I'm extremely jealous of your yardsale/flea market prospects. The best I can hope for in my area is a point-and-shoot from the '90s/'00s amidst a sea of old clothing.
I like repairing vintage lenses (was working in repair shop for digital camera and lenses), so I take my chances and buy them very cheaply ("for parts"), repair them, play with them and - sell them (adding 20ish euros to original price), thats my stress-relief method from busy job. If the lens is unusual, weird and/or rare, i'll keep it to myself (i dont consider myself a collector). The plan is - once I retire (in some 20-25 years), i'll have more than enough skills to offer my services and earn some nice beer money
Cleaning vintage lenses seems super simple but I've fallen into a few pitfalls I didn't see coming, all of which are worse for longer lenses with larger elements: 1. Always always always make a witness mark before unscrewing a helicoid or your lens may never focus to infinity again. 2. Be very careful with the screw rings that hold glass elements in place. These (and the threads they sit in) are usually made of much softer materials than the tools used to unscrew them. They're very easy to strip and/or mar the threads so they won't unscrew. 3. Don't open lenses in humid environments. This is especially important for larger elements/chambers. If the lens element seats tightly, it will create a seal as you drop it in, compressing the air. If there's even a little humidity in the air it will fog up the inside of lens and make even the slightest cleaning residues super visible.
yeap, its seems easy, now i cant put back my tokina 28-105 cause cant put the small interior lenses in the position theyre soupposed to be. I try many times, but no succes.
Not just witness marks on the sides of the helicoid but also measure the distance of the lens groups to the outer frame (using a piece of paper and making marks to set the distance to thread in is a good idea if you don't have vernier calipers). I've just stripped apart and CLA my Flektogon 35/ 2.4 and Sonnar 135/ 3.5 - both units were evidently serviced before and would focus 'beyond' infinity as the main focus helicoids were using the wrong start on the multi-start thread. The front lens group on the Sonnar is butted up against the frame (just tighten down fully) but the Flektogon front lens group needs to be threaded in for alignment (the lens group can be screwed in further than required for proper infinity focus). Also, care needs to be taken to carefully tighten the inner collars that hold down the lens elements within the group as well. I had a tough time trying to figure out the corner softness issues I was having - initially, I thought it was an off-axis tightening of the mounting flange or the front lens group (on the Flektogon, there is some play in the helicoid threads) and spent hours trying to re-align this. I ultimately found out that it was a loose collar on the rear group (inner most element) that caused the element to be slightly tilted.
1. this is very funny, but just this evening I took an old Carl Zeiss Jena 50 1.8 apart and for 2 hours I couldn’t put the helicoid back together. 10/10!!!
One time a friend of mine gave me a Telemegor 400mm f5.5 from Meyer Optick Goerlitz. The mont was a Exakta heavy lens mount, at the time I couldn't find a adapter. So I bought a m42 to eos adapter and epoxied this to the lens, respecting the focal flange distance. In f8 this lens was absolutely magnificent! Very sharp and with beautiful contrast!
Buying lenses with haze or fungus can be a huge mistake. I bought a bunch of vintage lenses with these issues after watching all these videos where the blemishes just wash right off - but this was definitely *not* the case for me. All of the glass had been etched, or the remaining haze simply would not come off. I tried everything from solvents to polish. Sometimes this stuff is absolutely stuck on there, and no amount of elbow grease is going to remove it. I wouldn't say this is the case for all lenses, but in my experience, it is more common for there to be permanent damage than not. Just pay a little bit extra for lenses in good shape.
I speculate though that many of those "lots" you see on ebay are unfixable junk getting dumped on unsuspecting buyers because in my experience albeit limited the fungus was easy to remove. @@urionandon
Some fungus produces acids as part of their metabolism; which can etch the glass. _Haze_ can be permanent if it is a result of (what HOYA calls) "dimming"; a process whereby long-term exposure of the glass to microscopic condensation allows alkali ions to diffuse into the condensation droplets. This turns into a concentrated alkaline solution that erodes the silica-gel layer of the polished glass surface. When the condensation evaporates, silicon ions and alkali are deposited leaving a hazy film that cannot be removed by wiping and requires the glass surface to be re-polished (as described in "Fabrication Methods for Precision Optics", H.H. Karow, 2004, Wiley Interscience).
I've been collecting vintage lenses and cameras for a few years, but so far only from online sources here in Russia. I really should check out some antique shops sometime.
Good tips for any used lens buying, vintage or not. My bigger concern with fungus is that I do not want to worry about my other lenses getting "infected" (colonized? ). I am not sure how much of a real problem that is, honestly, but it *seems* possible so I have avoided those lenses. I do not get too concerned about scratches unless they are very extreme. My experience has shown me that I can still make good photos with scratched lenses and spend less on those than I would on pristine examples. If the scratches are very bad it gives me a bit more concern about how badly the lens was treated in other ways. Finally, for both camera bodies and lenses I look closely at the condition of screw heads. If the slots are damaged I usually pass. Damage like that shows me that somebody tried to "service" or fix something who at best didn't have the correct tools. And probably didn't know as much as they thought they did. Thank you for the tips!
It really isn't much of a problem unless you keep everything together in one dusty box in the back of a closet somewhere. Take out your lenses often and make sure they get sunlight. Sounds silly, but that is often the best way to keep fungus out. And, ya know, keep em clean.
You can also make a small UV box to put them into. This kills any fungal spores. I believe you need UV-C light for this. I bought two UV LED & a small DC converter to run them for less than $20 on Amazon. I lined the inside of a box with foil to reflect the light, & put the LED into the top. I put lenses in there every so often. So far, so good. Note that this will not remove fungus, but will kill the spores & halt them from further growth or spreading. I've been told that UV-C doesn't go through glass; but if this is the case, I don't see why it would work on old nuclear lenses. Infrared photography also wouldn't work if this were the case. The glass definitely stops some of the light, but most should go through. It just takes a day or two for enough to be effective.
