Stiff focus on Mamiya 645 80mm f4 macro lens

[rbultman]

I just picked up a pristine example of this lens in box with case. It looks to have been seldom if ever used.

The focus is smooth but extremely stiff. Is this normal for this lens? If not, is a CLA in order? How difficult is it to clean and re-lube the focusing helicoid?

Thanks,
Rob

 

[mweintraub]

How stiff? I have one and it does have a good "feel" to it, but it does move slowly because of the long throw.

 

[rbultman]

I suppose it's hard to translate that over the internet.

I also have the 80 f1.9 and the 45. The 80 f1.9 feels about right. The 45 has always felt slow. I worry about missing shots with the lens. The macro feels like I might break something.

I tried operating the focus lock to lock to see if it would become less stiff with repeated movement. It did, but after I let the lens sit for awhile, it got stiff again

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[MattKing]

My second hand copy of that lens is fairly stiff as well. I expect the long throw focus has a larger total amount of lubricant on it, and as that lubricant gets old, it probably gets more stiff.

 

[rbultman]

Thanks for the input folks.