would be good to hear from someone who actually have it done before to see whether my assumptions are reasonable.

I will try to reach out to Arsenal guy this week to see what he say...

 

[Yaroslav314]

I offer lens repolishing, recementing and MC recoating service.
Actual price is about US $100 (for two surfaces) which is determined after buyer contacts me with all details.
The price may vary slightly, depending on whether I need to deglue the lens before processing or take it out of the rolling. The price for processing the lens without complications described above is US $100.
The price includes polishing on both sides while maintaining the radius of the lens and coating on both sides.
Three types of coating are available, MC multi-layer modern coating is greenish in reflected light.
Lilac and amber coating are also available.
In each case, a coating is selected that is most similar to the original coating and matches the type of coating used during the era of lens production.
Sending the lens back by airmail with a tracking number is also included in the price.

 

[Wolfram Malukker]

I offer lens repolishing, recementing and MC recoating service.
Actual price is about US $100 (for two surfaces) which is determined after buyer contacts me with all details.
The price may vary slightly, depending on whether I need to deglue the lens before processing or take it out of the rolling. The price for processing the lens without complications described above is US $100.
The price includes polishing on both sides while maintaining the radius of the lens and coating on both sides.
Three types of coating are available, MC multi-layer modern coating is greenish in reflected light.
Lilac and amber coating are also available.
In each case, a coating is selected that is most similar to the original coating and matches the type of coating used during the era of lens production.
Sending the lens back by airmail with a tracking number is also included in the price.

Regarding lens coating, I have a lens that was never coated originally and I would like to have the elements polished and coated. I suspect the rear group is separating, and some people say that this lens is a Tessar four-element design, some say it's a five-element (two air spaced in the front, cemented triplet in the rear) and some say it's a plasmat six-element type.

If the rear group is a triplet, would you coat the front and rear surfaces of the triplet, but no coating would be needed between the cemented elements?

 

[F4U]

I offer lens repolishing, recementing and MC recoating service.
Actual price is about US $100 (for two surfaces) which is determined after buyer contacts me with all details.
The price may vary slightly, depending on whether I need to deglue the lens before processing or take it out of the rolling. The price for processing the lens without complications described above is US $100.
The price includes polishing on both sides while maintaining the radius of the lens and coating on both sides.
Three types of coating are available, MC multi-layer modern coating is greenish in reflected light.
Lilac and amber coating are also available.
In each case, a coating is selected that is most similar to the original coating and matches the type of coating used during the era of lens production.
Sending the lens back by airmail with a tracking number is also included in the price.

I have a Rolleiflex 3.5E with a front element of the taking lens that is so bad I think the glass is actually etched so badly that repolishing would likely change the grinding formula. Although I still have it after many years of being disassembled, i consider the camera to be a total loss. The glass isn't scratched or broken. But I still think the etching is just too extreme.

 

[Yaroslav314]

Regarding lens coating, I have a lens that was never coated originally and I would like to have the elements polished and coated. I suspect the rear group is separating, and some people say that this lens is a Tessar four-element design, some say it's a five-element (two air spaced in the front, cemented triplet in the rear) and some say it's a plasmat six-element type.

If the rear group is a triplet, would you coat the front and rear surfaces of the triplet, but no coating would be needed between the cemented elements?

Yes, the coating can be applied to all elements of your lens. If it has bonded elements, they will need to be unbonded before processing and then re-bonded after processing. Naturally, surfaces within the adhesive layer do not require coating. We can discuss all the details in a message.

 

[Yaroslav314]

I have a Rolleiflex 3.5E with a front element of the taking lens that is so bad I think the glass is actually etched so badly that repolishing would likely change the grinding formula. Although I still have it after many years of being disassembled, i consider the camera to be a total loss. The glass isn't scratched or broken. But I still think the etching is just too extreme.

This front element can be salvaged without any problem.
The polishing process preserves the radius, and I don't think your infinity will change significantly. In any case, after reassembly, you'll be able to check this and, if necessary, adjust the lens to infinity, but most likely, you won't need to do that.

 

[koraks]

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