That fungus comes from spores in the air. It's everywhere, and even modern lenses can get it if kept poorly. Just keep them in reasonably dry conditions with good airflow. If there's a really bad one and you are concerned, keep it separate; however, I doubt it raises the risk very much as the fungus has to get out of the lens somehow.
- I sold all my FD lenses, the FD mount is a problematic mess - I'm slowly selling some other lenses and replacing them with new chinese manual lenses. I'm only keeping the special ones, even some old cheapo zooms but that give me an special result that cannot be obtained from new lenses or editing. Or the ones that is a pleasure to use. - For now I kept fewer mounts, the mess with all kind of adapters is crazy. I only keep M42, Nikon F, Minolta, Pentax K, a pair of Adaptall, and Kiev 60 / Pentacon 6 - I'll sell the Pentax and Adaptall ones, just to keep the collection small. Even maybe selling the Nikon ones.
My three vintage lenses are all Canon FD mount. I haven't noticed anything unusual about the mounting and unmounting. Either on my Fotodiox macro adapter to Sony mount or on my Canon New F1. I'm curious about your issues. What should I be looking out for?
Ive found that very little can substitute the expensive gear when it comes to sports photography; or other action. However most other forms of photography can get by with - and even be enhanced by - vintage glass. I love taking timelapses with various vintage lenses because I can get interesting flares throughout the day as the sun moves around the lens. Portrait photography is often enhanced by unusual bokeh. A.I. photo editing software can imitate clean/clear bokeh pretty well, but unusual bokeh is still beyond the capabilities of computational photography; for now. I find that unusual bokeh will make me stop scrolling on social media and try to figure out why I'm attracted to a photo. I don't always notice the bokeh consciously at first. It's more of a subconscious reaction that makes my brain go "wow, that photo is amazing!" I love my auto chinon 55mm because of it's blooming soft look. It makes portraits feel soft and warm and inviting.
I bought a Zeiss 135mm for cheap from a market in England, cause it had a stuck aperture (stuck wide open). I figured one day I’ll fix but actually I really like it stuck. Now I don’t have the think about aperture. It has one option and I just focus on taking the image. It’s one of my favourite lenses
If this is a CZJ/ Praktica 135/3.5 Sonnar, then it should be relatively easy to fix this. You need to remove the rear mount, then unscrew the rear lens group. This will expose the aperture blades for cleaning. If the aperture blades are somewhat stuck in place, play with the aperture lever and the A/M spring lever. You should be able to get it so the blades will close but perhaps not re-open fully. Most of these lens had stuck aperture blades because the oils used to prevent rusting had partially dried and become sticky. If you need access to the front of the lens, it's more tricky and requires a lens collar opening tool. Move the focus to minimum so that the front of the lens protruding. Remove the lens branding ring (blutack works if you don't have a rubber ring). Then unscrew the lens cover (the part where the lens hood slides along). That will expose the front lens group - you can use your hands to unscrew this group easily without the lens tool. Now, move the focus back to infinity so the main helicoid group is fully recessed and you can use a cotton bud (Q-tip) to clean the front of the aperture blades.
Cleaning lenses is NOT an easy task to do properly. You need tools and experience. Learn on cheap gear if you want to try to get into it. And then give me a call when you start to panic :p
I'm hoping to get into cleaning lenses since I'm learning photography on old, admittedly outdated cameras and lenses. I currently own a Canon 350D, Canon 300D, Canon EFS 18-55mm, and a Sigma DL Macro Super 70-300mm with the red ring, both lenses have fungus, but not enough to affect image quality yet. In spite of this I want to use the Canon kit lens to learn to clean.
I destroyed a vintage lens yesterday. I cleaned all the rear lenses and was trying to get the front one out and I broke the lens that goes on the outside by overtightening it as I was using it as a leverage point to get the front lens out. I may have found the same type in another camera. It's a Nikon nikor 28mm 1:28 and I bought it yesterday for 20 quid. If you know where I can get the very rear lens on the thing I'd love to know.
@@Україна-ц7э Same but with a Pentacon 50. I dropped the rear lens element onto the table just as I was putting it back together and now it has a chip. You can see it in the bokeh :( Surely there's a way to buy an individual lens element to certain measurements, right? Let me know if you find such a service in the UK.
I once bought a Canon FD 17mm f4 that had some scuffs on the outer external glass. Didn't know anything about its value at the time. Paid about US$50 for it on eBay. The scuffs impact images that are shot at f4, but that impact disappears almost completely if I use it at f8 and with a flash. I looked at the price of nice examples and they are 300 to 400 dollars! I think this was a great purchase, and an excellent way to use something that others might throw away!
I got the same 17mm FD for free, the front element is scratched to a degree the lens just isn't useable anymore (at any aperture), so now it sits on one of the F1 bodies in my collection, but will never be used. (still looks good though 😉)
Funghus might be a problem. But I recently got a Nikon D80 basically for free with a lens because it has a huge monster in the viewfinder. But works fine.
Sadly, it's sometimes pretty hard to find even common adapters in Russia. I was even struggling to find stepping rings for my filter. Upd. And we simply don't have yard sales, and flee markets are usually have much more high price tags than "Avito" (kind of Russian Craigslist), so I was able to buy there fully working Kiev-4a (except of auto lever) for $20, while market prices was $40 and more. Antique shops are option, but there's not that many in my city and cameras there are usually totally waster and overpriced, but sometimes you may be lucky. And the main thing, we don't have those years of good Western or/and Japanese equipment in sale, mainly soviet cameras and lenses and the quality control was abysmal so it kind of like a lottery.
