Tonight I finished pulling apart my Super Tak 50mm f1.4 cleaning and putting it back together. I bought it new when I was a young lad in 1972, so there is some sentimental attachment to this lens, but alas it had so much fungus growing inside it was totally unusable. I had assumed it was ready for the bin, but your vid gave me the information and confidence to clean the lens elements up with hydrogen peroxide and the lens is put back together and now is beautiful and clean like new! I couldn't have done it without your vid so I am very appreciative thank you.

@mikeno62

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Ian, I have the exact same experience, because I ask one of my friends if they had an Super Takumar lens in a really bad condition with a lot of fungus, and luckily they had this one that I could have for free. It was my luck so I could make this video, so I'm really happy my video could help you, and of course many other people around the world :-)

@alanabdiel4868

3 жыл бұрын

i dont mean to be offtopic but does someone know of a tool to log back into an instagram account..? I stupidly lost the account password. I would love any tricks you can give me.

@alanabdiel4868

3 жыл бұрын

@Mustafa Merrick i really appreciate your reply. I found the site thru google and I'm trying it out atm. Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

@alanabdiel4868

3 жыл бұрын

@Mustafa Merrick it worked and I actually got access to my account again. I'm so happy:D Thanks so much, you saved my ass :D

@mustafamerrick7975

3 жыл бұрын

@Alan Abdiel Happy to help =)

Thank You so much for sharing. I've just received 3 of them (including the 8 blades version). Greetings from Belgium.

Great demonstration! Very helpful.

Thank you for sharing. Great video as usual.

thank you, this is a great video, very helpful!

Thank you so much, this is really helpful

Thank you, that helped me a great deal.

Great video! Thanks

Great work. Thank you.

This is valuable to me thanks muchly

Excellent video. Thank you...

You make it look so easy.

@mikeno62

2 жыл бұрын

well, sometimes it's not so easy, but I have spend ton of hours during many years and on many, many different lenses. Sometimes it's just the amount of hours it can take to figure out, how to actually disassemble another unknown lens, without a service manual or absolutly no (0) info on the internet, and there's no one to ask about it.

Great informative videos, Thanks! One question; How come you didn't clean the retaining rings?

Brilliant. Thx.

Really wish i had the balls to do this stuff! I bought a Super Takumar 35mm F2 (fat version) but the barrel is fairly loose when when trying to focus, it adjusts the aperture about 1/2 to 1 full stop sometimes and takes things out of focus. Have you done a video on one of those before? If not, id gladly send you mine to work on (and compensation!) Anywho, love your videos! Very very informative.

Couple question: What type of gloves do you use? I've used some types of gloves that melt from solvents and since you use lighter fluid, I just wanted to make sure I have gloves that will not create issues. After watching your examples, I purchased many of the tools to repair several of my lenses. Cleaning, I think I can deal with. I have a Tomioka Auto Chinon 55 f/1.4 - an old and apparently fairly rare lens which is well taken care of, glass clear, iris clean, but the f-stop ring has been misaligned and jammed. I want to repair it myself but honestly, I'm a little freaked out about plunging into the iris. I don't think I would have to take apart the iris, but I will have to open the lens and re-align the screws to the iris - I believe I saw this in one of the many videos you created. Does this job sound like something needed to be done by someone with more experience? Or is it a task that is manageable by a somewhat careful & technically minded novice?

Mike, do you also clean the rings and element body pieces to remove the dirt and what not that builds up in there?

what gloves are safe to use for cleaning lens elements? i just got this lens and its really dirty but i just dont want to do anymore damage.

Could you help me please? I have an earlier version (with the red dot instead of diamond) f/1.8 and the lens acts as it was always in auto mode whatever positions the lever is set to. When I put the lever to manual - the aperture is always open (it closes when i push the pin but in manual it shouldn't be that way) could you please give me an advice what could cause this problem? Thank you

Thank you

I have the 8 element version of lenses, do you think it would be so different or could I follow this tutorial? I haven't found anything on the internet on how to disassembly my specific version.

