CLA... Can it correct sluggish production?

<p>We all know the sluggish production quality of russian lenses<br>

Some years are said to be better but you're always reminded that buying a russian lens (or camera) is a hit or miss.</p>

<p>My question is:<br>

Can a CLA correct those bad quality control ?<br>

My example here is with a jupiter-8 1955 , will it be as good as a 1950 one in awesome shape or it's also the quality of the glass that is not the same? (and other material to build the lens)</p>

<p>When we say some years are better is it because the material was better or just that it hold a better production?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Regards</p>

<p>glass configuration & tolerances is most likely the culprit. Quality of glass too. IF the aforementioned are off (IE, substandard), then no matter how great the CLA the lens will render poorly.</p>

<p>I use Russian glass and cameras as guinea pigs, they are so cheap that if you screwing up or losing something is less consequential. The local used gear shops where I live are becoming full of old Russian (Soviet) cameras and lenses, and some of the prices are comically low. I recently picked up a Zorki 3 camera with an FED collapsible (Elmar copy) lens for $75. I put the FED lens on an old Leica III, and was surprised; the FED lens images were indistinguishable from the images I got out of the genuine Leica Elmar.<br>

On the other hand, I have a Zorki collapsible Elmar copy, and it is junk. It's sticky and hard to work, and requires a great deal of effort to adjust the aperture. The images all come out somewhat sharp in the center, but very soft around the edges.<br>

A little quality lubrication will probably improve the action of your Jupiter lens. The quality of Russian lubricants is poorer than bacon fat (which would probably work better), clean out the crud and replace it with a good quality grease, and you'll probably notice a big improvement in lens action.</p>

<p>I have Russian lenses, and I've had to shim one into focus. It has been a while ago, but this is how I did it. I put some scratches into a piece of film and then put the film into the camera I wanted to calibrate. Then I put the lens in question on the body - naturally in front of the scratched film. Opened the aperture wide up, and then turn the focus to infinity. The I took a 35mm SLR with similar focal length lens to the one in question, and focused it to infinity. Both lenses at infinity, OK. Now, look through SLR into the Russian, and try to bring the scratches into focus moving the cameras, the scratches should be clear and magnified. If you can't bring the scratches into focus - well, then I assumed that Russian lens was improperly shimmed. I took the lens barrel apart, and I found I had to add shims. And I made the shims from aluminum cooking foil. Anyway, that's how I did it, and it now works fine. Good luck.</p>