Dennis, I don't have a lot of hope that "for parts" lenses on ebay are going to have glass in much better shape than the one I already bought that was rated NEAR MINT. I may keep an eye open for one, but I'm getting burned out on this problem.
Not to put to fine a point on the discussion, but is repair a necessary option? A quick look on eBay shows a number of 127mm f/3.8 C's for sale in all sorts of conditions. Having had cameras worked on at Midwest, for instance, I can attest that repairs on obsolete equipment at Midwest can be quite expensive.
Unless the lens has some sentimental value, I think I'd bite the bullet and get another one. There are several which list as "for parts", and you may be able to put together a decent lens that way, or have a repair service reassemble it from the collective parts.
Just a thought.
Follow the instructions in post #20 or heat to boiling in a pan of water and boil for 10 minutes, let cool completely, repeat several times over several days before attempting to remove from the mounting.
You may have to wait a week or two after the heatings for the elements to clear.
Slow indirect heat works best.
I used boiling water (100C) to separate a doublet that had fungus growing in the balsam. Cleaned it up with acetone after separation (although isopropanol would have been fine). Reassembled with an air space to check the optical property of the lens. Then re-cemented it with UV cured optical resin (same used for fixing stone chips in your car windshields).
Haha! I think I just reached burn out on that lens, but it sure is unfortunate to have a lens in otherwise excellent condition that is unusable simply because of one glued pair of elements.@Dave Krueger Thank you for the follow up! I was hoping you'd try the oven method too. For science!
Yes, I left the heat turned on and the water boiling the whole time (about 15-25 minutes) and then turned the heat off and left the lens in the water as it cooled down. I did it a couple months ago when this discussion was active. I just forgot about it because of some family health issues. I checked it just now and it is still quite cloudy, but I will keep an eye on it.Check it again in 3 months, it may have cleared.
Was the pan being heated to keep the water boiling?
"Virtually distortion free" might be a little bit of a distortion itself, but I think the distortion of the Schneider wide angle lenses is lower than the Mamiya wides.If you're a darkroom printer who shoots architecture or urban landscapes, there is no substitute for virtually distortion free lenses (not that Schneider has a monopoly on low distortion lenses, of course).
The lens is about 30 years old. Was UV cement in use back then? I could certainly repeat the boiling water treatments. With regard to the acetone, the lens pair seems to be encased in a black epoxy (or metal) collar which would prevent the acetone from seeping in. In any case, soaking it in acetone is simple enough as well. It's not like I am going to ruin something that is already unusable. After the last heat treatments, I put the lens back together. I will disassemble it and repeat the heat treatments again. If I could get it to clear without separating and regluing the elements, that would be great.If the pair is cemented with Balsum then it will eventually clear with heat and time. If the pair was cemented with UV cement then you may have to soak it in Acetone until the cement is saturated then let it dry out completely.
Shutterfinger, Old Gregg's comment made me go back through this thread to refresh my memory. You suggest oven heating in post #40. 325F for 30 minutes, let cool and repeat 3x. If that is more likely to yield results than boiling, then maybe it's time to try that. I'm not sure how accurate the temp control is on my kitchen oven, but I could monitor it with a thermocouple.If the pair is cemented with Balsum then it will eventually clear with heat and time. If the pair was cemented with UV cement then you may have to soak it in Acetone until the cement is saturated then let it dry out completely.
Shortly after this, I looked through about 20 ebay listings for this lens and all but two mentioned that the lens had haze.
That's interesting. I would expect more haze problems with older lenses, but I bought a 127mm K/L lens on ebay (which is newer than both) and had to send it back because it too had haze.I own a 127/3.8C with exactly the same problem.
However a friend of mine has the 127/3.8 and it doesn't have this problem.
I'd suggest avoiding this lens...
It's now in the oven at 325F as we speak....@Dave Krueger Thank you for the follow up! I was hoping you'd try the oven method too. For science!
I have multiple Mamiya RZ lenses with haze. I just order some tools to take them apart and hopefully I can just clean by wiping, not heating :-D
Haha! Me too, but I'm not sure how quick that will happen. Most of my photo activities have been on hold for the last several months and I still have 7 rolls of 35mm film to print from a late 2019 photo expedition to Italy. I also have two other cameras that are waiting their turn to go on their first local photo expedition. For now, I will probably just shoot a test roll to make sure everything works okay and that the lens is as sharp as it used to be (ie: that I didn't screw it up taking it apart).Now we would like to see some images made with this heat treated lens.
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