I bought a nice used super-takumar 50mm 1,4, but it´s not as sharp as I think it should be. Could it be that the lenses are yellow or how can I find the reason for it not being sharp? It´s worse when I shoot in sharp daylight. Very informative video by the way:-)

Thanks for the video. I have a Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 1:1.4/50. From my limited knowledge my lens is one generation newer than the one you showed in this video. Do you know if they disassemble/assemble the same way? If I am not mistaken, they both are 7 element and 6 group so I hope they are structurally the same.

@raulrodrigues2307

3 жыл бұрын

Same thing here, can't get past the 10 minutes mark, where the whole barrel comes off. It seems different. I can remove the first elements and reach the diaphragm, but I can not reach the rear elements without dissassembling the whole lens.

@mikeno62

2 жыл бұрын

This is why I made this video, it's about the difference between the 8 elements version and the 7 elements version, you can see it here: kzread.info/dash/bejne/lax7ztdshsfegJM.html

Thanks for posting this educational video. My lens at the rear group is kind of slight yellowish. Is it something that I should disassemble and clean? with lighter fluid? Thanks.

@suryawolters4334

6 ай бұрын

Depending on the version of the lens it could be slightly radioactive, a yellowish tint in the glass is one of the signs, and the older Takumar 50mm 1.4 is known for containing thoriated glass. If you're only worried about the yellow putting the lens under uv light will take it away. (Sunlight also works for this) If it is actually glass that contains thorium, taking it apart can be kind of dangerous and I would advise doing a bit of research first.

@bakewithjacques2534

6 ай бұрын

@@suryawolters4334 thanks for the advice.

saludos, excelente y metódico evidencia su profesionalismo, as limpiado lente canon fd 15mm o 20mm

@mikeno62

2 жыл бұрын

Desculpe, não tenho essas lentes.

Nice work... I was hoping you'd show a before and after cleaning picture.

@mikeno62

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I should of course have taken before and after pictures, but it will happen next time I cleaning a lens.

@pop0ful

2 жыл бұрын

@@mikeno62 thank you 😊

Hi i have a problem with My Pentax 50mm 1.4 7 element, the inner tube is loose. How can i fix this?

8:38 How to make the front ring loose, I cannot move it

Do you this kind of work as a professional service? I am interested in having you clean my 8-element f1.4 50mm Super-Takumar. I have neither the tools not the courage to attempt pulling that lens apart.

can you make video about how to cleaning 7artisans 35mm f1.2. thank you

@mikeno62

3 жыл бұрын

Sorry, I do not have this lens.

Крутая груша с фильтром дорогая?

Hello! Does the Super Takumar 20mm 4.5 open in the same way?

@mikeno62

3 жыл бұрын

I don't know, I didn't know there was a 20mm lens, maybe I should look for that.

@Just-a-bystander

3 жыл бұрын

I have one as well, would be great to see a video on that.

It is not recommended to use lighter fluid to clean camera lenses.

Doesn't this effect lens collimation?

@Kevin-he3ew

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah this is a good question.

Have you ever checked your cleaning results using the flashlight under a lens? In my case usually, some smudges are still present and not visible on 'normal' room light from the top. Even after 10 times wiping with new pieces of the cleaning tissue a flashlight reveals something on the surface. I wonder if this can be related to the wrong cleaning technique or impurities (oils?) in the lighter fluid? I follow the same procedure as you show, but lenses are not crystal-clear every time. Any advice about that? The lens is not a Takumar, actually, my question refers to any lens I tried (usually, old Soviet ones).

@marcoma4522

4 жыл бұрын

same concern here, I found sometimes hot water flushing gives better result, wipping solution creates smudges as often, especially for pentacon or czj old glasses.

@danc2014

4 жыл бұрын

Yes, I have dust and smudges all the time. Hot water cleans the best rubber gloves and microwave wipes for assembling.