I've always wondered about this, and no one can provide very good info as to what the risks are when taking apart lenses. I've heard never do it, but then others say it's perfectly fine. Or that it just depends on the lens. I know that taking it to a lens repair shop with proper optical bench is extremely expensive. They use to be more common, but now they are extremely rare, and the availability for those skilled in fine art of tuning a lens is few and far between, making their skills also very expensive.
Just watching this video reminded me to check over the Yashica-Mat that I inherited from my mum. RIP at 94 yrs. This camera came out when I was 4 years old! It seems to be in nice condition, but I'm going to take it to a local camera repair place for a bit of a clean up/service.
I found a vivitar 28mm f1.9 with a stuck aperture. Luckily it was stuck wide open. It one of my favorite lenses. I'll have to give that lighter fluid thing a try.
Oh merci bien ! The stuck aperture tip sparked motivation in me, because I got quite a few vintage photography things from my father and one or two lenses had stuck apertures. I am just kind of scared of opening lenses. But seeing you manage (you probably did that a hundred times) I should give it a try. Cheers!
@@theothertonydutch You can usually spot a lens that has separated from the balsam. They typically have a very distinct look to them when this happens, and also generally will have a prismatic effect from the light being broken up. So you'll see a rainbow hue in the lens if it is separated. You are far more likely to have a permanently damaged lens from fungus etching the glass or destroying coatings. In my case, this has been extremely common.
On two occasions I ran in to trouble trying to remove fungus, when by opening the lens I found kitted elements with the fungus inbetween them ( Topcon 135mm and some Zeiss lens). This is byond the scope of my repairing abilities and had to put the lens back togheter and consider it a loss. My experience with fungus infected lenses is win some loose some... with the bad ones sometimes leveling out the gains you make with the good ones.
Hi, Nice video. We used to have a great market place around, but now that OG market place got turned into a big supermarket and all those old photography/antique booths got sent packing. :( What was the lens used at 7:13-7:18 mark? - got my answer by watching your previous vids ;) Thank you in advance
this such a good video, thank you for making something about film lenses that feels so positive, lots are boring and dry! Im also in France by the way :)
A few years ago I bought a Spiratone 75mm f3.5 "flat field macro" lens for very cheap. It is some kind of industrial equipment lens with no focus ring. T2 mount. Aperture goes to f16. I added a T2 - M42 adapter, then a generic M42 focus ring. THEN I attached it to my Canon 5D MkII with an M42 - EF adapter. It looks absolutely ridiculous with all the adapters. But the pictures come out spooky, especially around the edges. Swirly bokeh. It's fun to shoot and experiment with lenses that my camera has no business using!
My experience with fungus is that it OFTEN damages coating and even the glass. I've gotten burned about 1 in 5 (I've been able to return about half of bad ones).
Thank you so much. Only purchasing can sometimes make us buy too much, with only a few of them we actually like after adapting. I bought this lens where its Sony adapter can't come off, because one screw for the lock mechanism is missing and the lock ring rotates all around it and never unlocking it, so now I cant mount it to Canon, unless I find a small screw perfect for it
If it has a tapped hole for the screw, just insert something through the ring to keep it from rotating. Then you will be able to remove the mount. Something sturdy like an awl (ice pick) or even a small nail.
@@k-ozdragon I do have some nails, i dont know if they are this small, but I was trying a very fine scissors' point to hold it in position, it goes down and touches the frame of the insides, with the carved space where it's supposed to rotate within, but it goes beyond of course, but the pointy edge doesnt fix, ill need the right screw so it fits how it should. Ill have to find a video of someone trying it, because I have zero knowledge and I could mess it up, or I can email you photos and a video showing the rotating and the socket
@@DethronerX Is it a canon lens to sony camera adapter? Which mount (like ef to a mount, etc...)? If you tell me that & the brand, I could look up the adapter. I'm imagining a hole on the outside where the screw goes, & a collar inside of that which should be fixed. If your small scissors went through the outer case & inner collar, that should lock it into place so you could remove the lens. Scissors are slanted, so usually they aren't great at being used to fit a hole. If the hole is really small, a safety pin would work. They're very small & thin, but made from spring hardened steel. That should allow you to feed the pin through both holes, holding the inner piece in place from rotating. Your odds of finding the right screw are very low. It would need to be the right size, thread count, & thread pitch. You could try writing the manufacturer to ask for a new screw. Or you could buy the same adapter, & remove the screw from it to install into yours in order to free the lens. I would hope the safety pin would work though. It should be small enough & strong enough to hold whatever is moving in place.
@@k-ozdragon Lens: Canon Super-Canomatic Lens R 58mm f1. 2 - No. 15897. Adapter: FD - NEX, with the "LOCK OPEN" ring with the slot, about 2mm diameter. Yes, I did think of getting the screw out of another adapter. I do have another FD-NEX mount but haven't tried yet, but will. If you want me to email you any photos or videos, I can The mount on this lens was already attached, i bought it from a local online store, thinking I'd think of adapting later, i just wanted the lens and now I see why it's so important to be sure first. Thanks for the help
Your video has just described me with my obsession with old nikkn lenses. Apart I now need to learn how to clean them. And I have lots. Thanks fir a great video. BTW my wife loves your French accent.
I buy a very good vivitar 300mm zoom lens in second hand shop for less than 15 euros it fit perfectly my old minolta and also my black magic video camera with a very cheap MD/MC to MFT adapter it's very cool to keep using the old vintage lens we have especialy if they still in good condition.
Oh this is definitely true, you said there are lenses that are overlooked for not being expensive, and the minolta 50mm f1.7 is a pure bokeh beast, it has some of the sharpest image and coloring in focus and in foreground and background, it has EXTREME bokeh due to the f1.7, generally you can get the lens a little over 100$ and adapters are usually maybe 60$ for sony or whatever or like 90 for canon but its worth it.
