Fix Broken Aperture Ring

It still looks great from above but is much stronger.

Fix broken aperture ring.

If there is a ring like this farther down the tube ignore it it s no problem. Manual focusing is a great exercise and the quality of the glass is often surprising. Sometimes the ring must be altered a bit to give it strength. Or if you notice a weak area have it beefed up before it cracks or becomes damaged.

I really enjoy using m42 aka screw mount lenses. Click stop mechanism is self secured so it s safe to remove aperture ring without loosing tiny metal. Vivitar 70 210mm f4 5 lens version made by kobori has interesting mechanical construction of aperture transmission. In the case of the above ring a gold section was added underneath.

Be careful reflections can sometimes look a lot like these rings. As usual first step is to unscrew four mount bolts and remove thick and massive mount ring. The catch is that all three types can have no response to turning the obviously marked aperture ring without being broken. Also the main lens should be at least two inches across.

Most are about 2 5 or so. A ring with a small fracture in the band or that is completely broken into two or more pieces should be taken to a store to be soldered and filed back together. Be sure you see an actual aperture stop right behind the lens that blocks light from the sky. In this video we will be looking at a way to fix aperture ring getting stuck in manual lens or in any vintage lens.

Have your jeweler repair the point that is broken. There are three basic types of m42 aperture controls listed here in chronological order. While the ideal option is to return to the same store or jeweler from which the ring was bought large chains like kay jewelers will perform repairs no matter where the ring was purchased.