Saving a Schneider Componon From the Trash Bin

[RobertOToole]

Had an interesting experience yesterday where I was able to rescue a lens from the garbage, the original owner thought the lens was hopeless and was going to bin it, I was able to talk him into sending it to me for a look. The fix was really easy, take a look, I hope others will find this as interesting as I did!



This is how the lens arrived on the left.

You can see the full story on my site: https://www.closeuphotography.com/blog/ ... -trash-bin

First step was to remove the front and rear cells. These were really tight, they both took multiple attempts to get them loose.

Be sure to click on any image below for a larger version.





You can see the blades slipped out of the guide.





The blades were easy to push back into position with bent needle-nose pliers. Luckily none of the blades were damaged.




You can see the iris lever at 4 o'clock and the ball bearing for the f-stop detent at 11:30.


The original owner bought it in the 1960s and is now retiring from photography and clearing out all of his old equipment. I'm glad I was able to give the lens a new life and get it back to 100% working and usable condition.




This is a very clean sample and now its back in 100% working shape!

Next step is to test sharpness.

The lens mounted in my studio setup with a Mejiro 5.6/90, mounted inside the SM2/52mm lens tube.





2500 pixel sample:





100% center crop




100% edge crop



100% far upper right corner crop




The files out of the rescued 4/28 are sharp and clean from the center to the very far edge of the corners at 3.2x!

Thanks for looking.

Any questions or comments, post them below!

Robert

[Chris S.]

Great job, Robert!

Last time I tried to reassemble an iris, I quickly gave up and tossed the components in the trash. (The assembly was going into the trash anyway--I just wanted to take a stab at reassembling an iris--a very brief stab, as it happened.

The assembly you fixed does look a bit more robust and straightforward, but still, good for you!

--Chris S.

[Miljenko]

Good job, Robert! Those vintage lenses can have all sorts of mechanical problems as you've shown but there are frequent cases of optics related issues as well like delamination or fungus. I am successfully curing both so there are many lenses in my collection bought with "for parts or not working" tag now working like new. Only lens scratches can't be cured but very often those do not influence picture quality as much as we think.

[viktor j nilsson]

Indeed, a job well done, and well worth the effort.

I have complete disassembled and reassembled a couple of irises, mostly microscope field and condenser irises. It's definitely a bit of an hassle, especially the first time, but I no longer feel any fear. The last leaf is always the trickiest. I've had to start over a few times.


Here's the field iris of my Wild M20:



I've actually never had any success pushing a dislodged blade into position without disturbing the other blades, I've always needed to remove all blades and start over. So good job with that!

[RobertOToole]

Great job, Robert!

Last time I tried to reassemble an iris, I quickly gave up and tossed the components in the trash. (The assembly was going into the trash anyway--I just wanted to take a stab at reassembling an iris--a very brief stab, as it happened.

The assembly you fixed does look a bit more robust and straightforward, but still, good for you!

--Chris S.

I enjoy pulling apart lenses and iris assemblies now and then and I'm surprised at how well the older Schneider lenses are made, they were definitely thinking long term when they put them together. Simple, but very nicely done.

Some of the newer lenses from Nikon and Rodenstock especially, are depressing to open. The lack of metal doesn't inspire confidence.

Best,

Robert

[RobertOToole]

Good job, Robert! Those vintage lenses can have all sorts of mechanical problems as you've shown but there are frequent cases of optics related issues as well like delamination or fungus. I am successfully curing both so there are many lenses in my collection bought with "for parts or not working" tag now working like new. Only lens scratches can't be cured but very often those do not influence picture quality as much as we think.

Great, now I know where to send my problem fungus cases

You are right, I'm surprised that coating or haze issues don't always have the negative image quality impact you would expect.

What said, I've left fingerprints on smaller elements that definitely effected the image quality! Now I try to be really careful and always run a last minute smudge check before I shoot. I've learned the hard-way!

Best,

Robert

[RobertOToole]

Indeed, a job well done, and well worth the effort.

I have complete disassembled and reassembled a couple of irises, mostly microscope field and condenser irises. It's definitely a bit of an hassle, especially the first time, but I no longer feel any fear. The last leaf is always the trickiest. I've had to start over a few times.


Here's the field iris of my Wild M20:



I've actually never had any success pushing a dislodged blade into position without disturbing the other blades, I've always needed to remove all blades and start over. So good job with that!

That iris looks like the same number of blades as the little 4/28!

When the manufacturers resort to 3, 4 or 5 blade iris assemblies its disappointing to see but they are so much less complicated so I'm sure the cost is so much lower long term. A 15 blade iris much cost a heck of a lot more than a 5 blade unit but the aperture looks to bad.

Penta iris shapes aren't so bad I guess, the square iris shape in some lenses are ridiculous!

Best,

Robert