lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

Having pulled things (not a lens though) apart before I can echo this.
Springs are a bitch.
You see some movement that you don't quite catch.
Then you hear the sproing, ping, ping, ting, ting off to the side somewhere that your eyes can never find.
Then even if you find anything you are never sure if there is anything else.

olcoach Loc: Oregon

Geff, Is there another name for "spacing flange" as B&H doesn't recognize it and sends you into a land of equipment costing 1000.00s of dollars and has nothing to do with what I want. Thanks

dragonfist Loc: Stafford, N.Y.

Thanks for the link. I had never really given any thought to lubricants, etc. in the internal area breaking down and causing a lens to get grungy inside. I always figured the stuff snuck in their from the outside. Gotta hand it to you though, it looks as if you did a nice job of cleaning that lens up. You are right too that it is sometimes better to chance doing it yourself especially when it isn't cost effective to have a pro do it. That is a case of it isn't much good the way it is so give it a try, you have everything to gain.

tturner Loc: Savannah Ga

I also tried this flash light test on all of my lenses.
At first I was disturbed by the ugly ring of "fungus" on the outer perimeter of my lenses. My first thought was, I have had these lenses for a long time, maybe that's normal.

After a second look, I tried moving the flashlight while holding it at the rear element of my lenses, and much to my delight, the ring of fungus as well as a really bad scratch pattern moved as well.

In conclusion, if you are performing this test, the scratches and other flaws may not be on your lens, but on the flash light you are using.

P.S. Upon cleaning the lens on my flash light which was a mini mag light, the fungus ring went away. Nothing wrong with my lenses, not even my 135 f/2.5 which I have had since 1976.

nekon Loc: Carterton, New Zealand

Why not-He knows what he talks about.

Bykewrydr Loc: Alberta

What's A Carborator

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

Yes, spacing flange was my description, but the search that you would want to use would be for instance the lens that I used for this thread "Pentax K lens to EOS adapter" the flange is milled to a particular thickness so that the lens will properly register and allow infinity focus.

The older film lenses "screw mounts" are "M42 to EOS".

I usually buy stuff like this on Ebay because there are a bunch of smaller retailers who handle this sort of thing and are actually pretty price competitive. I filter my searches for US only so that I don't have to wait weeks for delivery.

warrenvon Loc: Ellicott City, MD

I now know why you went to such heroic efforts for an old lens.
I had that very same lens and wish that I still did. I tried to replace it with the Nikon D model and was very disappointed to the point of selling it after several months of use.

nekon Loc: Carterton, New Zealand

I believe it's meant to be "carburettor"

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

I have three more of them but all different, two are being shipped so they are not here yet, but they are the Super Takumar, the Super Multi Coated Takumar, and then a Takumar 55 f/1.8. None were too expensive with the exception of the Super Multi Coated lens was about the same as a new Canon f/1.8... But in Pentax circles those Takumar lenses are the stuff that legions are made of... We will see, they have the radio active element and need to sit a week or so in front of a black light to get rid of the yellowing caused by the break down of the radioactive coating.

I will say that they are pretty cool lenses, built like tanks with very nice focus dampening and aperture movement, and nice stuff like curved aperture blades, the kind of build that they just don't do anymore. I will be selling at least two of them, at those prices I figured just buy one of each and keep the one or two that I most like.. I don't own an electronic 50 f 1.4 but have a really good f 2.5.. I just bought this old lens for the extreme bokeh that a 1.4 can produce that my 2.5 can't. I will say that I really like them and I find myself taking more time and thinking about the shot, as you have to pay closer to light etc and actually focus the camera so you are spending more time actually taking a look at what you are shooting instead of simply pointing and shooting.

I was reading about Pentax and how Pentax was known for making some of the best lenses out there back in the day and that the Takumar's were considered to be among their best... So what the heck, I just had to check it out... You can buy those 55 f/1.8s on ebay for about $30 but the Super Taks can run over $150 if you patient and watch you can catch a good auction every now and again, I have seen a couple sell in the $40 to $50 range.

newryqs

You can take a video of taking your own lens apart so you can see where things will have to go back to.

royden Loc: Decatur, GA

Pulling apart a lens in a large plastic bag will help with flying springs. I was taking one apart and thought about the bag after the spring had sprung. LOL

Milt26 Loc: Chattanooga, TN

After a western trip, I discovered a dust layer on the back side of the front glass on my Nikon 18-200 lens.It was visible in sunlight. I knew its not a dust sealed lens and didn't want to pay Nikon's service charge. It's not a "pro" lens, so I took it on. It was actually quite simple. A glued on thin rubber ring had to be peeled of, revealing about 5 screws. After the screws were removed the front lens element easily unscrewed for cleaning along with the front interior. I don't recommend going any deeper to aperture and focus elements which would probably lead to a service expense. No problems after that.

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

Yup! There is a video for that exact process for a newer Nikon Zoom on Youtube, saw it when I was found the one on this lens, the newer lenses with all the zooms and automation are much more complex than the old primes like the 50 that I took apart here. I don't think that I would try going too deep into a newer zoom. There was also a video of a guy completely disassembling a Canon 24-105, it was a very complicated process that ended with the lens barrel serving as a pencil holder.... he said that the lens was beyond repair to begin with or he never would have done it.

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

I did this test only a few months after starting photography. I looked into a brand new nikon 70-300mm lens and saw hundreds of dust particles glowing in the dark. First time in my life I started to hyperventilate.. One of my favorite lens to this day.
Sounds like fun taking the lens apart..