I need to clean my Minolta MD 50mm f1.7's out since I see the bit of fungus in there and I'm a little afraid of taking it apart. I only paid $20 for it at the flea market so it isn't too big a deal anyway
Your video inspired me to buy a late 70s Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AI for the price of an average cocktail. The aperture blades were broken, but with a cheap variable ND filter I now have a DOF monster. Thanks!
back in like 2007 I think I bought a Super Takumur 50mm 1.4 for m42 screwmount... my dads old Vivitar was screwmount m42---like $50(it was mint) at the time video on dslr hadnt exploded so they were cheaper - That lens was magic... radioactive but magic ntl
I got 6 pentax 645 lenses ( 35,45,55,75,120 macro and 200mm) for 500 chf because of fungus on 3 lenses. A good night of cleaning and my GFX have now a complete kit :)
In your wonderful video I missed maybe the most important tip; lenses don't have bokeh...... (on their own). When looking at samplephoto's ALWAYS check which camera it's made with, some lenses are great on film but horrible in combination with one sensor, maybe great with another. It took me some time to find this out and that has cost me a lot of money 😪. It's even stranger; certain printing techniques can change the look afterwards, and afcourse contrast and different distances between camera, subject and fore/background all make the character of a lens ''variable''....
On the point of perfect lenses, one can buy two used and combine the best part of both. Yes, that is a bit much and should preferably be done with two lenses that have serious defects, but it can be done.
You can halt the fungus growth by letting plenty of strong sunlight through, or using a UVC light only in a controlled environment as it's a dangerous light.
I think the opposite of GAS also needs to be addressed. Making one or two bad purchasing decisions and then never feeling good again buying anything and sort of exiting the hobby. I am not talking about buying random new stuff - I mean in cases where you need to buy a working microphone or repair a broken flash etc.
My best find so far -the famous Helios 44, good condition for.... nothing. Literally found it in the scrapyard. People bin or sell really cheap some good stuff, you just have to know where to look and have a bit of luck.
If you can get enough lens cheap enough... And if your really passionate about photography the but and repair yes you might lose half because something sprang out whilst repairing then you have learned something wasn't done right like I have practice makes perfect 👍 don't be discourage 👍 📸📷📹🎥📽️🤳
Oh come on! G.A.S. is a chronic thing - we need help. And funding. Yes, one can exaggerate any hobby and collectors urge. It's quite the same with any topic and subject area.
Tip to stop wasting money : don't buy to people that hoard these very easy to find lenses, only to multiply the price by 10. Also, every "hidden gem" video unhides them and is like a signal to sellers to drive prices. Refuse the speculative market.
@@MathieuStern I wasn't necessarily speaking about you :) But there are people buying every used lens possible to manipulate the prices, have a monopoly and make sure sensibly priced cheap lenses are not a competition for their barely legal undeclared business :) And in the end they don't use them. They just say "you have to go through me". For lenses or anything else I don't see the value their greed has ever brought to the world.
A professional with 58 years experience here............98% good advice in this vid.
I'm extremely jealous of your yardsale/flea market prospects. The best I can hope for in my area is a point-and-shoot from the '90s/'00s amidst a sea of old clothing.
I like repairing vintage lenses (was working in repair shop for digital camera and lenses), so I take my chances and buy them very cheaply ("for parts"), repair them, play with them and - sell them (adding 20ish euros to original price), thats my stress-relief method from busy job. If the lens is unusual, weird and/or rare, i'll keep it to myself (i dont consider myself a collector). The plan is - once I retire (in some 20-25 years), i'll have more than enough skills to offer my services and earn some nice beer money
hey you are helping keep these lenses in use, 90% of the time they are just neglected and need TLC.
Cleaning vintage lenses seems super simple but I've fallen into a few pitfalls I didn't see coming, all of which are worse for longer lenses with larger elements:
1. Always always always make a witness mark before unscrewing a helicoid or your lens may never focus to infinity again.
2. Be very careful with the screw rings that hold glass elements in place. These (and the threads they sit in) are usually made of much softer materials than the tools used to unscrew them. They're very easy to strip and/or mar the threads so they won't unscrew.
3. Don't open lenses in humid environments. This is especially important for larger elements/chambers. If the lens element seats tightly, it will create a seal as you drop it in, compressing the air. If there's even a little humidity in the air it will fog up the inside of lens and make even the slightest cleaning residues super visible.
yeap, its seems easy, now i cant put back my tokina 28-105 cause cant put the small interior lenses in the position theyre soupposed to be. I try many times, but no succes.
Not just witness marks on the sides of the helicoid but also measure the distance of the lens groups to the outer frame (using a piece of paper and making marks to set the distance to thread in is a good idea if you don't have vernier calipers).
I've just stripped apart and CLA my Flektogon 35/ 2.4 and Sonnar 135/ 3.5 - both units were evidently serviced before and would focus 'beyond' infinity as the main focus helicoids were using the wrong start on the multi-start thread.
The front lens group on the Sonnar is butted up against the frame (just tighten down fully) but the Flektogon front lens group needs to be threaded in for alignment (the lens group can be screwed in further than required for proper infinity focus).
Also, care needs to be taken to carefully tighten the inner collars that hold down the lens elements within the group as well. I had a tough time trying to figure out the corner softness issues I was having - initially, I thought it was an off-axis tightening of the mounting flange or the front lens group (on the Flektogon, there is some play in the helicoid threads) and spent hours trying to re-align this. I ultimately found out that it was a loose collar on the rear group (inner most element) that caused the element to be slightly tilted.
1. this is very funny, but just this evening I took an old Carl Zeiss Jena 50 1.8 apart and for 2 hours I couldn’t put the helicoid back together. 10/10!!!
Been there, hope you stuck it out and got it back together.@@StasRevin
@@kyleparks4528 yes, the lens is fine now and the crisis was resolved
The only problem I have found with cheap lenses is, that, after people start to make videos about them, the prices start to escalate.
