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A. Schacht Ulm. Travegon 35 / 3.5
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 13, 2021 10:13 pm    Post subject: A. Schacht Ulm. Travegon 35 / 3.5 Reply with quote
I saw this Travegon for sale and liked the look of it, it has its case and caps, isn't beaten to hell, the glass is clean, but the aperture is stuck open. And I got it for a good price. It makes a nice addition to the other two Schacht's I have as well.


I have read that this lens isn't easy to work on, and that's a fact. I took the back cover off - and I have decided that I'm not going in there! I've fixed plenty of lenses, but this is one that I will send to someone experienced and competent - I'm looking for recommendations, I want this lens fixed, not wrecked.
Inside, the workings are like no other lens I've seen, and I can't easily figure out how it's supposed to work. In the four pictures here, with the lens rotated, there is a small spring just visible - this has become dislodged at some point, but I don't believe this is the cause of the stuck aperture. Gentle probing with a dental pick on various points of the mechanism produces no movement at all, and I'm not going to force anything.









It's a lens worth saving, and I want it doing properly. These are two of a few pictures taken in our garden - obviously wide open - in very bright sun and no lens hood.





If you know someone who can fix it, please let me know.


PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 6:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nice find! This is a good looking lens and seems to be a good performer. I really iike these lenses with the fancy red moving DOF scales! Also, it's interesting how Wirgin was able to get a range of German lens companies to badge market products for them with their name on them. The Wirgin Edixa reflexes are actually pretty neat (but maybe a bit unreliable) cameras.

Sorry I don't have any UK repair recommendations. With shipping, etc. I don't think the lens repair service I use in the US would be cost effective.

I don't have experience with this lens in particular, but perhaps the mechanical linkages are ok and the aperture leaves are gunked up with old sticky lube?

Best,

Paul


PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:03 pm    Post subject: Re: A. Schacht Ulm. Travegon 35 / 3.5 Reply with quote
Lloydy wrote:




The images have a strong character, like those rendered by Voigtlander Bessamatic lenses. This capture gives me an allusion to some Victorian esthetics. Well done!


PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 4:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I really like the Travegon lenses (and Schacht lenses in general). I have copies of both the 3.5 version and the 2.8. The Travegon S 35mm 2.8 R is a very fine lens.


PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 5:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I CLAed and opened the back of a S-Travelon 50/1.8 which mechanism looks to be similar to your lens (and the Travegon 35/2.8 i also have), once you remove the four screws the back comes out so you can check the aperture engagement mechanism. It looks really complicated with all those levers and stuff and i was nervous too but in fact it s not that hard to work on. The major obstacle is that you have to pull up the back really hard as it s fits very tight.

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
you are a braver man than I


PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thank you tomasg for those excellent pictures, they do explain a lot. But I think I'm with jamaeolus on this "you are a braver man than I"

I've rarely shied away from having a go at repairing my lenses, and I've only wrecked a couple - and they were cheap, disposable, lenses. The last lens I got someone else to repair was a Noritar 17 / 4 ( which I later sold for £400 ) and although this Schacht isn't as valuable , it's a lens I want to use and keep.

The danger is, I'll have too many beers one night and have a go at it! Rolling Eyes I shall be strong, I shall resist.

But......

is this a lens where all the glass is easily removable? If it is, would it be possible to commit the major sin ( and go straight to hell ) of removing all the glass and flushing the lens body clean of old lube in an ultrasonic cleaner?


PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 11:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
pdccameras wrote:
The Wirgin Edixa reflexes are actually pretty neat (but maybe a bit unreliable) cameras.


In my opinion, they are a thing of beauty, especially the earlier ones with the nicely chromed dials. Of the cameras I know of, only the Exakta is comparable aesthetically. I have an Edixa-flex (1958 model) and have just bought an Edixa-Standard to try to repair. Ultimately I'd like a model D with the slow speeds.


PostPosted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 1:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lloydy wrote:
Thank you tomasg for those excellent pictures, they do explain a lot. But I think I'm with jamaeolus on this "you are a braver man than I"

I've rarely shied away from having a go at repairing my lenses, and I've only wrecked a couple - and they were cheap, disposable, lenses. The last lens I got someone else to repair was a Noritar 17 / 4 ( which I later sold for £400 ) and although this Schacht isn't as valuable , it's a lens I want to use and keep.

The danger is, I'll have too many beers one night and have a go at it! Rolling Eyes I shall be strong, I shall resist.

But......

is this a lens where all the glass is easily removable? If it is, would it be possible to commit the major sin ( and go straight to hell ) of removing all the glass and flushing the lens body clean of old lube in an ultrasonic cleaner?


