M42 Adapter Arrived But Lens Has Fogging (Insight Requested)

[AgentDrex]

Well, the adapter to hook up the M42 mount lenses I have came in the mail Friday. So I took it out and did some shots. What could be the cause of the foggy look you'll notice in the following photos? I cleaned the outside of the lenses after noticing the aberration but no change in the fogging was noticed. I'm thinking it may be on the inner-side of the lens. Could this be possible and what, if any, options do I have to get rid of it? Here are a couple photos for examples-sake:

#1 My buddy Tron - Notice the translucent edge around his sweater


#2 - I'm sure you can see the birds glow around the edges as well...


#3 - This time I notice the tree-tops have a glow...


#4 - And finally, the foggy look, the white balance I was using, and the position of the sun in relation to the rest of the photo lends itself well to an old look...but still...kind of annoying...


Well, there ya go, I screwed up more photo chances and this morning was so beautiful. Maybe my best bet is to buy another old Haminex and see if it behaves the same. I already know I can find them cheap enough to not worry about losing too much money.

The fogginess does seem to fit the mood of some of the photos, but these ones not so much so...any help would be kindly appreciated. Thank you advance for any assistance.

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[Derrel]

The lens is probably suffering from fungus growth inside, or perhaps outgassing from having been stored in say, a wooden dresser drawer, or in a case or trunk with foam products made with a petroleum base...the foam padding in many filter cases, protective cases, etc,etc, can outgas or off-gas,and that can cause a thin film on lens surfaces, filters,etc.

You have a nice soft-focus lens now...it's hard to fake this same,exact effect in precisely the same way...it actually will look good with the right subject matter and the right type of lighting.

[KmH]

If it is a prime lens, you have the inclination, and you have a modicum of mechanical skill, you could disassemble and clean the lens.

[AgentDrex]

It is a prime (135mm), I have a small amount of mechanical skill and some inclination to do some repair to be sure...what would be the typical cleaning scenario? Or I can just leave it, might lend well to soft looking flower shots...

[AgentDrex]

I'll have more photos with these lenses posted tomorrow. My first moon shot will be included...

[sobolik]

Since you did not identify the lens details let me take a random shot at solving. If it is moisture inside the lens remove it with a vacuum pump. One like they use for refrigeration.
I do it often to remove moisture from watches, cell phones etc. Use a thick piece of plastic to make the "bag" Set the suction hose near the lens so that the suction sealed bag does not seal off the hose from the lens. The water will boil at room temp and be sucked out any small cracks in any seals. Many old hunting scopes suffered from the same fogging years ago until technology developed better seals.

[enzodm]

Is that at wide open? Try also to close a little (5.6 or so). Do you have filters in front? I lost a number of pictures because I didn't check my UV filter, and it was very dirty... same effect.
You could look through the lens, wide open, to understand whether there is something strange. However, the flou effect is really strong.
If the lens is a 135mm, you may find disassembly guides around. This is for Pentacon: http://frozenfate.blogspot.com/2010/...con-135mm.html . I anticipate the most "difficult" thing to do is to unscrew rings if you do not have, like me, a spanner wrench. And lots of care, before trying read accurately about lens cleaning,, in case fungus cleaning (that is different), etc.

[AgentDrex]

I posted photos of the lens in a different thread. As for the filters, I did check them and clean them along with the parts of the lens I can get at, all to no avail. Its just the one lens like that, unfortunately for me, its my 135mm...I am starting a new thread for some C&C action now...I'm going to buy a few more used lenses from ebay and see how my luck turns out...

Thanks for all the insights guys! Much appreciated...

[Derrel]

I say keep the lens as a soft focus effect lens...and buy another, clean 135/2.8.

[AgentDrex]

Roger that! I had that same idea considering the crabapple photo I posted in an earlier thread...

[Early]

I say keep the lens as a soft focus effect lens...and buy another, clean 135/2.8.

That's probably the best bet. Also, I remember hearing that fogging can be caused by lens separation, too.

[enzodm]

I posted photos of the lens in a different thread. As for the filters, I did check them and clean them along with the parts of the lens I can get at, all to no avail. Its just the one lens like that, unfortunately for me, its my 135mm...I am starting a new thread for some C&C action now...I'm going to buy a few more used lenses from ebay and see how my luck turns out...

Thanks for all the insights guys! Much appreciated...

did you just look through?

[AgentDrex]

I did and didn't see anything I would recognize as I am pretty new to lenses...I'll take another look though...

[AgentDrex]

After another look, I noticed the 135mm aperture blades don't change position upon turning the ring...It seems to be stuck all the way open, which is f1.8, I'm wondering if that's the culprit of the soft look of distant objects...I'll do some photos of the same object from different distances tomorrow for scrutiny....

[LCARSx32]

Set the aperture so it should be something other than wide open, then look on the back of the lens (where it mounts on the camera) there should be a little pin sticking out. Push it in and see if the aperture stops down.

If it does, mount the lens on the m42 adapter and see if the pin is pushed in. If not, you'll need to put tape over the pin or glue it down.

There's 3 types of m42 lenses. Manual, Auto, and both. The manual lenses won't have the pin I talked about. When you change the aperture, the blades will stop down. Auto lenses will not move the aperture blades until the pin is depressed. They did this so you could focus with it wide open, then the camera would push the pin just before opening the shutter. Lenses that are both have a switch that says "A" and "M" or "Auto" and "Manual". When switched to "A", it will act like an auto lens, only moving the aperture when the pin is depressed. When in "M", it will act like a manual lens, always moving the blades depending on the setting.

Hope that helps!