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Nikon 85mm Lens Filter Thread Repair in London


paul t

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My 85/1.4 took a tumble to the pavement a couple of years ago and suffered a dent to the filter ring - doesn't

look serious, but it's enough to stop the shade screwing on.

 

Now I've regretfully taken the decision to sell it, as the FE2 I used as a rear lens cap has died. SO I'm trying

to find a repairer who can remove the dent.

 

The last time I had this done, on a Zeiss Contax lens, an internationally-known and by no means cheap, repairer

charged me $35. The first repairer I tried in London has just quoted me £60 for the repair. This is a company I

don't particularly like - another repairer alleged they messed up another camera of mine. And given there's a

micro tools vice that will remove dents in a few minutes, I think this price is excessive.

 

Does anyone here recommend any good repair shops for a simple task such as this? TIA

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Paul, just to clarify your question: it sounds like there is a dent on the filter thread on your 85mm/f1.4 lens itself, right? At least in my mind, the filter ring is on an external filter itself, not as part of the lens. In that case you should just replace the filter.

 

In this case your lens requires repair, correct?

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Yes, it's the lens itself, it's what I would refer to as the filter ring (perhaps in ignorance) and holds the thread which, if it doesn't host a filter, holds the screw-in shade.

 

And, if I wasn't clear, it's the 85/1.4 Nikkor AIS, manual focus.

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Try Fixation in Vauxhall - Nikon specialists. I've been happy with what they have done for me, but they are not cheap.

 

There is a small firm near the British Museum - Camera City in Little Russell Street. I've bought one or two odds & ends from them and they seemed friendly and knowledgeable, but not used them for repairs.

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"And given there's a micro tools vice that will remove dents in a few minutes, I think this price is excessive."

 

I have one of those. In the hands of an amateur, that vise will bend the other side of the filter ring out of round, and leave you with a filter ring that always binds. Using it properly is part of the years of experience that makes a camera tech worth his $$$.

 

There's a wonderful story about Charles Steinmetz. He was called in as a consultant by GE on a problem with a generator. Studied the schematics and blueprints, marked an "X" in chalk on a certain location on the generator case, left some rather simple instructions about what to do at the location of the X, and charged GE $1000 for this service. (that's 1905 $, about $30,000 today). When asked for an itemized bill, he gave them:

 

1. Marking chalk "X" on side of generator: $1.

 

2. Knowing where to mark chalk "X": $999.

 

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Charles-Steinmetz

 

You're not paying for the cost of the vise, you're paying for someone knowing how to use it.

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Do-it-yourself filter ring repairs are very difficult, for reasons Joseph aptly describes. Even my best efforts using a homemade press/vise were less than perfect because the lens threads themselves were deformed by the impact.

 

One caution: Avoid using impacts to "fix" the problem. Hammering or even tapping impacts may worsen a problem that's already likely with lenses that have been dropped hard enough to dent the filter ring threads - decentered optical elements. Every lens I've owned that had suffered filter ring thread damage also showed evidence of compromised optical performance. Usually it's apparent as softness on one or, often, two edges or corners of photos. For non-critical photography the problem is often insignificant. But the lens may not be suitable for architecture, interiors, macro photography and other uses where it's desirable for the entire photo to be as sharp as possible from edge to edge and corner to corner.

 

As an example, I once owned two sample of the excellent Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm f/2.8-3.6 (I think it was 3.6, been a few years since I had those lenses), one in Olympus OM mount, the other in Canon FD mount. The OM mount version had a filter ring dent. The softness was obvious along one edge and corner, especially at 28mm at any aperture, when compared with the Canon mount version of the same lens. However, only one person - an experienced photographer - was ever able to spot the problem in my photos without being specifically asked to look for a problem.

 

My solution has been to use gentle pressure to get the damaged lip close enough to accept a filter, even if it binds. A hardwood dowel, soft brass rod tip, hard plastic rod, etc., can be used to roll and press the bent lens lip against another hard surface while carefully working out the dent.

 

After the dent is minimized I'll take an old filter, preferably one with a narrow ring, remove the glass and use just the ring itself. That ring is snugged into the lens threads. The new ring provides undamaged threads for easy use of lens hoods and other filters or accessories. This works without vignetting for all but some ultra wide angle lenses and zooms at the widest focal range.

 

Anyway, I'm not implying that you shouldn't sell the lens. Even if it is optically compromised - and only you can determine that through careful testing - it may still be perfectly suitable for a lot of photography. One of my longtime favorite cameras, a Canonet, had a filter ring dent that jimmied up critical sharpness. I used that camera for years to take some of my favorite street photos, candid portraits and live theater photos. Not one person ever noticed the problem, because none of them required the sort of critical edge-to-edge, corner-to-corner sharpness that would make a bit of difference in enjoying those photos. But when I compared my photos with those taken with an undamaged Canonet by another photo.net member, I could see the difference. Which only proves that photographers aren't like normal people, and we notice things most folks don't.

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Just got a reply from Fixation - half the price of the original estimate - which was from a repairer whom I now wish to avoid. <p>

 

Joseph, your point is understood, my point is that this is a routine repair - perhaps <i>the </i> most routine. Thanks to Hugh, Richard, and all who offered help.

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