Mechanical issues with my Micro Nikkor 55

[fotoobscura]

Unfortunately one of my favorite 55mm lenses has been acting up recently. The DOF "slide" on the inside ring of the lens appears to be loose (it will freely float back and forth just from gravity) and when I lock the lens into place on the FE2 I use with it, something happens where when I release the shutter it appears to trip up and will not take the foto (you will see a blurry, dark image if you look through the lens at this point). There is no way to free the shutter except to remove the lens. The moment I remove the lens the shutter frees and an unwanted picture is taken.

I'm guessing this has to do with the DOF slide because there's really nothing left to be broken (that I can tell, at least). The DOF preview on the FE2 also won't work. Occasionally if I press it many many MANY times it will give me a slight preview or stick in preview mode.

So I guess I'm wondering if this is something that I can fix. Seems like maybe there's a spring in the lens that broke or came unhinged. The lens isn't cheap and it's my favorite 35mm macro.

Thanks!


P.S. All my others lenses including very old Nikkor lenses all work fine.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

Wirelessly posted (BBBold: BlackBerry9000/4.6.0.297 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102 UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

Definitely the lens. Do you hear rattling in the lens if it is gently shaken? If I recall, there are no external screws holding the DOF ring in place. Might be an internal microscrew come loose, perhaps it doubles as the anchor spring for the DOF aperture preview mechanism. Perhaps something came loose and lodged itself somewhere. If you do take it apart be carefull not to lose the spring and aperture click ball bearing. But this one might be worth sending off to be sure and get it right.

 

[John Koehrer]

I'm guessing the "DOF Slide" is the stop down lever. And the return spring is broken/loose.
The mount is held on by several screws visible on the back of the mount. Take it off & everything will be self explanatory. The spring attaches to a fixed post and the stop down lever. There will be alignment issues, the mount & engagement of the stop down lever with the stop down ring is a little finicky but not especially difficult. The lever has a forked end that has to go over the maint portion of the stop down ring inside the lens. You just have to make sure the aperture opens and closes as you work the SD lever.
If it's broken, it's not going to be something to pick up at the local hardware but possibly Nikon or an authorized Nikon repair joint.

 

[John_Nikon_F]

Is this a 55f3.5 or a 55f2.8 AIS? The 3.5 lenses have a spring on the diaphragm linkage. The 2.8 lenses don't. So, the rattling is, alas, normal. I would have a shop check to see if the linkage on the lens and the stop-down lever on the body are in proper alignment. I dealt with this on a Nikomat FTn when I'd use a 180f2.8 Nikkor-P on it. Camera would jam and the mirror would go part of the way up. Bent the stop-down lever on the body a little, and the camera began working fine with every lens I owned at the time. I think I moved it toward the mirror, when I bent it.

-J

 

[fotoobscura]

Hey John,

It's the 2.8. I need to test the lens on one of my older Nikons and see if it has to do with the lens and stop-down lever. If it does in fact work I'd rather tweak the stop down lever a bit than disassemble the lens...On the other hand I could screw that up to the point that other lenses no longer want to work..

Ahh...

Thanks

Is this a 55f3.5 or a 55f2.8 AIS? The 3.5 lenses have a spring on the diaphragm linkage. The 2.8 lenses don't. So, the rattling is, alas, normal. I would have a shop check to see if the linkage on the lens and the stop-down lever on the body are in proper alignment. I dealt with this on a Nikomat FTn when I'd use a 180f2.8 Nikkor-P on it. Camera would jam and the mirror would go part of the way up. Bent the stop-down lever on the body a little, and the camera began working fine with every lens I owned at the time. I think I moved it toward the mirror, when I bent it.

-J

 

[Pumal]

I know a guy that can fix this lens in no time at all, but...he is too far away.

 

[John Koehrer]

I'm curious about the 55/2.8 not having a return spring.
The stop down linkage in the mirror box pushes up, against the stop down lever in the lens.
When the mirror/linkage returns to the start position what, besides a spring will reopen the diaphragm in the lens?

 

[fotoobscura]

Hey (Nikon) John,

So I bent the lever *very* slightly inward towards the lens hole. In fact I couldn't even visibly tell I bent it, but it worked!

What a fantastically easy fix (and so many destroyed frames as a result).

Thanks!

 

[John_Nikon_F]

Well, cool. Glad to see that you're back in business.

John, I'm sure there's a spring in the diaphragm itself. But, if you look at the 55f2.8, you'll notice that the lever moves even when the lens is at max. aperture, unlike most other Nikkors. A tech I used to deal with mentioned that there isn't the normal spring that keeps the lever from moving around when the lens is wide open. I've had four of these lenses, and they've all been the same. No problems from the design "feature", though.

-J

 

[fotoobscura]

I have a black fe2 which is dedicated to this lens, that's how much I love it. I bought a +1,+2,+4 filter pack for this lens and you can essentially use the thing like a microscope

Thanks again.