Hi Everybody, I have picked up a 135 Hektor lens on E-bay for about $130 with S&H. The glass is very good, so is the barrel, but there is oil on aperture blades (was not mentioned in the product description). What does it say about the mechanical condition of the aperture assembly and how bad is this symptom in general? I appreciate your help, as always. Thanks a lot, Igor

-- Igor Osatuke (visionstudios@yahoo.com), April 16, 2002

Answers

First off, are you sure it is oil (wet) and not rub-polish (shiny) from years of use? Second, if it is oil, the big problem is migration to the glass itself or sticking aperture blades; is it doing this? If not, IMO for $130 you can afford to shoot with it as- is, and if you find you love it spend the $$$ later on a good CLA.

Cheers,

-- J Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), April 16, 2002.

Yes,that's very bad.

-- Phil the good (philkneen@manx.net), April 16, 2002.

This has come up before in the past, so if you look through the archives you can see other answers.

Sometimes the aperture blades can look oily due to the metal being polished to a shiny metallic finish from years of use. This is normal.

If there is really copious oil, this can lead to problems. It can vaporize under heat and then migrate to the optical elements.

Hopefully your lens is just shiny smooth, giving the illusion of oil. On the other hand there are many unqualified repairs done all of the time, and using the wrong type of lubricant is common. If it is really oil, I'd get the lens serviced (CLA).

Good luck.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), April 16, 2002.

Thanks a lot for your help gentlemen. I checked it and it is polished paint, not oil. Thanks again, Igor

-- Igor Osatuke (visionstudios@yahoo.com), April 16, 2002.

Igor sorry about the delayed response but if you are ever in doubt there is a quick and dirty trick to check whether it is oil or polish. If it is an M lens turn the F stop ring from largest to smallest opening very quickly and watch the iris movement (best done with the lens off the camera), if there is any delay in the iris movement you have oil on the blades otherwise its just polish. If its an R cammed lens take the lens off, set it at the smallest aperature and move the actuator cam to the closed position. Again any delay and you have oil. Unfortunatly I don't know the rom lenses well enough to give you any tricks except to set the camera at a slow shutter speed, small F stop and watch the action.

-- Andy Wagner (awagner@midwest-express.com), April 17, 2002.