Vivitar 28 2.0 Close Focus Komine Disassembly

[cbass]

I have never disassembled a lens before. I picked up a Vivitar 28 2.0 Close focus and there appears to be slight haze under the front element or even beyond. I am not sure if I should keep it, try to clean it, or return it. Can anyone give me some guidance on disassembling the lens? I did some searching online, but have not been able to find anything.

[marcusBMG]

There is stuff around if you look. The structure of many of the versions is often similar so don't restrict your searches to f2 versions or close focus versions. This is a komine made 28mm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0-2B1jiKFQ

This is on this site:

http://forum.mflenses.com/vivitar-28mm-f2-8-a-cleaning-attempt-t73504.html

and there is this:

https://elliotkang.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/disassembly-of-vivitar-28mm-f2-8/

[Gardener]

[Lightshow]

[cbass]

By worth having it cleaned, does that mean sending it to a professional service? If so, then I am not familiar with too many of those. I have contacted some in the past about another lens, but the prices they quoted I was better off just finding another copy of the lens. I do have a helios, but that lens is pristine, has sentimental value, and it one of my best performing lenses. There is no way I will take it apart.

[vivaldibow]

[cbass]

I managed to get the name plate off and as I was taking pictures I managed to capture the haze very well. Does anyone know what this haze is and if it can be cleaned? It is inside the lens and not outside. Also seems to be only on the front element. Is that what others see?

[55]

[marcusBMG]

Is that haze in the lens or on the top element? It's hard to tell from the pic but it does look a bit like coating deterioration/wear. If so that can't be fixed.
Won't be that of course if it's in the lens. I would expect it to clean off in that case. I use basic optical wipes dipped in acetone.
Scratches on the lens spanner slots on the lens suggest it's been opened up before, or s/o tried to.

[cbass]

That is the same as my lens and indeed the correct optical diagram. It does look like the front element is not cemented.

What is a front element retainer? Is that the silver ring? I followed the Vivitar 28 2.8 video and in that one the group just unscrewed. I tried the same with gloves and had no such luck. I didn't really crank on it, but I think the silver ring needs to come off. So it seems to be slightly different.

There are scratches on the silver ring and it appears somebody already put a spanner wrench on it and had it apart already. This worries me as I wonder if the haze is left over from someone cleaning up fungus and the haze is coating damage.

The Haze is inside the lens, not outside. I already cleaned the outside of the lens. When I shine a led light the outside coating appears fine. It will see a uniform and even green reflection.

Lens performs great when it comes to sharpness, but it takes a hit when it comes to contrast.

Do I need to mark anything for alignment? Do I need to make sure anything is aligned? Aperture closed? Aperture stopped down? At minimum or maximum focus distance?

[aidaho]

[55]

[cbass]

Well I failed. The lens is still fine, but I can't get anything apart. I put on a latex gloves and tried to unscrew the lens elements. Then I borrowed a lens spanner and tried to remove the silver ring. Nothing will budge and I am applying a good amount of force. I'm not sure I want to apply anymore.

[cbass]

I decided not to accept defeat and tried again. I managed to get the lens apart and back together. I did not need the lens spanner wrench. I will post a guide tomorrow after I gather pictures and organize them in order to help others.

[vivaldibow]

[marcusBMG]

well done.

If you are agreable, I'l add your info (with credit) to the piece I already wrote on the kiron made 28mm f2:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/114-maintenance-repair-articles/391582-kiron-vivitar-28mm-f2-24mm-f2-sticky-iris-fix.html

[cbass]

You can use anything I posted here. You can give me credit if you like, but I am also ok if you don't. I am posting this in case it helps someone. I didn't disassemble the whole lens so it's not a complete guide. This is just to access front elements. I didn't do anything with the rear elements or aperture.

Here is how I managed to get the lens apart. After removing the name plate I was trying to unscrew the elements as well as trying to use a spanner wrench on the silver ring. The barrel is tall and that made things difficult to grab and the risk of damage to threads and other parts high.

I finally figured out that I could remove the metal barrel by just unscrewing it. Grab the lens and turn left and it will come off.



This gave me better access to grab around the elements and twist. The black ring around the front element just twists off giving you access.



At this point you can remove the front element as well as several other elements. Here I suggest you don't do what I did and turn the lens and tap it against your hand. This resulted in a bunch of pieces and elements spilling out; front element, second element, some other ring, and the third element. If you have a lens suction cup than use it. Otherwise try something like gaffer's tape or something else to move the elements you need. Here having the optical formula picture from the ebay link posted in this thread helped in getting it back together.



From here I just ended up cleaning the first three elements. I used cotton swabs and alcohol and then switched to a mirofiber cloth and lens cleaner that I had laying around. I would appreciate any input on how to properly clean the elements as I struggled here.

The cotton swabs were a disaster. I put the lens back together, looked through the glass and saw a bunch of cotton fibers. I then took it apart again and used a blower to get rid of the. This worked and the lens is really clean and free of all fibers with minimal dust.

The haze came off. Glass looks pretty good now:



What can't be seen in pictures but can be seen by my eyes is there are some round specs in a few areas. I am not sure if this is just patches of coating that have degraded or if those are spots that I didn't manage to clean off. I am not sure if I should attempt a second cleaning or just move on with my life as they are unlikely to effect image quality.

[55]

[cbass]

I think I will follow that advise. They are very minor and after cleaning the haze which was much more obvious the changes to optical performance are minor. So the specs probably do nothing to image quality.

[marcusBMG]

Turns out to be very similar to the Kino (kiron) 28 f2. I'll put a link in my thread to this thread that will suffice.

[Gardener]