Lens repair: documenting my journey

[FGAng]

Under the kind tutelage of Rick Ho https://richardhaw.com/ (and his kind assistance to acquire junk Nikkors from Japan), I started working on disassembly (maintenance and hopefully repair) of old Nikkors (and Nikon Lens Series E lenses). 

I have been able to make some progress, and decided to document some of my journey in a blog.  Parts 1 to 3 are now up.

If you might be interested, please review and critique, and correct if I have erred...

https://diediemustdive.wordpress.com/

Thanks guys (and gals).

[richardHaw]

nice site. I just read the first part but it looks promising

[Erik Lund]

Thanks for posting, always helpful to see lenses inside

Just a few comments;

This “stop” screw (located opposite the index mark) stops the lens from over shooting the mounted position and must never be removed!

Often on 'older' Ai lenses the rear light baffle is held in place by this 'stop screw' so if your chipping the lens it needs to come out Just remember to reinstall it.

43-86mm f/3.5 has a very special position of the aperture leaf spring, never seen that version before,,,

[richardHaw]

by the way, that "stop screw" is very delicate as well
i accidentally broke one on my 16-35VR and it was stuck to my then 2-day old D7200. that made me a sad man that weekend. yes, a grown mad can cry inside as well...

[FGAng]

Thanks for posting, always helpful to see lenses inside

Just a few comments;

This “stop” screw (located opposite the index mark) stops the lens from over shooting the mounted position and must never be removed!

Often on 'older' Ai lenses the rear light baffle is held in place by this 'stop screw' so if your chipping the lens it needs to come out Just remember to reinstall it.

43-86mm f/3.5 has a very special position of the aperture leaf spring, never seen that version before,,,

Thanks for the comment, and point taken.  I will add your comments to the post.

by the way, that "stop screw" is very delicate as well
i accidentally broke one on my 16-35VR and it was stuck to my then 2-day old D7200. that made me a sad man that weekend. yes, a grown mad can cry inside as well...

I heard a tail of someone with a missing stop screw having loads of problem getting the lens off the camera.  How did you get it off?  Knowing you Rick, you OCD (obsessive compulsive disassembler) you might have disassembled your D7200 to get to that lens...

[Bjørn Rørslett]

I heard .... someone with a missing stop screw having loads of problem getting the lens off the camera.  How did you get it off?

Wiggle the lens back and forth. Until it comes off. May take hours so be prepared.

[richardHaw]

my D7200 was obviously under warranty so the cost was covered. the aperture stop-down lever had to be replaced. the F mount was damaged (pressure plate).

what they did was they removed the front part of the camera and separated them from underneath. the lens has passed through the point of no return and the lever was preventing the lens from rotating because it got deformed. i stored the setup in my backpack and that probably caused enough pressure to do something to my setup. this is one reason why I avoid carrying any big lens attached to a camera and putting it inside the bag.

[FGAng]

Thank you Rick for sharing your experience.  So the camera did get disassembled to get to the lens... only this time it is not you!

Yup a big lesson here for us, protect the camera when mounted with a big lens!

[FGAng]

Part 4 now up.

Part 1: some thoughts
Part 2: major parts of a lens
Part 3: coming from the rear
Part 4: coming from the front

Haven't decided what Parts 5, 6, etc will be on.