Minolta MD 24mm stiff focus ring

[vyky]

Hey guys,

bought my third manual lenses, Minolta MD (III) 24mm 2.8.

It has quite a stiff focus ring, not unusable, but a bit stiffer than other minoltas I own. I wont be bothering you with "lighter liquid" etc.
In fact I didnt find any online guide to disassemble and clean the helicoid - any clues, experiences, advices, links?

Thanx a lot,


Vyky

[walter g]

Seems to be a common issue with this lens. This video will give you some idea of what's involved in taking it apart to relube.
Not the same lens but construction should be similar.
It might loosen up after you use it awhile, but if you have to take it apart, here's the video.

https://youtu.be/Kg3KPJbm8is

[VLR]

I have bought a total of four copies of this lens and only the last was focusing mostly as it should. It still got a slightly higher resistance than any other manual Minolta I own. It seems to be a common problem with this specific model (MD 24 mm f/2.8, "plain MD" or "MD-III").

I'm sorry to say that the construction of the MD 50 mm walter referenced is absolutely not similar to the MD 24 mm. The 24 mm is a floating elements design and a pain to work. You need a special tool to remove the front name ring (I didn't get the one from mine off with anything I've tried), and the two helicoids need to be re-assembled and aligned precisely if taken apart. My advice would be to sell the lens and get a new one.

[walter g]

Yes, and no. Yes it uses floating elements, but construction should still be similar.
You can use the video to take the rear apart.
I haven't had one of these apart, but know enough about Minolta lens build to make an educated guess.

The rear construction should be pretty close. The biggest difference would be the rear element block you can take apart to clean, like on the MD iii series 50 f1.4, 28mm, etc.

The front should come apart by unscewing the name ring, which you can do by the method in the video, if it's too tight you might have to buy the rubber tool to remove the ring.

Next you need to see what style system they used. The 50mm f2 style, or the style they used
On the 50mm f1.4.
On the 50mm f1.4 style the filter ring unscrews
This lens should use a one piece front element block, that you can't take apart to clean. Very common feature on mdiii lenses.

The optical block might or might not use the 3 scew method to hold it in. It should be pretty easy to tell once you get it that far. Once you remove the optical block and the stop screws you can unthread the helicoid to clean and relube. Make sure you mark where it comes apart, or you might spend quite awhile figuring the correct starting point.

If you've never taken a lens apart before this probably isn't a good first project but should be doable.

This is just a educated guess so do so at your own risk.