Cheap Singer 16D repaired

[Justin Bacle]

Hi everyone, just wanted to share my experience fixing a bad singer 16D i got on ebay for cheap.

1. I got this Singer 16-D for a very good price on ebay. As shown on the ad's pictures, there seemed to be fungus/dust inside.

2. I received the adapter and noticed that there was no fungus but the coating has gone bad and was partially gone or made tiny bubbles. I tried the adapter but it was just a hazy ghosty mess.

3. I got the adapter open (you can follow @Tito Ferradans guide with his Elmoscope/Kowa B&H as the construction is very similar), removed the the front elements and got to work. I did scratch the remaining coating with my nail (went away very easily) and finished the job with a bit of acetone. The result is not perfect but way better than I expected.

4. Here is a very quick and dirty shot with the Singer 16-D :

Compared to the same quick and dirty shot with my Isco Ultra-Star 

Both shots with the Helios 44M wide open (f/2)
Still hazy but very usable IMO, plus I want the Singer to be hazy and flary as I already has the Isco which is damn sharp and does not flare by itself.

Do you have similar experiences to share or have any remarks on my repair ?

[Dr. Verbel']

Hi, Justin! If you remove coating, contrast falls (your sample compare confirms this) and light streaks not blue as usual, but white. You can find the optical plant that causes coating on optics, and if they do that in your case, also try to clear the full coating and give them for work. I have not yet done, but try as an option.

[Justin Bacle]

1 hour ago, Dr. Verbel' said:

Hi, Justin! If you remove coating, contrast falls (your sample compare confirms this) and light streaks not blue as usual, but white. You can find the optical plant that causes coating on optics, and if they do that in your case, also try to clear the full coating and give them for work. I have not yet done, but try as an option.

Thanks for the advice anamorphic doctor ! As the coating was already 75% gone, I had to remove it anyway. I'll try to find a company in france who can re-do the coating, very good idea

[DamienMTL]

The right method to remove fungus and cleanup lens:

http://petapixel.com/2016/09/29/remove-fungus-lens/

[Justin Bacle]

6 hours ago, DamienMTL said:

The right method to remove fungus and cleanup lens:

http://petapixel.com/2016/09/29/remove-fungus-lens/

Thanks for the link, but as I described, there were no fungus but only bubly coating  Nice link, and I'll try it next time I have a lens with fungus.

On 12/18/2016 at 9:29 PM, Dr. Verbel' said:

Hi, Justin! If you remove coating, contrast falls (your sample compare confirms this) and light streaks not blue as usual, but white. You can find the optical plant that causes coating on optics, and if they do that in your case, also try to clear the full coating and give them for work. I have not yet done, but try as an option.

I found a small company that can polish the lenses and apply new coating. The price is around 300 € for spherical lenses. But they are not confident in doing not spherical (e.g. anamorphic) lenses :s

[Dr. Verbel']

 

2 hours ago, Justin Bacle said:

I found a small company that can polish the lenses and apply new coating. The price is around 300 € for spherical lenses. But they are not confident in doing not spherical (e.g. anamorphic) lenses :s

Too expensive as for me, Justin. Better buy another ana lens in good condition for this money   How you progress of rehousing 35NAP 2-3?

[Justin Bacle]

Just now, Dr. Verbel' said:

 

Too expensive as for me, Justin. Better buy another ana lens in good condition

Yep, exactly what I was thinking