The Hasselbird Project (a bold restoration attempt)

[Dave Colangelo]

Sorry, eye-glasses shop. I realize they're going to know zip about camera lenses specifically, but there has to be some commonality between lenses at the most basic level.

Ill give it a shot and see what they say. I know (much like camera lenses) Eye glasses are becoming way more modular and the shops rarely cut lenses any more. My next mission (if I cant salvage the element) is going to be sourcing a replacement. There are only a few hasselblad guy out there so its going to be a challenge. Pair that with the fact that this lens was apparently never held in high regard and many saw little use its hard to find another bad example out there.

Regards
Dave

 

[tirediron]

Sorry, eye-glasses shop. I realize they're going to know zip about camera lenses specifically, but there has to be some commonality between lenses at the most basic level.

Ill give it a shot and see what they say. I know (much like camera lenses) Eye glasses are becoming way more modular and the shops rarely cut lenses any more. My next mission (if I cant salvage the element) is going to be sourcing a replacement. There are only a few hasselblad guy out there so its going to be a challenge. Pair that with the fact that this lens was apparently never held in high regard and many saw little use its hard to find another bad example out there.

Regards
Dave

Call Hasselblad!

 

[Dave Colangelo]

[/QUOTE]
Call Hasselblad![/QUOTE]

They are my last resort right now but I had considered that. I have a sneaking suspicion that their prices will about total the cost of just picking up a nice example of the lens. Im going to talk with David Odess about it when I go over stuff for the body (he has not yet gotten to work on it) and see if he has what I need. There is of course the off chance that another one pops up on the bay with a destroyed front element so I can salvage the back half.

Regards
Dave

 

[Watchful]

Don't polish anything, polishing involves using grit tincause scratches and then reducing the size and depthbof the scratches and will change the surface.
You can try car wax, not polish but wax only. If that doesn't work, go to the CLR. I have used it with success in the past. It may or may not remove the coatings depending on what was used, and how it was applied.

 

[table1349]

Lenses are shaped and ground to perfection by polishing when manufactured,. not with some Calcium Lime and Rust remover. There are some things in this process that you may not be able to do by yourself. I would suggest trying tirediron's suggestions and contact a glasses store to get contact information on a lens manufacturer that can assist or Hasselblad themselves. They may be able to direct you to whomever they use to manufacture the glass for their lenses. You have done outstanding work so far and it would be a shame to ruin the glass itself. Am excited to see how it all comes out when you have it finished.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

Lenses are shaped and ground to perfection by polishing when manufactured,. not with some Calcium Lime and Rust remover. There are some things in this process that you may not be able to do by yourself. I would suggest trying tirediron's suggestions and contact a glasses store to get contact information on a lens manufacturer that can assist or Hasselblad themselves. They may be able to direct you to whomever they use to manufacture the glass for their lenses. You have done outstanding work so far and it would be a shame to ruin the glass itself. Am excited to see how it all comes out when you have it finished.

The CLR suggestion was not about polishing but that the scratches which are a byproduct of the fungus may only have etched into the coating layer. The CLR would remove the coating layer and take the scratches with it leaving the raw element unscathed.

The Hasselblad lenses of this era (and I think all the V series) were made by Zeiss (who I may try and contact about this). Unfortunately this particular lens was not really produced in any kind of substantial numbers and most are still in pretty decent shape due to little use so donor lenses are rare in their own right.

On any note I went to the hardware store at lunch to pick up some CLR and see if I could get the coating off.

Unfortunately it appears there is no coating on this element (anymore at least) and the scratches are indeed in the glass. At this point any kind of polishing or grinding is going to change the characteristics of the lens anyway since it will require removal of glass and thus change the element thickness. I am tackling this a few different ways.

1. Hunt for a replacement element from Zeiss or Hasselblad
2. Talk to an optics shop and see if it can be saved.
3. Try and find the specifications for that element and see if an optics maker can cut one
4. The the specs (if I can get them) build a grinding jig and see if the element can be salvaged.

While lens grinding is not really an at home task the point of this project was to attempt DIY solutions to things like this so I am also going to try and read up on what I may be able to do. The chances the grinding is successful, slim.

Regards
Dave

 

[Dave Colangelo]

Update:

I just spoke with David Odess about the lens element. He had inquired with Hasselblad a while back about these lenses for another customer and apperently they are no longer making pieces or supplying parts for the early C era lenses. That being said I may still give them a call on the off chance they have one lying around. He all suggested that I contact Zeiss as they produced all the lenses in this era and may be able to help me with the specs on the element so that I can source another one.

Regards
Dave

 

[spiralout462]

I have successfully polished auto glass with cerium oxide. Lenses are ground to much tighter tolerances, I understand, but it would still be fun to try since there's nothing to lose.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

I have successfully polished auto glass with cerium oxide. Lenses are ground to much tighter tolerances, I understand, but it would still be fun to try since there's nothing to lose.

This is basically the way Im looking at it at this point. I actually had planed to pick up some Cerium Oxide on my way home if I can find it. My hope is that the scratches are shallow enough that I can polish with some form of accuracy while still maintaining the curvature to some degree of correctness. I have been looking around at some polishing laps and other polish jigs that may be able to assist once I can find the actual curvature measurements.

 

[dxqcanada]

Really great job so far on the restoration !!

I have not thought of using steel wool (0000) on metal camera parts ... I assume that it is fine enough not to leave much marking. Looks like something else to add to my toolbox.

I do not have much suggestion for the lens elements ... I have had lenses in that state and never had a solution (other than replacement).