One time a friend of mine gave me a Telemegor 400mm f5.5 from Meyer Optick Goerlitz. The mont was a Exakta heavy lens mount, at the time I couldn't find a adapter. So I bought a m42 to eos adapter and epoxied this to the lens, respecting the focal flange distance. In f8 this lens was absolutely magnificent! Very sharp and with beautiful contrast!
Buying lenses with haze or fungus can be a huge mistake. I bought a bunch of vintage lenses with these issues after watching all these videos where the blemishes just wash right off - but this was definitely *not* the case for me. All of the glass had been etched, or the remaining haze simply would not come off. I tried everything from solvents to polish. Sometimes this stuff is absolutely stuck on there, and no amount of elbow grease is going to remove it. I wouldn't say this is the case for all lenses, but in my experience, it is more common for there to be permanent damage than not. Just pay a little bit extra for lenses in good shape.
true
Did you buy them all in a lot of ebay or was this individual purchases?
@@vacuumandgaspressurecoexisting it happens all the time, does not depend on a seller
I speculate though that many of those "lots" you see on ebay are unfixable junk getting dumped on unsuspecting buyers because in my experience albeit limited the fungus was easy to remove. @@urionandon
Some fungus produces acids as part of their metabolism; which can etch the glass. _Haze_ can be permanent if it is a result of (what HOYA calls) "dimming"; a process whereby long-term exposure of the glass to microscopic condensation allows alkali ions to diffuse into the condensation droplets. This turns into a concentrated alkaline solution that erodes the silica-gel layer of the polished glass surface. When the condensation evaporates, silicon ions and alkali are deposited leaving a hazy film that cannot be removed by wiping and requires the glass surface to be re-polished (as described in "Fabrication Methods for Precision Optics", H.H. Karow, 2004, Wiley Interscience).
I just wanted to say that finding your channel has been a godsend for me. Thank you Mathieu!
I've been collecting vintage lenses and cameras for a few years, but so far only from online sources here in Russia. I really should check out some antique shops sometime.
Good tips for any used lens buying, vintage or not.
My bigger concern with fungus is that I do not want to worry about my other lenses getting "infected" (colonized? ).
I am not sure how much of a real problem that is, honestly, but it *seems* possible so I have avoided those lenses.
I do not get too concerned about scratches unless they are very extreme. My experience has shown me that I can still make good photos with scratched lenses and spend less on those than I would on pristine examples. If the scratches are very bad it gives me a bit more concern about how badly the lens was treated in other ways.
Finally, for both camera bodies and lenses I look closely at the condition of screw heads. If the slots are damaged I usually pass. Damage like that shows me that somebody tried to "service" or fix something who at best didn't have the correct tools. And probably didn't know as much as they thought they did.
Thank you for the tips!
It really isn't much of a problem unless you keep everything together in one dusty box in the back of a closet somewhere. Take out your lenses often and make sure they get sunlight. Sounds silly, but that is often the best way to keep fungus out. And, ya know, keep em clean.
You can also make a small UV box to put them into. This kills any fungal spores. I believe you need UV-C light for this. I bought two UV LED & a small DC converter to run them for less than $20 on Amazon. I lined the inside of a box with foil to reflect the light, & put the LED into the top. I put lenses in there every so often. So far, so good. Note that this will not remove fungus, but will kill the spores & halt them from further growth or spreading.
I've been told that UV-C doesn't go through glass; but if this is the case, I don't see why it would work on old nuclear lenses. Infrared photography also wouldn't work if this were the case. The glass definitely stops some of the light, but most should go through. It just takes a day or two for enough to be effective.
That fungus comes from spores in the air. It's everywhere, and even modern lenses can get it if kept poorly. Just keep them in reasonably dry conditions with good airflow. If there's a really bad one and you are concerned, keep it separate; however, I doubt it raises the risk very much as the fungus has to get out of the lens somehow.
- I sold all my FD lenses, the FD mount is a problematic mess
- I'm slowly selling some other lenses and replacing them with new chinese manual lenses. I'm only keeping the special ones, even some old cheapo zooms but that give me an special result that cannot be obtained from new lenses or editing. Or the ones that is a pleasure to use.
- For now I kept fewer mounts, the mess with all kind of adapters is crazy. I only keep M42, Nikon F, Minolta, Pentax K, a pair of Adaptall, and Kiev 60 / Pentacon 6
- I'll sell the Pentax and Adaptall ones, just to keep the collection small. Even maybe selling the Nikon ones.
What do you dislike about the FD mount?
My three vintage lenses are all Canon FD mount. I haven't noticed anything unusual about the mounting and unmounting. Either on my Fotodiox macro adapter to Sony mount or on my Canon New F1. I'm curious about your issues. What should I be looking out for?
The portrait at exactly 7:22 made me catch my breath. It's one of the greatest photographs of any kind I've ever seen.
thats super nice ! thanks a lot
I like it
Ive found that very little can substitute the expensive gear when it comes to sports photography; or other action. However most other forms of photography can get by with - and even be enhanced by - vintage glass. I love taking timelapses with various vintage lenses because I can get interesting flares throughout the day as the sun moves around the lens. Portrait photography is often enhanced by unusual bokeh. A.I. photo editing software can imitate clean/clear bokeh pretty well, but unusual bokeh is still beyond the capabilities of computational photography; for now. I find that unusual bokeh will make me stop scrolling on social media and try to figure out why I'm attracted to a photo. I don't always notice the bokeh consciously at first. It's more of a subconscious reaction that makes my brain go "wow, that photo is amazing!"
I love my auto chinon 55mm because of it's blooming soft look. It makes portraits feel soft and warm and inviting.
