Camera Talk

Okay, pulled the shutter. The focus ring is slipping against the helical. Turns about halfway before it engages (or disengages, depending on which direction the ring is being turned - click for video):
Super Wester Focus Ring Slippage by Scott, on Flickr

Super Wester Focus Ring Slippage by Scott, on Flickr

(Surprisingly difficult to shoot this kind of thing solo...)

Seems that focus ring is not engaging some kind of lock to keep it from slipping, but I cannot figure out where that should be. When the ring is slipping, and is sliding into it's limit, it feels like there's a little detent that is engaging somewhere.

I'm guessing I'm going to need to go deeper at this point. As the only exposed screws on this side are the three brass ones in the brass ring, I think I start there? Unless the four screws accessible from the rear of the standard are where I should start.

Any suggestions at this point are greatly appreciated.

Scott

Strange sort of mechanism. Possible there is some damage to the helical, and someone has forced the focus lever causing the slippage. You won't know until you get the helical out for a close inspection. You may also find a sheared pin of some sort. Start with removing the four screws from the front and see if that is what is retaining the focus ring. They all show evidence of someone being in there before. Good luck, Scott.

PF

Just a guess… those 3 screws in the middle ring look like locking rings, try to play with them from infinity position and move the focusing to see if the helicoids engage from the beginning.

Well, one of those three screws was probably a bit more than half a turn loose. The other two are solid. And, they’re brass, so I’m very concerned about stripping out the slots. The only screwdriver I have that has that fine a blade is also very small, so I can’t get enough torque on it. I’m digging around old tools to see if I can find a screwdriver that fits better. Have some parallel tip drivers that you turn a burr on specifically to bite into brass, but of course, none fit…

Lots of photos:
Untitled by Scott, on Flickr

Untitled by Scott, on Flickr

Untitled by Scott, on Flickr

Untitled by Scott, on Flickr

Untitled by Scott, on Flickr

Untitled by Scott, on Flickr

So I found a driver that fit. All the screws (actually steel) were tight. Loosened, adjusted the ring, tightened. Still slipped. Did that a bunch of times. No joy. Loosened the screws further, and the focus ring popped off. Interesting. Lots of old, congealed grease on the underside of the ring. Cleaned it off. Will need to put some PTFE grease on lightly at some point. Pulled one screw all the way out. Also turned the helical manually toward a minimum focus. Turned, but actually pretty stiff. Not an Agfa, but not smooth, or easy.

So I've got two thoughts: 1. The helical is stiff enough that this weird little locking system that joins the focus ring to the helicoid can't deal with the shear and slips. 2. The screws might should actually clamp down from above, and what little bit of head on the screws should hold the ring tightly down, which is not how it was attached. I'm leaning toward #1. I can't rotate the helical any further at this point; not sure it's at minimum or not, but don't want to force it, or unscrew it to where the two helicoids separate (been there, done that, have the tee shirt). So, I think next step is a tooth brush with some xylene on it to clean the threads as best I can, lightly grease with my decades old PTFE grease (maybe mixed with a modicum of Rem oil), work it around manually, and see if that's golden. Elsenhow, punt.

Starrett has a jewelry screwdriver set of 6 that will fit any need you may encounter in the future.

I don’t understand how the focusing ring is able to move the inner ring to moves the helicoid in&out.

Alex, I don’t quite understand it either. The inside of the ring is completely smooth, there’s no indent that the screws actually mate with to lock anything in place. If it is just simple friction, which kind of seems the case so far, I can see where there would be little tolerance to friction in the helical before the ring slips. Or, the screws either should be clamping downward on the ring to hold it, or I just don’t see what’s going on (most likely).

What I’ll say, though, is those spanner dlots on the inner helicoids don’t allow me to turn it at all. Seems like, were this lubed correctly, it would.

You will need to dismount it completely, try from the back, you should have some screws to take out the focusing system from the front plate.

I meant to say three screws, but I see you already went there.

PF

scott wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 10, 2024 4:41 pm

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So, I think next step is a tooth brush with some xylene on it to clean the threads as best I can, lightly grease with my decades old PTFE grease (maybe mixed with a modicum of Rem oil), work it around manually, and see if that's golden. Elsenhow, punt.

This seems like the rational way to proceed, qtips and a small brush with solvent until it moves
I wouldnt mix the PTFE grease (SuperLueb?) with oil, just add a thin layer, work it back and forth, clean helicoids, and apply again

Seems like the focusing ring is moving the ring with the screws by just friction, so that ring needs to be lubricated as well as the helicoid