 

[Dave Colangelo]

So the Amazon shipping estimates were way off and I ended up getting the lens tool and spanner today which was a nice surprise. The lens tool is basically a set of rubber rings that allow you spin on and off edge threads that have no other way to get to them.

I was able to get the front element off although the threads were pretty stubborn and it took some light tapping with a rubber mallet on the sides to get it to free up. This video makes it look way easier than it is.

Some muscling later and the ring was off neatly. This is one of those things where you just need the right tool and the job becomes much easier.

The front elements are in significantly better shape than the rear. The first element came out easily as well as the separator that goes between the lenses which is just a ring really.

As you can see the element is in pretty good shape. The The gunk on the front responded pretty well to napthal when it comes to getting it off.

The second element which is actually another doublet and was very stubborn and hard to get out. Took an interesting maneuver to shake it lose but I got it out. It was in the best shape of all the elements by far but still was cleaned up nicely.

This is the whole assembly outside the lens

The second element

This is the barrel sans elements

Regards
Dave

 

[Watchful]

Lenses are shaped and ground to perfection by polishing when manufactured,. not with some Calcium Lime and Rust remover. There are some things in this process that you may not be able to do by yourself. I would suggest trying tirediron's suggestions and contact a glasses store to get contact information on a lens manufacturer that can assist or Hasselblad themselves. They may be able to direct you to whomever they use to manufacture the glass for their lenses. You have done outstanding work so far and it would be a shame to ruin the glass itself. Am excited to see how it all comes out when you have it finished.

The CLR suggestion was not about polishing but that the scratches which are a byproduct of the fungus may only have etched into the coating layer. The CLR would remove the coating layer and take the scratches with it leaving the raw element unscathed.

The Hasselblad lenses of this era (and I think all the V series) were made by Zeiss (who I may try and contact about this). Unfortunately this particular lens was not really produced in any kind of substantial numbers and most are still in pretty decent shape due to little use so donor lenses are rare in their own right.

On any note I went to the hardware store at lunch to pick up some CLR and see if I could get the coating off. View attachment 120484
View attachment 120483

Unfortunately it appears there is no coating on this element (anymore at least) and the scratches are indeed in the glass. At this point any kind of polishing or grinding is going to change the characteristics of the lens anyway since it will require removal of glass and thus change the element thickness. I am tackling this a few different ways.

1. Hunt for a replacement element from Zeiss or Hasselblad
2. Talk to an optics shop and see if it can be saved.
3. Try and find the specifications for that element and see if an optics maker can cut one
4. The the specs (if I can get them) build a grinding jig and see if the element can be salvaged.

While lens grinding is not really an at home task the point of this project was to attempt DIY solutions to things like this so I am also going to try and read up on what I may be able to do. The chances the grinding is successful, slim.

Regards
Dave

Surface scratches will not be noticeable in an image unless it's directly back-lit or there is glare on the lens itself. Shading the lens from direct light will prevent this effect. Take some test shots to determine if you even need to do anything else to the front element. The rear element may have a more pronounced effect on the image by reducing resolution and contrast.
Small scratches in the front element can be reduced with a thin even coat of clear acrylic once it is completely and thoroughly cleaned. Make sure you don't let the acrylic "pile up" at the perimeter though. If you get it wrong, remove the paint and try again.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

Unfortunately I hit a road block with the spanner being to short to get to the collet at the base of the barrel and still stick out for a good grip. This guy has a great custom pair and there is a flea market this weekend that im going to try and find something similar to craft a set. I did however try with the spanner I have and a pair of pliers. There was a near catastrophe when one of those pins fell out and hit the shutter however because of the way its built it basically fell straight though and no serious damage was done.

After this I decided to step away from the barrel and go back to getting some of the gunk off the focus drive. I took it apart, cleaned it off and put it all back together

I figured this would also be a good time to do a standing assembly and try out the trigger mechanism i cleaned up yesterday. Placed everything where it needed to be and lined up the shutter release

Ran though a few of the shutter speed and they work as they should. Which brings me to an interesting point worth discussing about this lens. At least one potential issue is the way the shutter lock rod is situated. Its by far the longest one in the lens set and has a large motion range. The rod is only held in place on either end which could lend to some center flex. I would have considered a center support in the design, but none the less it works.

The barrel will have to come off so that I can get to the lens and clean/oil it correctly.

Next up is
- To find some Cerium Oxide to try and polish the rear element.
- Build a set of spanners to get the barrel off


Regards
Dave

 

[Dave Colangelo]

Surface scratches will not be noticeable in an image unless it's directly back-lit or there is glare on the lens itself. Shading the lens from direct light will prevent this effect. Take some test shots to determine if you even need to do anything else to the front element. The rear element may have a more pronounced effect on the image by reducing resolution and contrast.

Unfortunately the camera body is out for a full CLA and Im looking at a month or so before its back in my hands so test shots are out for the time being (unless someone in the Philly area has a Hasselblad and they are wiling to bring over and help with this project) The rear element is very scratched (and I don't think I have helped the situation just yet trying a few polishes on the edges). The element scratches add an air of cloudiness to it and I don't think will be of much use in its current state but its interesting how the scratches affect the image. I will try to build a rig with some ground glass so I can test the image from the lens on my bench.

Regards
Dave

 

[Dave442]

For polishing the rear element I think you could make a plastic mold of the existing glass lens element to obtain the curve and that would then be used with the polishing slurry to remove the scratches. I think some telescope people make their own lenses so I would take a look at what they are using for polishing. However, I would try out the lens before trying something that may just make things worse.