I bought a Zeiss 135mm for cheap from a market in England, cause it had a stuck aperture (stuck wide open). I figured one day I’ll fix but actually I really like it stuck. Now I don’t have the think about aperture. It has one option and I just focus on taking the image. It’s one of my favourite lenses
If this is a CZJ/ Praktica 135/3.5 Sonnar, then it should be relatively easy to fix this.
You need to remove the rear mount, then unscrew the rear lens group. This will expose the aperture blades for cleaning. If the aperture blades are somewhat stuck in place, play with the aperture lever and the A/M spring lever. You should be able to get it so the blades will close but perhaps not re-open fully.
Most of these lens had stuck aperture blades because the oils used to prevent rusting had partially dried and become sticky.
If you need access to the front of the lens, it's more tricky and requires a lens collar opening tool. Move the focus to minimum so that the front of the lens protruding. Remove the lens branding ring (blutack works if you don't have a rubber ring). Then unscrew the lens cover (the part where the lens hood slides along).
That will expose the front lens group - you can use your hands to unscrew this group easily without the lens tool.
Now, move the focus back to infinity so the main helicoid group is fully recessed and you can use a cotton bud (Q-tip) to clean the front of the aperture blades.
got 1 vintage lens but it had fungus in between one of the glued elements, no idea how to clean it
Cleaning lenses is NOT an easy task to do properly. You need tools and experience. Learn on cheap gear if you want to try to get into it. And then give me a call when you start to panic :p
😂.
Well, I was hoping if there is a place, or if in anyway there are service manuals for lenses.
I'm hoping to get into cleaning lenses since I'm learning photography on old, admittedly outdated cameras and lenses. I currently own a Canon 350D, Canon 300D, Canon EFS 18-55mm, and a Sigma DL Macro Super 70-300mm with the red ring, both lenses have fungus, but not enough to affect image quality yet. In spite of this I want to use the Canon kit lens to learn to clean.
I destroyed a vintage lens yesterday. I cleaned all the rear lenses and was trying to get the front one out and I broke the lens that goes on the outside by overtightening it as I was using it as a leverage point to get the front lens out. I may have found the same type in another camera. It's a Nikon nikor 28mm 1:28 and I bought it yesterday for 20 quid. If you know where I can get the very rear lens on the thing I'd love to know.
@@Україна-ц7э Same but with a Pentacon 50. I dropped the rear lens element onto the table just as I was putting it back together and now it has a chip. You can see it in the bokeh :(
Surely there's a way to buy an individual lens element to certain measurements, right? Let me know if you find such a service in the UK.
@@Україна-ц7эthere are several versions of this......need to tell which one!
Thanks for the info!
I have two vintage m42 lensea with stuck apertures, i will look into how i can get them into a working state!
I once bought a Canon FD 17mm f4 that had some scuffs on the outer external glass. Didn't know anything about its value at the time. Paid about US$50 for it on eBay. The scuffs impact images that are shot at f4, but that impact disappears almost completely if I use it at f8 and with a flash. I looked at the price of nice examples and they are 300 to 400 dollars! I think this was a great purchase, and an excellent way to use something that others might throw away!
I got the same 17mm FD for free, the front element is scratched to a degree the lens just isn't useable anymore (at any aperture), so now it sits on one of the F1 bodies in my collection, but will never be used. (still looks good though 😉)
what lens that u use in photo model on 7:30 minutes?
Jupiter 9 85mm
@@MathieuSternI do love the jupiter 9 too❤
Funghus might be a problem. But I recently got a Nikon D80 basically for free with a lens because it has a huge monster in the viewfinder. But works fine.
Beautiful work here. Thank you. Although, is it still possible to clean fungus from the USM electronic lens at home?
Sadly, it's sometimes pretty hard to find even common adapters in Russia. I was even struggling to find stepping rings for my filter.
Upd. And we simply don't have yard sales, and flee markets are usually have much more high price tags than "Avito" (kind of Russian Craigslist), so I was able to buy there fully working Kiev-4a (except of auto lever) for $20, while market prices was $40 and more. Antique shops are option, but there's not that many in my city and cameras there are usually totally waster and overpriced, but sometimes you may be lucky. And the main thing, we don't have those years of good Western or/and Japanese equipment in sale, mainly soviet cameras and lenses and the quality control was abysmal so it kind of like a lottery.
In many designs, you risk decentering from disassembly.. especially the cine lenses like Cooke Panchro, Baltars and Lomos
I've always wondered about this, and no one can provide very good info as to what the risks are when taking apart lenses. I've heard never do it, but then others say it's perfectly fine. Or that it just depends on the lens. I know that taking it to a lens repair shop with proper optical bench is extremely expensive. They use to be more common, but now they are extremely rare, and the availability for those skilled in fine art of tuning a lens is few and far between, making their skills also very expensive.
I just found my new favorite channel. Love your work!
Toujours une mine d'informations pertinentes. Merci!
Just watching this video reminded me to check over the Yashica-Mat that I inherited from my mum. RIP at 94 yrs. This camera came out when I was 4 years old!
It seems to be in nice condition, but I'm going to take it to a local camera repair place for a bit of a clean up/service.
Excellent video! Thank you so much for creating such amazing video contents!!! God Bless You! Please keep feeding up with your amazing videos!
What is the lens used on 7:31?
As always with your videos, super insightful and hugely helpful! Thank you
I found a vivitar 28mm f1.9 with a stuck aperture. Luckily it was stuck wide open. It one of my favorite lenses. I'll have to give that lighter fluid thing a try.
How did it go ?
Oh merci bien ! The stuck aperture tip sparked motivation in me, because I got quite a few vintage photography things from my father and one or two lenses had stuck apertures. I am just kind of scared of opening lenses. But seeing you manage (you probably did that a hundred times) I should give it a try. Cheers!
Dude that lighter fluid tip is wild, never heard that one. Thanks for always being a treasure trove of knowledge. Hope you've been well!!