@Babsdoproductions

3 жыл бұрын

Sorry to bring this back up, in my testing, hot water can eat the coating of your lens if not careful and never leave any splashed water droplets on a piece of glass, wipe them off immediately with some lens cleaning solution! Learned that the hard way when I was cleaning filters, the water just ate a spot in the coating that won’t come out. Haven’t seen it in the images but it’s a bummer knowing the spots are there in those filters. :/ As for wipe marks and smudges, just keep wiping with a light bit of lens cleaning solution and high quality Q-tips. A dab or swirl of the wet side will lay down the cleaning solution and the dry side will wipe it away, soaking up just enough to lightly wipe streaks away, if they come back or the Q-tip made some, add a dab of the wet side and try again or do another round with a fresh Q-tip.

@parker6634

3 жыл бұрын

crush up cigar ash them gently clean the lens

Do you have a video in the 8 element ?

@mikeno62

4 жыл бұрын

Sorry, but no.

Do you have plans for a Asahi Super-Takumar 1:1.4/50 8-Element lens cleaning? Would like to see what is different in parts and possible procedure changes is there are any. If you don't have any available I'd be glad to send you mine so you could create the video. I'd pay you for the service and you would get the chance to create some new content. Just let me know and I'll be happy to work out the details with you. Thanks and keep up the good work.

@mikeno62

2 жыл бұрын

Hi Richard, at the moment I am actually prepare to make a video about the Asahi Super-Takumar 1:1.4/50, 8 lens element version, and it will be about, what is the difference between the 7_lens element version and the 8_lens element version, just so one can seen the difference and what to look for.

@richardfaroni7268

2 жыл бұрын

@@mikeno62 Thanks for the update. If I have trouble with it let me know where to send mine for a good cleaning.

blown air before cleaning

Isn't this lens radioactive?

@mikeno62

4 жыл бұрын

Someone mention that some of those old Super-Takumar are a bit radioactive.

@sixsoxsex1

4 жыл бұрын

like a banana

@giotis62

4 жыл бұрын

abcd like a banana? It’ the most radioactive thing I found till now. Mine is so radioactive that I prefere to keep it in a lead box ☺️

@jonz2984

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, they are radioactive. The elements that Kenneth is working on at around 38 minutes are the most radioactive (internal, rear group). Asahi, and other manufacturers, used thorium for some types of low dispersion glass and typically 10% to 20% of the glass weight could be thorium. These lenses are likely to be more radioactive now than when they were made (roughly 1964 - 1979), as the radioactive decay products of Thorium-232 have grown towards an equilibrium condition over about 30-40 years. The brown colour is caused by radiation damage to the glass crystal lattice and it can be reduced by exposing the affected lens elements to UV light, or strong sunlight. Be careful when handling these thorium glass elements as a light surface cloudiness can sometimes contain a radioactive deposit of metallic polonium or bismuth from the decay of the thorium. Also, the beta radiation emitted by some of the decay products of thorium will irradiate your skin and the high energy alpha particles emitted by isotopes of polonium together with the beta particles and gamma rays are capable of irradiating your eye lens, so one should avoid holding these rear inner elements up to the eye when inspecting them (just in case you hold your reversed camera lens up to your eye for hours at a time to look at your contact prints). Don't worry too much about normal use of a camera fitted with such a lens as they were covered by exemptions to radioactive substance laws on the grounds that any radiation doses are well below maximum permissible levels and are likely to be inconsequential. Repair personnel should be careful in case a lens element is chipped, as a splinter of this glass puncturing the skin could potentially cause an internal radiation dose. Wearing gloves, as shown in this video, and washing your hands after working on your lenses are wise precautions. Most of all, enjoy taking nice photographs with these very good lenses! Anyone who doesn't want their radioactive Super Takumar (or SMC Takumar) 35/2, 55/1.8, 50/1.4, 50/4 Macro, 100/4 Macro and 85/1.8 can give them to me, along with a few top Nikkors, some early (1954) Leitz 50/2 Summicrons, Hexanon 57/1.2 and some other top specification lenses of the time! Very nice and clear video, thank you!

@giotis62

3 жыл бұрын

JON ZHENG oh yes! This is an explanation!!! 👏🏻

damn this video gives me anxiety..