Cleaning the taking lens on my Yashicamat 124G

FishyFish

FishyFish

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Nige
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I've been aware for a while now that there is some haze on my Yashicamat 124G's taking lens. It appears to be between the front and back elements so the camea will need to be "operated on" to fix the issue.

My research indicates that this should be a relatively straightforward thing to do - the main concerns being getting the lens off in the first place ( I've ordered a lens spanner to aid me with this), and then not b**gering up the lens surfaces (or the aperture blades - I intend to leave the rear element in situ) any more than they currently are.

I'm planning on using cotton buds, microfibre cloths, and IPA for the job.

Does anyone have any advice before I unleash the wrecking ball? :LOL:

Thanks.
 
I had haze on my 124G, as well as light leaks through a misaligned back, and film winding problems.

I sent it to Newton Ellis. At £145 (plus VAT), it wasn't cheap although they do have a good reputation.

As it happens I sent it back for rework under the warranty but I can't remember what the problem was the second time.
 
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Not much help Nige, but I sent mine to Miles Whitehead in 2018 for a CLA including fungus on the taking lens and it was a lot cheaper than Kevin's bill. Possibly worth a try if you're a previous customer?
 
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Peter B said:
Not much help Nige, but I sent mine to Miles Whitehead in 2018 for a CLA including fungus on the taking lens and it was a lot cheaper than Kevin's bill. Possibly worth a try if you're a previous customer?
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I thought Miles had retired from camera repairs no??
 
Kevin Allan said:
I had haze on my 124G, as well as light leaks through a misaligned back, and film winding problems.

I sent it to Newton Ellis. At £145 (plus VAT), it wasn't cheap although they do have a good reputation.

As it happens I sent it back for rework under the warranty but I can't remember what the problem was the second time.
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Thanks Kevin. I've had a quote for Newton Ellis myself for a similar price. Because the removal of the taking lens looks relatively straightforward, I'm going to try and clean it myself. I will then send the broken camera to Newton Ellis for them to do the job properly. :LOL:
Peter B said:
Not much help Nige, but I sent mine to Miles Whitehead in 2018 for a CLA including fungus on the taking lens and it was a lot cheaper than Kevin's bill. Possibly worth a try if you're a previous customer?
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Miles did a CLA on the camera a few years ago before the haze appeared. I'd not thought to contact him - I know he's retired, but he did mention that he's unlikely to every fuly give up repairing cameras when I contacted him shortly before, so maybe I'll drop him a line.
 
Hang on before sending off anywhere, Get some Silica gell packs larger the better and put it in a plastic airtight bag and leave for a couple of weeks+ or so.. No I didn't believe it worked either when my nikon camera had a similar issue but it did and no messing about with the camera. That should draw out any moisture

 
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Asha said:
I thought Miles had retired from camera repairs no??
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As Nige says above, I think Miles was open to old customers coming back to him, but I'm not sure if that would still be the case. He certainly wasn't looking for work as a going concern.
 
FishyFish said:
Miles did a CLA on the camera a few years ago before the haze appeared. I'd not thought to contact him - I know he's retired, but he did mention that he's unlikely to every fuly give up repairing cameras when I contacted him shortly before, so maybe I'll drop him a line.
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maybe mention that you have used him before and he was the favourite TF&C repairer and he might accept jobs just from us?
 
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realspeed said:
Hang on before sending off anywhere, Get some Silica gell packs larger the better and put it in a plastic airtight bag and leave for a couple of weeks+ or so.. No I didn't believe it worked either when my nikon camera had a similar issue but it did and no messing about with the camera. That should draw out any moisture

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Thanks Bazza.

I don't think it's moisture though - the camera is stored in a dry cabinet already liberally sprinkled with silica gel sachets. There're no signs of overt humidity in the house either - it's a complere rairity to even get condensation on a window outside of the bathroom or kitchen.

I suspect that it's residue from the aperture blades and / or shutter mechanism, rather than H2O.
 
My 124G, (82 vintage), had its first CLA about 14 years ago. The technician noted the haziness on the inside of the rear element of the taking lens. It cleaned up nicely and he noted some minor coating damage but it didn't affect the lens performance. He also advised that the haziness could reoccurr and was due to outgassing of the shutter lubricants which condense on the lens element. (He didn't do any work on the shutter as it was OK. Looks like the shutter lubricants were still outgassing from the time the camera was built.)

I'm about to clean it again for the third time since that 2008 service. You will need a lens spanner with sufficient reach as the lens is set quite deeply in the camera body. I had to buy a second lens spanner as my first set couldn't reach the ring holding the lens element. The lens element is mounted in this ring so you only have to remove one piece.

I only use the lens spanner for the initial loosening and final tightening of the lens element. I use a trimmed bamboo skewer to do most of the turning of the lens element as this reduces the risk of damage to the lens if I were to slip. Haven't slipped so far. Just take your time.

For cleaning the haze I use isopropyl alcohol on a Kimwipe tissue and then finish off with Kodak Lens Cleaner, (my bottle must be 20 yrs old but still seems good).
It's also a bit tricky replacing the lens element and getting it started on the thread. Just take your time with the bamboo skewer.

For an experienced technician this should be 30 mins work but of course they will always try to upsell you with more work. May need new seals and/or a clean of the focussing screen. Just depends what you want to do with the camera.
 
MDJ said:
You will need a lens spanner with sufficient reach as the lens is set quite deeply in the camera body. I had to buy a second lens spanner as my first set couldn't reach the ring holding the lens element. The lens element is mounted in this ring so you only have to remove one piece.
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Strangely, the rear element of the taking lens on my 124G worked itself loose, shortly after I bought it in 2009. I dropped it off at Real Camera in Manchester (where I purchased the camera) and they fixed it in 30 minutes. However I only had 25 minutes free before going for my train so had to wait two weeks for my next work trip to Manchester to collect the camera.
 
I've attempted to clean the lens today and all went well from a practical side - I was able to remove the front element and give it a good clean. The rear element was cleaned in situ (the front by putting the camera in bulb mode at f/3.5, and the rear with cotton buds). Everything appears to be back together properly.

Unfortunately, the haze I can see appears to be inside the rear element, rather than on one of the two accessible surfaces, and I don't believe it's possible to open the rear element to clean this - it's cemented together apparently.

I guess I'll just have to see how the camera fares. Otherwise I might be in the market for a replacement TLR at some point.
 
Here's hoping you have improved the contrast a little, I expect that one of the square bayonet lens hoods will help with anything other than shooting directly into bright light.
Assuming you are scanning the negatives and editing in PS or similar a nudge on the dehaze and clarity sliders can work wonders, well it does for my Canon 50mm f/1.4 LTM .
 
Hi fishyfish, I haven't gotten around to cleaning the rear element of my 124G yet but I'm pretty sure it has a single element rather than two glued elements. I have always tackled it by removing the rear element.

With regards to the square lens hoods for Bay-1 lenses I have encountered two types. The original Bay-1 hoods from Rollei, Yashica et al which attach to the outer bayonet mount on the lens. These hoods allow a filter to be attached using the inner bayonet mount on the lens. The original hoods are a bit pricey and I think I paid around $USD 60 a few years ago.

Before I bought an original Rollei lens hood I bought an el cheapo aftermarket hood, plastic and probably 3D printed. It fitted well but had been manufactured to use the inner bayonet mount on the lens and thus could not use filters as the bayonet mount already in use with the lens hood. I don't know if any aftermarket hoods are available that use the outer bayonet mount - probably should do by now but I haven't been looking.
 
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