Cleaning off fungus is pretty easy but I've had several occasions where the fungus has permanently damaged the coating of the lens.
Some lenses are glued and if you get deterioration there, your lens becomes essentially garbage. :L
@@theothertonydutch You can usually spot a lens that has separated from the balsam. They typically have a very distinct look to them when this happens, and also generally will have a prismatic effect from the light being broken up. So you'll see a rainbow hue in the lens if it is separated. You are far more likely to have a permanently damaged lens from fungus etching the glass or destroying coatings. In my case, this has been extremely common.
On two occasions I ran in to trouble trying to remove fungus, when by opening the lens I found kitted elements with the fungus inbetween them ( Topcon 135mm and some Zeiss lens). This is byond the scope of my repairing abilities and had to put the lens back togheter and consider it a loss.
My experience with fungus infected lenses is win some loose some... with the bad ones sometimes leveling out the gains you make with the good ones.
Hello, did you make or buy that rubber adapter that protects the light from entering?
Köszönöm Mathieu minden szavad igaz. 🤗
Hi,
Nice video. We used to have a great market place around, but now that OG market place got turned into a big supermarket and all those old photography/antique booths got sent packing. :(
What was the lens used at 7:13-7:18 mark? - got my answer by watching your previous vids ;)
Thank you in advance
Thanks, my way of thinking.
Lovely, but I dearly miss when you reviewed photographic vintage lens finds.
I still do, you must have missed some videos.
@@MathieuStern Meant constructively, but the last one was over a year ago. Please do what gives you joy, just expressing what I do miss.
WOW! I have one lens with mistake#5 aperture problem. And I have exactly the same zippo fluid))) going to see if it's going to work together! Thanks!
Fingers crossed!
Oh no! You may have just inspired another buying spree ;-)
I was at a pawn shop when I found a Helios 44-2 58mm. They had no idea what it was. I love that lens. I got it for $25.
I wish I could find deals like that.. most pawn shops around here wouldn't take/sell anything of that little value
@@mikes978 aw man, that sucks. I guess I'm really lucky. I better start feeling grateful.
this such a good video, thank you for making something about film lenses that feels so positive, lots are boring and dry! Im also in France by the way :)
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for this video!
Any thoughts on good vintage lenses for stop motion?
A few years ago I bought a Spiratone 75mm f3.5 "flat field macro" lens for very cheap. It is some kind of industrial equipment lens with no focus ring. T2 mount. Aperture goes to f16. I added a T2 - M42 adapter, then a generic M42 focus ring. THEN I attached it to my Canon 5D MkII with an M42 - EF adapter. It looks absolutely ridiculous with all the adapters. But the pictures come out spooky, especially around the edges. Swirly bokeh. It's fun to shoot and experiment with lenses that my camera has no business using!
I have an issue with a D-mount lens with a stuck focusing ring. Would the lighter fluid trick work or is that a bad idea?
My experience with fungus is that it OFTEN damages coating and even the glass. I've gotten burned about 1 in 5 (I've been able to return about half of bad ones).
Amazing results
Thank you so much. Only purchasing can sometimes make us buy too much, with only a few of them we actually like after adapting.
I bought this lens where its Sony adapter can't come off, because one screw for the lock mechanism is missing and the lock ring rotates all around it and never unlocking it, so now I cant mount it to Canon, unless I find a small screw perfect for it
If it has a tapped hole for the screw, just insert something through the ring to keep it from rotating. Then you will be able to remove the mount. Something sturdy like an awl (ice pick) or even a small nail.
@@k-ozdragon I do have some nails, i dont know if they are this small, but I was trying a very fine scissors' point to hold it in position, it goes down and touches the frame of the insides, with the carved space where it's supposed to rotate within, but it goes beyond of course, but the pointy edge doesnt fix, ill need the right screw so it fits how it should.
Ill have to find a video of someone trying it, because I have zero knowledge and I could mess it up, or I can email you photos and a video showing the rotating and the socket
@@DethronerX Is it a canon lens to sony camera adapter? Which mount (like ef to a mount, etc...)? If you tell me that & the brand, I could look up the adapter.
I'm imagining a hole on the outside where the screw goes, & a collar inside of that which should be fixed. If your small scissors went through the outer case & inner collar, that should lock it into place so you could remove the lens. Scissors are slanted, so usually they aren't great at being used to fit a hole. If the hole is really small, a safety pin would work. They're very small & thin, but made from spring hardened steel. That should allow you to feed the pin through both holes, holding the inner piece in place from rotating.
Your odds of finding the right screw are very low. It would need to be the right size, thread count, & thread pitch. You could try writing the manufacturer to ask for a new screw. Or you could buy the same adapter, & remove the screw from it to install into yours in order to free the lens. I would hope the safety pin would work though. It should be small enough & strong enough to hold whatever is moving in place.
@@k-ozdragon Lens:
Canon Super-Canomatic Lens R 58mm f1. 2 - No. 15897.
Adapter: FD - NEX, with the "LOCK OPEN" ring with the slot, about 2mm diameter.
Yes, I did think of getting the screw out of another adapter. I do have another FD-NEX mount but haven't tried yet, but will.
If you want me to email you any photos or videos, I can
The mount on this lens was already attached, i bought it from a local online store, thinking I'd think of adapting later, i just wanted the lens and now I see why it's so important to be sure first.
Thanks for the help
@@k-ozdragon just checked, sorry i don't have FD-NEX, I have FD-EOS, ill just get the adapter, hopefully i find the similar one
Your video has just described me with my obsession with old nikkn lenses. Apart I now need to learn how to clean them. And I have lots. Thanks fir a great video. BTW my wife loves your French accent.
Happy to help!
I’d love to see a video on ‘unsticking’ aperture blades 🤩🙌 (do you have this one already?)
