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Michael Moffitt
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 12, 2006 - 09:20 am: | 
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I was able to pick up this cosmetically beautiful lens a a good price, but the focus, while smooth, makes a 'whispery' sound instead of the nice silent damped sound that it should. Is mt trying to lube this a simple recipe for disaster? |
Edd
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 02:02 pm: |
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sounds like maybe you have sand in the threads--cleaning this can be quite a task--there are two parts to the helicoid, each has multiple threads--getting it back the way it should be can be very time consuming--even if you try to make witness marks and measurements. If it is sand, it will usually work its way out eventually. |
Glenn Middleton
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 04:24 pm: |
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If you have a foreign body in the lens, it is more likely to be in the space between the skirt of focus ring and the barrel. Sand in the helical does not give you a smooth movement to the focus.
Cut some 1/4" strips of card thin enough to push into the skirt/barrel gap and clean the dirt out.
This is the first thing I do on a newly acquired second hand lens, along with cleaning the mount and the gaps between the aperture ring and barrel. You may be surprised at the amount of dirt you remove. |
Jack
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 08:25 pm: |
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I have several old Nikkors that make that sound when the focus ring is turned. In mine, it's the grease (or lack thereof). I suspect the grease in yours is suffering from old age. It's also possible a previous owner has washed the grease out of the threads, oiled it (in an effort to "soften" the feel of the lens), or replaced it with an incorrect type. I have also occasionally seen old lenses (early AI mount) that did this no matter what type grease was in the threads. Maybe it's just a sign of wear. Difficult to recommend that you open up the lens if you haven't done that before, particularly with a f/1.2. I suggest using it as-is, unless it drives you nuts. |
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