I would suggest that if you decide to try to fix it, to open the back and check all the levers, springs etc. I have no experience with ultrasonic cleaning, seems a very strange way to do it. I have more pics if you ll ever need them, mostly the helicoids and the DOF indicator mechanism.


PostPosted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 5:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
jamaeolus wrote:
you are a braver man than I


It s just experience, been doing CLA for some years now, i stopped counting at around 200 lenses. Still if i have in front of me a lens i never worked on the first thing i do is to check if there are any tutorials, tips, pictures on the web.


PostPosted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 10:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
tomasg wrote:
Lloydy wrote:
Thank you tomasg for those excellent pictures, they do explain a lot. But I think I'm with jamaeolus on this "you are a braver man than I"

I've rarely shied away from having a go at repairing my lenses, and I've only wrecked a couple - and they were cheap, disposable, lenses. The last lens I got someone else to repair was a Noritar 17 / 4 ( which I later sold for £400 ) and although this Schacht isn't as valuable , it's a lens I want to use and keep.

The danger is, I'll have too many beers one night and have a go at it! Rolling Eyes I shall be strong, I shall resist.

But......

is this a lens where all the glass is easily removable? If it is, would it be possible to commit the major sin ( and go straight to hell ) of removing all the glass and flushing the lens body clean of old lube in an ultrasonic cleaner?


I would suggest that if you decide to try to fix it, to open the back and check all the levers, springs etc. I have no experience with ultrasonic cleaning, seems a very strange way to do it. I have more pics if you ll ever need them, mostly the helicoids and the DOF indicator mechanism.


I have done this, I use a fine dental pick and gently push the levers and cams...but nothing is moving in this lens. I'm an engineer, I can usually figure out how something works very quickly, even if my experience is working on sewage treatment pumps and machinery. it's still a 'mechanical device'. I fix most lenses, and it is vastly different from using 500mm spanners with a sledgehammer on a machine we've just moved with a 200 tonne crane! I love working on these small lenses, I actually find it very therapeutic, and far less frustrating than my former career.

I've had another look in the back of the Schacht tonight......I'm NOT going in there. Confused


PostPosted: Wed Jun 16, 2021 11:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lloydy wrote:
tomasg wrote:
Lloydy wrote:
Thank you tomasg for those excellent pictures, they do explain a lot. But I think I'm with jamaeolus on this "you are a braver man than I"

I've rarely shied away from having a go at repairing my lenses, and I've only wrecked a couple - and they were cheap, disposable, lenses. The last lens I got someone else to repair was a Noritar 17 / 4 ( which I later sold for £400 ) and although this Schacht isn't as valuable , it's a lens I want to use and keep.

The danger is, I'll have too many beers one night and have a go at it! Rolling Eyes I shall be strong, I shall resist.

But......

is this a lens where all the glass is easily removable? If it is, would it be possible to commit the major sin ( and go straight to hell ) of removing all the glass and flushing the lens body clean of old lube in an ultrasonic cleaner?


I would suggest that if you decide to try to fix it, to open the back and check all the levers, springs etc. I have no experience with ultrasonic cleaning, seems a very strange way to do it. I have more pics if you ll ever need them, mostly the helicoids and the DOF indicator mechanism.


I have done this, I use a fine dental pick and gently push the levers and cams...but nothing is moving in this lens. I'm an engineer, I can usually figure out how something works very quickly, even if my experience is working on sewage treatment pumps and machinery. it's still a 'mechanical device'. I fix most lenses, and it is vastly different from using 500mm spanners with a sledgehammer on a machine we've just moved with a 200 tonne crane! I love working on these small lenses, I actually find it very therapeutic, and far less frustrating than my former career.

I've had another look in the back of the Schacht tonight......I'm NOT going in there. Confused


Apologize if my post sounded like i am being smart, in the pics you showed you removed one ring, what i meant is to remove the entire back with the mount, as in one of my pics. Of course it s always better not to work on a lens that looks too complicated, it s nice that an engineer and with experience decides not to "go in there". All too often newbies take on a complicated lens and ruin it. I only have a small ultrasonic cleaner for jewelry and small stuff, i don t see how it could clean a lens, and what about the grease on the helicoids...i must be missing something.


PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 10:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I haven't used an ultrasonic cleaner, but apparently they are effective in cleaning grease from helicoids by using a water soluble degreaser in the machine, people remove the glass and put the whole lens in.
I have soaked a complete lens body in degreaser for a day or so, then washed them with soapy water, rinsed with clean water then alcohol.
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