Fix Broken Aperture Ring

In the case of the above ring a gold section was added underneath.

Fix broken aperture ring.

Manual focusing is a great exercise and the quality of the glass is often surprising. Vivitar 70 210mm f4 5 lens version made by kobori has interesting mechanical construction of aperture transmission. In this video we will be looking at a way to fix aperture ring getting stuck in manual lens or in any vintage lens. I recently disassembled one sample for repair.

There are three basic types of m42 aperture controls listed here in chronological order. I really enjoy using m42 aka screw mount lenses. Be sure you see an actual aperture stop right behind the lens that blocks light from the sky. As usual first step is to unscrew four mount bolts and remove thick and massive mount ring.

Click stop mechanism is self secured so it s safe to remove aperture ring without loosing tiny metal. Also the main lens should be at least two inches across. Most are about 2 5 or so. If there is a ring like this farther down the tube ignore it it s no problem.

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. 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. Or if you notice a weak area have it beefed up before it cracks or becomes damaged. This little instructable is about how to make aperture control f number setting on each of these types of lenses work on your dslr.

Have your jeweler repair the point that is broken. The lens i used here in this video is th. Be careful reflections can sometimes look a lot like these rings.