Thanks so much again for this video.
I buy a very good vivitar 300mm zoom lens in second hand shop for less than 15 euros it fit perfectly my old minolta and also my black magic video camera with a very cheap MD/MC to MFT adapter it's very cool to keep using the old vintage lens we have especialy if they still in good condition.
Great video!
I loved your video!
Salut...
G acheté une leica 90mm f2.8.(40$)l'ouverture est coïncée.a tu une idée comment la décoincer?
Oh this is definitely true, you said there are lenses that are overlooked for not being expensive, and the minolta 50mm f1.7 is a pure bokeh beast, it has some of the sharpest image and coloring in focus and in foreground and background, it has EXTREME bokeh due to the f1.7, generally you can get the lens a little over 100$ and adapters are usually maybe 60$ for sony or whatever or like 90 for canon but its worth it.
Excellent video, wish I could find someone in india to learn about lens/fungus cleaning + fixing camera equipments.
I need to clean my Minolta MD 50mm f1.7's out since I see the bit of fungus in there and I'm a little afraid of taking it apart. I only paid $20 for it at the flea market so it isn't too big a deal anyway
Hello... Can you share an affordable macro + wide-angle macro lens?
I ones bought a Pentacon 50 mm 1.8 for 60 zl, instead of 150, just because aperture blades ware stuck. It was an easy fix
using vintage lenses do you always use full frame camera ?
I bought a 135mm for pentax for 45 euros and It was in absolutely perfect condition, im still impressed by how clean It is
Cairan apa yang digunakan untuk merendam itu
Your video inspired me to buy a late 70s Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AI for the price of an average cocktail. The aperture blades were broken, but with a cheap variable ND filter I now have a DOF monster. Thanks!
Great to hear!
back in like 2007 I think I bought a Super Takumur 50mm 1.4 for m42 screwmount... my dads old Vivitar was screwmount m42---like $50(it was mint) at the time video on dslr hadnt exploded so they were cheaper - That lens was magic... radioactive but magic ntl
Hey Mathieu, sorry it has been a while. So are you basically saying that good glass is good glass, be willing to look past cosmetics?
if the glass is good, even a cardboard body would work ;)
I got 6 pentax 645 lenses ( 35,45,55,75,120 macro and 200mm) for 500 chf because of fungus on 3 lenses. A good night of cleaning and my GFX have now a complete kit :)
In your wonderful video I missed maybe the most important tip; lenses don't have bokeh...... (on their own).
When looking at samplephoto's ALWAYS check which camera it's made with, some lenses are great on film but horrible in combination with one sensor, maybe great with another. It took me some time to find this out and that has cost me a lot of money 😪.
It's even stranger; certain printing techniques can change the look afterwards, and afcourse contrast and different distances between camera, subject and fore/background all make the character of a lens ''variable''....
great video , im slowly building a huge collection of vintage lenses,wife not happy
On the point of perfect lenses, one can buy two used and combine the best part of both.
Yes, that is a bit much and should preferably be done with two lenses that have serious defects, but it can be done.
Good tips
Thanks for the tips. ¿:-)
You can halt the fungus growth by letting plenty of
strong sunlight through, or using a UVC light only in a controlled environment as it's a dangerous light.
I think the opposite of GAS also needs to be addressed. Making one or two bad purchasing decisions and then never feeling good again buying anything and sort of exiting the hobby. I am not talking about buying random new stuff - I mean in cases where you need to buy a working microphone or repair a broken flash etc.
I am vert picky about my lens selection, it needs to capture that effect I am after and many of the famous ones don't do it for me.
My best find so far -the famous Helios 44, good condition for.... nothing. Literally found it in the scrapyard. People bin or sell really cheap some good stuff, you just have to know where to look and have a bit of luck.
Not gonna lie though... those shrooms looks mighty beautiful inside those lens 😄😂👍
If you can get enough lens cheap enough...
And if your really passionate about photography the but and repair yes you might lose half because something sprang out whilst repairing then you have learned something wasn't done right like I have practice makes perfect
👍 don't be discourage 👍
📸📷📹🎥📽️🤳
You just clean the fungus with bar keepers friend 😊
Generally, it is advised not to use Hydrogen Proxid on lenses. It will damage the coating of the lens.
The good thing about buying an adapter for your camera is you have more choices to buy other lenses that wouldn't cost you a fortune.
Fungus or haze is the death knell for lenses.
That lens doesn’t have fungus, it has mushrooms!
ANOTHER big mistake, Lenses that when focusing out go back inside the camera into the sensor! NOT GOOD :P
Sodium hydroxide is a strong base, so strong. It's better to wear gloves.
Yes, but is also not good for cleaning lenses.
Please don't say it is "easy" to clean a lens, remove fungus and put it together in a working state. For most people, it is unthinkable.
Step one: Buy a Sony RX10
Step two: Nothing. You're done.
reauto topcor ha
Oh come on! G.A.S. is a chronic thing - we need help. And funding.
Yes, one can exaggerate any hobby and collectors urge. It's quite the same with any topic and subject area.
Why not just photograph with it and embrace the fungus too tho?? Thats fun
Once you go nikkor you wont be able to stop!!
Tip to stop wasting money : don't buy to people that hoard these very easy to find lenses, only to multiply the price by 10.
Also, every "hidden gem" video unhides them and is like a signal to sellers to drive prices.
Refuse the speculative market.
so stop watching my channel ? :))
Tip to stop wasting money, buy low sell high
@@MathieuStern I wasn't necessarily speaking about you :)
But there are people buying every used lens possible to manipulate the prices, have a monopoly and make sure sensibly priced cheap lenses are not a competition for their barely legal undeclared business :)
And in the end they don't use them. They just say "you have to go through me". For lenses or anything else I don't see the value their greed has ever brought to the world.