Canon FD 55mm f/1.2 infinity problem

[ohaya]

Hi,

I have a Canon FD 55mm f/1.2 "chrome nose" that I think is not focusing to infinity.

What happened was that I had the lens mounted on an Oly via an adapter, and it came loose and fell. Luckily, I had a filter on the lens and I think the filter took most of the fall (filter lens cracked, one edge dinged).

I was able to get the remaining filter ring off, but then when testing the lens it looked like it wasn't focusing to infinity anymore and I found this thread.

The lens has a beauty ring and then the chrome nose part is held in by a retaining ring. I took that off and now I see the focusing ring with 3 screws around the perimeter, each in a "slot".

I've been trying to get it adjusted to infinity, but it seems to stop before it get to infinity.

So I was wondering: Should the procedure in the original post work for this Canon lens?

Thanks,
Jim

EDIT: I may be misunderstanding the info in the 1st post. After I tighten one screw in step 4, I cannot turn the focus ring past the 5m mark!

[kds315*]

I have split off this topic into a new thread.

Welcome here, hope you find soon some answer here!

[fdlenses]

I think it would be helpful to know what the thread referred to by “procedure in the original post” and “step 4” was.

Dirk

[ohaya]

Hi,

Sorry, I had posted my inquiry in an older thread which then got split off.

FYI, it was this (old) thread:

http://forum.mflenses.com/infinity-tune-for-contax-lens-t7011.html

For reference, these were the "steps" in the original post on that older thread:

1 - unscrew the nose of the lens
2 - put on infinity
3 - unscrew the 3 screw and put @ 5m
4 - screw 1 screw
5 - focus to infinity
6 - unscrew and move barel at infinity mark
7 - screw all 3 screw

What I was trying to say was that on my lens, after I "screw 1 screw" then try to do step 5 (focus to infinity) I cannot go pass the "5m" position.

Jim

[ohaya]

Hi,

I forgot (to mention) that I also have another Canon FD lens, an f/1.4, and also an old (film) Canon Ftb camera, so I can test the lenses without adapter.

Now that it is daytime here again, I have been using them to compare the infinity focus, and I can tell for sure that the f/1.2 lens is definitely not focusing on infinity.

[ohaya]

I have tried to adjust the infinity on this lens several times by now, but it keeps getting stopped and I cannot move the lens beyond that point.

Is it possible that the problem is not just a misadjustment of the infinity focus, i.e., maybe something that I can't see got damaged when the lens was dropped, and that is preventing adjusting the infinity?

All of the glass is intact (I can even take pictures, but just can't focus at infinity or anything further than maybe 20 feet or so), and there isn't any rattling or anything.

What would I look for?

Thanks,
Jim

[ohaya]

Bad news (for me!). I was checking out the lens, trying to see why the lens might be stopping before reaching infinity, but then the whole "lens assembly" came out (so now I have the back end assembly and the lens assembly (which has like a thread and is covered with grease.

I guess I need to send this off for repair somewhere, but would it be possible to get the lens put back together again, so that I can safely ship it? The lens assembly doesn't seem to want o go in to the back end and I don't want to force it.

[fdlenses]

I have no experience with Contax lenses but I think "put @ 5m" is just a step to ensure having enough clearance around infinity for focusing to infinity. The actual adjustment seems to come from steps 5, 6 and 7. Whether 5m or another position works for your lens may depend on the length of the "slots".

Could you please post a picture of the separated assemblies?

Dirk

[ohaya]

Hi,

Sorry. I should've taken some pictures before I packed everything up, but I just shipped it to a repair place.

Jim

[ohaya]

[ohaya]

Hi,

Sorry that I haven't posted to update in awhile, but it's been an interesting "journey" with my FD lens.

I had mentioned that I had been able to find someone that could repair it. But, while he (Steve at Camera Clinic) was working on it he said he noticed that the back lens group, which apparently was 2 lenses glued together, looked like it was separating.

He said it didn't appear to affect the image, but I asked him if it'd be ok if he held on to the lens for a bit while I try to see if I could find a parts lens so that he could replace that back lens group. He agreed to that, and then I started hunting for a parts lens.

It took awhile, but amazingly, I finally found another chrome nose FD f1.2 parts lens on ebay at a fairly reasonable price, and I took a chance. It was on a Buyit now, so I grabbed it and so several days later, I got it in the mail and it was, literally a "parts lens"... it was in pieces, with the front of the lens separated from the mount and a bag of small screws.

I had actually hoped that the seller would be willing to send the lens directly to Steve, but he said he couldn't do that, because had some bad experiences in the past, so he would only send it to me and then I had to re-package it after checking it out, and send it all to Steve.

Also a kind of bonus was that the parts lens was actually in better cosmetic condition than my original lens, so I asked Steve if he'd be ok picking the best parts from each lens to make my "new" lens and he could keep the remaining parts, and he said that would be fine.

It seems like this whole thing has taken "forever", but, finally, the lens just arrived here tonight, and it looks really great.

It was already dark here, so I couldn't test full infinity, but so far everything looks good, and Steve said he also re-lubricated the lens (helicoid?) also, so it's like I have an almost brand new lens !!

So, I would highly recommend Steve for his repair work (normal disclaimer: I am not associated with him or Camera Clinic other than being a very happy customer). Cost for all of this was very reasonable (to me) and he was a very good communicator and answered all of my many questions. Hopefully this is ok but here's their link:

http://www.cameraclinicusa.com/about/

Thanks,
Jim

[cooltouch]

Steve has a good reputation as a Canon FD repair guy.

So, did he tell you what the problem was? Why it wasn't focsing to infinity?

I was thinking that, while it isn't very likely, the lens's helical may have skipped a thread when it got dropped.

[ohaya]

Michael,

He said he couldn't tell for sure because, remember, by the time I had sent the lens to him, I had accidentally separated the front part of the lens (out of the helicoid). I don't remember if I mentioned it here, but when I had the lens apart, I noticed a small spring that was attached only on one end and I couldn't tell where it was originally attached. I had mentioned that to Steve, and he theorized that when I dropped the lens, something at the back of the lens inside was out of place and was blocking the lens from moving all the way back, thus no infinity focus.

Anyway, I am SUPER happy with what I got back. It looks way better than original, plus even though I didn't know it, thanks to Steve, I avoid future problems with the lens separation.

Thanks,
Jim