Helios-44 lens repair?

I've just bought a Zenit-E in a junk shop for a fiver (always a happy

moment!), and the lens appears to be knackered - no matter what you do, it

won't focus, at all. It's the typical Helios-44 2/58 lens that often comes

with Zenits, so I was able to verify that it's the lens and not the camera -

it's fine with a different lens. I'd like to try my hand at dismantling this

broken lens, just for the experience, but is this kind of problem actually

fixable? I've never encountered it before.

 

Any general advice on lens repair would be welcome too - I've seen some

resources online but nothing detailed or technical. Does anyone know a site

with step-by-step instructions for beginners?

 

Thanks.

What's wrong with the lens? Does the image on the screen look more or less sharp as you focus? First, you should check whether the camera body is OK - mirror and/or focus screen might be out of alignment. Prior to tackling the lens you should try another M42/Pentax screw mount lens on the body. Any used equipment dealer should have such a lens handy, and politeness helps a lot to make people do a favour.

Thanks for responding. I *think* the camera body is OK (though obviously haven't run any film through yet). I'm basing this on the fact that all the functions appear to work, plus I put another Helios-44 lens (one I know works) on it and the focus seemed fine. With the first lens, basically the whole image is out-of-focus all the time - to the point that it's impossible to make anything out except very vague light/dark shapes. This blurry image sharpens very slightly as you spin the lens but there's no real improvement, it's completely unusable. I'm happy to use it as a lens repair experiment since I have 2 working Helios-44s already.

Maybe there is a lens element missing or put in the worng way (reversed).

Helios 44 is definitely not a lens worth repairing in terms of economics. One hour of human work is probably worth more than three such lenses. Still, it's not a bad performer. If you can't repair it by yourself - dump it without much regret.

Are you saying there is no distance in focus at all, or that the focus ring is stuck? I've worked on a Helios before where the grease on the helicoid was turned to tar. I heated up the lens with a blow dryer, and I got it loose enough to work in fresh grease.

Maciej, I'm not really worried about repairing the lens for actual use - I agree that it's probably not worth the effort, especially as I have 2 of the same already. I was only thinking of dismantling it as an educational exercise, never having done any real camera repair before. If it's broken, I've nothing to lose by taking it apart.

 

Rob, the lens does turn (it feels as if it's in working order), but the image doesn't sharpen more than marginally. Without knowing much about optics I'd guess that something is misaligned, rather than stuck.

 

Thanks all for the replies. I'm going to try some film with the camera and a different lens to verify that the body works. I hope so - it handles in true Russian tank fashion, very pleasing.

Incidentally - a while ago I found a very good online step-by-step guide to basic lens reconditioning (with photos of each stage of dismantling and so on) but of course can't find it now. If this sounds familiar, I'd be glad for the link to be re-posted.

The Zenit camera group on Yahoo have such a guide in their 'files' section. It's illustrated with photographs.

 

You have to sign up in the usual Yahoo way, but it might be worth it.

Thanks, I'll check the Yahoo group.

 

I found the lens dismantling site I was talking about earlier - the Kiev Survivial Site: http://www3.telus.net/public/rpnchbck/lens%20and%20optics.html.

 

No Helios there, but perhaps the basic skills are transferable (?)

Well, it's definitely the lens that's broken - just got a roll of pictures back for this camera using an Industar 50-2 lens and they are sharp!