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Shim issue with SCHNEIDER 60mm

neil

New member
Decided to swap my 60mm SCHNEIDER lens from a Rollei electronic shutter into a copel shutter.

Slight problem. What was a great lens became a terrible lens. All corners soft.

Upon investigation I found by loosening the front element by one quarter turn the lens is restored to its former glory. Amazing the difference a quarter turn on the screw thread makes.

I need a thin rubber shim to go between the front element and copel shutter.
Interestingly some of my other linhof branded rodenstock lens have this shim. Does anyone know where I could get one of these rubber shims from. It's no fun having a loose front element.

Kindest regards

Neil
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Neil you should be able to recalibrate the lens with the three screws under the rubber focus ring and reset your infinity. I have done this with my 35xl. I never needed to on my 60 but just pull back the rubber and see if the adjustment screws are there.
 

neil

New member
Thanks for quick reply. I did manage to loosen the three small screws and recalibrate infinity on the helicoil. I am now testing by shooting at a wall that's a few meters away. The problem seems to be with the spacing between the lens elements. This must mean that my electronic shutter and copel shutter are slightly different thickness. It seems that even the difference of quarter turn of front lens element in the copel shutter thread makes a big difference. When I screw front lens element into copel shutter it needs to not screw in as far as the thread end but stop a quarter turn before. It's a really small distance. The only way to achieve this would be a very thin rubber shim.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Okay good in a way. Was wondering if it was the calibration or the space. Seems like the space. I would contact Schneider in I believe in NY and talk to them , they maybe able to help.
 

archivue

Active member
"Decided to swap my 60mm SCHNEIDER lens from a Rollei electronic shutter into a copel shutter."
even if you swap your lens from a copal to an other copal, it needs to be re-calibrated at the factory... we are talking about microns...
 

neil

New member
Thanks I will try contacting Rodenstock. I did notice that my Rodenstock lens do each have a small shimming ring.

At the moment I am using three layers of tin foil which seems to be the right size as the lens is sharp in the corners now. It was an interesting experience actually being able to see the difference as I added in each layer of tin foil. Each layer made a Hugh difference to corner sharpness.
 

Stefan Steib

Active member
I know it sounds funny to ask Rodenstock for schneider support , but they actually do mount Schneider lenses on electronic shutters frequently and Dieter Wenzel is one of the rare specialists who really know what they are talking about.

Regards
Stefan
 

neil

New member
Just out of interest I took the front lens unit off each of my lens.

All the Rodenstock lens have a little ring shim that is used to position the front lens unit exactly. I can understand how Rodenstock is calibrating lens.

All the Schneider lens did not have a shim. So how exactly are schneider calibrating the lens? Or are they producing lens that are exactly matched to the copel shutter size? Anyone know.
 

yaya

Active member
Just out of interest I took the front lens unit off each of my lens.

All the Rodenstock lens have a little ring shim that is used to position the front lens unit exactly. I can understand how Rodenstock is calibrating lens.

All the Schneider lens did not have a shim. So how exactly are schneider calibrating the lens? Or are they producing lens that are exactly matched to the copel shutter size? Anyone know.
It could be that there is a shim under the rear element and not under the front one, check that it is not stuck in the Rollei shutter.

Note that a shim is not always required and sometimes they use a metal shim that is glued to the shutter's body. I would contact your camera manufacturer as they can ensure that everything is where it should be i.e. lens elements, lens mount, focusing ring and of course the back....
 

RodK

Active member
Schneider also may be machining the brass mounting ring in the copal shutter to achieve sharp focus, as opposed to shimming. The Rodenstock rings are different thicknesses so be careful about borrowing etc. As someone above noted, the factory or similar repair site with a columnator is the best method for precision remounting.
Rod
 

neil

New member
Ok thanks, just looked inside the front of the copel shutter. There is the inner brass mount with a toothed ring around it. It looks like if I had a special tool to turn this ring then I would be able to either shorten or lengthen the distance between the lens units. Does anyone know where I could get the special spanner for turning this ring? This would be a very usefull thing to have as could then easily sort out the calibration myself.
 
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