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Ever get the feeling... (broken Zeiss Planar 50mm)

Rob Anderson

Rob Anderson

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A shoot is going so well... too well. Perfect in fact. And suddenly, something goes south and you think to yourself, "Should have seen that coming."

Yes, we were insured on the shoot. But that's beside the point. I absolutely hate breaking legacy stuff and this is the first time I've broken a lens of any kind. How screwed am I? Pricing estimates and deep scolding appreciated. Encouraged in fact. Thanks.
 

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That first photo made me feel physically ill. Ouch!
 
Oh man, super bummer Rob. I'd have Duclos give it a look. Not gonna be cheap... like probably a couple thousand bucks depending on how much other stuff it out of whack inside that lens. Yeah, how did that happen exactly, so I can try not to make whatever mistake was made here. Thanks for sharing.
 
Is that a "B Speed"?
 
Dropped?

I was running on set once--we had a half an hour of light left and the location owner was threatening to kick us out. No idea why. My coat snagged on a door, ripping my arm backwards, just as said location owner screamed behind me.

ZF 28mm goes flying--into a rock garden. Crack. We got lucky, it was a simple repair as the glass elements were fine, just the aperture ring needed loosening.

With Rob's lens, the rear element needs replacing and the internal ones might've shifted around. If its jus the rear element you could be in for less than a thousand provides the lens house has that element from a FUBAR lens laying around. Thats optimistic, but best of luck to you
 
I'd love to pass the blame and say it was one of the two AC's we had on set, but nope. It was me. My own dumb mistake. Still kicking myself. Perfect drop from a moderate height onto a packed concrete terrace floor. Had a monopod coming at me from the left and was looking in that direction while passing to AC on right for swap to another lens.

I've got Duclos, Abel Cine, and Focus Optics on tap to call Monday. Any other suggestions and/or feedback for each?
 
Duclos always does right by me. The lens tech at Abelcine is also very knowledgeable and easy to talk to. I think his name was George? You can't go wrong with either of those two. I have never dealt with Focus Optics, so someone else will have to vouch for them. I also hear the guys at Visual Products are top notch, but Ive never dealt with them personally (other than pestering them for MK III Supers on the phone). I think they are in Ohio? Anyway, good luck with that repair. Hopefully, its a simple element replacement.
 
Clint Lealos said:
Duclos always does right by me. The lens tech at Abelcine is also very knowledgeable and easy to talk to. I think his name was George? You can't go wrong with either of those two. I have never dealt with Focus Optics, so someone else will have to vouch for them. I also hear the guys at Visual Products are top notch, but Ive never dealt with them personally (other than pestering them for MK III Supers on the phone). I think they are in Ohio? Anyway, good luck with that repair. Hopefully, its a simple element replacement.
Click to expand...
Great suggestions. Thanks Clint. In Happy Glass News, the macro I bought from you is working strong.
 
Clint Lealos said:
Duclos always does right by me. The lens tech at Abelcine is also very knowledgeable and easy to talk to. I think his name was George? You can't go wrong with either of those two. I have never dealt with Focus Optics, so someone else will have to vouch for them. I also hear the guys at Visual Products are top notch, but Ive never dealt with them personally (other than pestering them for MK III Supers on the phone). I think they are in Ohio? Anyway, good luck with that repair. Hopefully, its a simple element replacement.
Click to expand...

We are the Official Zeiss service center in the US, the tech's name is Jorge Diaz-Amador. Check your PM's.
 
Talk to Charles at Serious Gear in Seattle. They refurbish lenses and have great technical knowledge.
 
Thanks for the kind words, Clint!

I do regret having to say that unfortunately there is likely nothing we can do. The replacement element is not available.

When Carl Zeiss introduced the second generation (Mk. II / T1.3) of the High Speed prime lenses (around 1984), they had the opportunity to increase the maximum aperture of the two Planars in the set to f1.2/T1.3 on the 50mm and 85mm.

Previously, the aperture on these lenses was limited to T1.4 by the need for the rear element to fit inside the ARRI Bayonet mount.

The Mk. II / Mk. III HS lenses accept PL mount only, and the larger diameter inside the PL mount allowed an optical re-design of the two Planars (50mm and 85mm) with larger rear groups that increased the exit pupil diameter. This gave a new maximum stop of f1.2 / T1.3.

If you look at a set of (Mk. I / B-Speed) T1.4 HS Primes, you'll see that the 50mm is f1.3 and the 85mm is f1.4. Both are rated at T1.4. The wider Distagon lenses in the set are f1.2.

The replacement elements for the 50mm and 85mm HS Mk. I lenses have been unavailable for a long time, at least a decade, maybe more. However, for the time being, front and rear elements for the 18, 25 and 35mm are available because the Mk. II elements will usually fit the Mk. I Distagons.

The only suggestion I can make in a situation like this is it to keep the lens and search for a 50mm T1.4 that has a damaged front group. Then it may be possible to do the repair using the best parts from both lenses.

I wish I had better news but I hope this information is helpful.
 
Just wanted to update this thread and let anyone interested know we were able to find a suitable replacement on eBay and thanks for the great input from Jorge at AbelCine, our insurance company had no problem accepting and paying our claim. I was nervous because we only just bought the policy less than 2 months prior to the damage. I did my best to let them know it was totally my fault, I dropped the lens myself, I've been cursing myself ever since, and I promise to do my part to keep anything like it from happening again.

Fortunately they were good with that and never even suggested the policy would get pulled. Payment was quick and the eBay seller was fast to ship. All is well in the world, although I still feel bad for breaking a nice piece of glass.
 
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