Experience with lens repair by Carl Zeiss

[Guest]

Last evening my 28mm lens for my Contax G system fell on the floor :-( ... It doens't fit the body anymore (When I put it on the body, I cannot turn it around enough to 'click' the lens. It seems that something inside the lens is deformed and of course I'm not sure whether the optics are still OK...

I have two option: throw it away and buy a new one (approx. 300 euro second hand in good shape) or send it to Carl Zeiss for repair. Do you have any experience with lens-repair by Carl Zeiss? What did it they charge you?

Sander :-(

 

[Guest]

Man, that really sucks! I hate when I drop my stuff. I dropped the L bracket to my RZ67 and the gizmo gave out on me.

I'll tell you one thing............if you send it back to Kyocera to be repaired, don't wait by the telephone. I ordered an owners manual from them for my G2 well over a month ago. I'm still waiting. Imagine how long it would take for a lens repair?

 

[Guest]

Sander, which country are you in? There was a message somewhere on this forum a couple months ago and someone recommended a very good repairman who is recognized by zeiss historical (or was it by cz themselves?). I know he is in the US. I jotted down the name and contact details at the time, and if this is something you would like to check out, I will keep trying to find what I did with the details. (Otherwise maybe the original poster will write in again).

As a side note, I wish that good repair people would advertise on this site so we would know where to turn when we need good help. While I'm at it, I also wish that vendors of Contax / Zeiss used and new would advertise here too, it would make this such a complete resource.

-Lynn

 

[Guest]

HI, Sander I'm not the only one dropping things. Maybe you have to reposition the bayonet: with the lens of the camera turn the lens grip ring anticlockwise and the lens mount ring clockwise (holding the lens so you look at the front-element). See page 28 of instruction manual. Good Luck! Frank Lindeman

 

[Guest]

>Before you ditch the lens, make sure the mounting teeth haven't been jolted loose by the drop. This can prevent the lens from locking onto the body. You can adjust this by sliding the mounting teeth yourself. Hope this helps.

Chip >

 

[Guest]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your respons. I live in the Netherlands, so a repairman in the US is not the way to go for me... I think the importer in the Netherlands will send the lens to Carl Zeiss in Germany.

Frank, the bayonet itself is ok. Ik can position the lens on the body, but I cannot twist it far enough to let it click because of internal friction (inside the lens). I notice the same effect when I try to twist the lens when not attached to the body.

Chip, I don't understand exactly what you mean (My English is pretty bad).. What do you mean by 'mounting teeth' ?

Thanks so far! And of course: more suggestions for fixing the problem myself are very welcom!

Sander

 

[Guest]

Hi Sander I did not drop mine (a 21 mm Contax G lens, but I have exactly the same problem.
I have phoned the licensed importer (Plasmas in Tilburg). They believe that with turning several parts of the lens viz. a viz. each other (I saw a similar advice earlier) the problem can be solved: the adjustment of internal parts can get lost when wrongly fitting the lens to camera (and maybe also by dropping). Plasmans will not make the lens themselves, for sure. And they have not indicated (don't want to) where they will send it to.
I am trying to find out a decent repair shop.
I have two addresses in Holland that have been advised to me by a very good camera shop in our village (on of the best in Eastern Holland, Henk van Heek in Wierden). He advises to consider the following repair options:

Kunee Instruments in Emmen and NCR reflex in Amsterdam. In fact van Heek thinks that Plasmans sends its Contax repair to NCR. Watch out he advises to take care with the pricing and cost of the repair for both the repair shops.

Actually Plasmans has indicated that the repair is a simple several minutes job (??)

So probably one can wait for it.
I will try to get more information in the following days.

I invite any other Dutch Contax user that has experience with Contax repair shops to share this information........


Peter

 

[Guest]

Hello,

I had to send in my Tessar 2.8/45 for repair in 1997. I shipped it to Zeiss directly. The adress is:
Carl Zeiss
Photoobjektive
D-73446 Oberkochen
Germany
Three days later I got a letter in which they told me that they've received my lens.
Another five days later I got a letter in which I was detailed told what must be done and what it will cost. I had to send a reply, if the repair should be done or not.
If the repair costs to much for you, you only have to pay for the look to your lens and returning. In 1997 this was approx. 20,- Euros plus tax.
The repair was done in another two days (!). I was glad to get my lens back via UPS. Everything was done with the original parts and it looked very fine!
I would send every repair to the original manufacturer. They've got all the know how and the parts.

Matthias

 

[Guest]

Thanks matthias, are you saying your repair cost you 20 Euro (excluding taxes and cost for shipping??

Seems like a jolly good performance. But I question if they will allow me to send it from Holland??

Peter

 

[Guest]

Thanks Matthias, are you saying your repair cost you 20 Euro (excluding taxes and cost for shipping??

Seems like a jolly good performance. But I question if they will allow me to send it from Holland??

Peter

 

[Guest]

Hello Peter,

> Thanks matthias, are you saying your repair cost you 20 Euro
> (excluding taxes and cost for shipping??

No! The repair was a bit more expensive. If you want Zeiss to send your
lens back without any repair, you'll have to pay this 20,- Euros (plus
tax and shipping).

> But I question if they will allow me to send it from Holland??

I don't think this will be a problem. But you may check this before. Here's the contact address from the Zeiss-homepage:

Carl Zeiss
Carl Zeiss Str. 4-54
73447 Oberkochen
Tel.: (0049) 7364-20 6175
Fax: (0049) 7364-20 4045
photo@zeiss.de

Matthias

 

[Guest]

Hi,

I called Carl Zeiss, but they don't repair Contax-G lenses! I had to contact Kyocera Hamburg (0049)402515070. I could send it from the Netherlands, and they thought it would cost something like 220 euro... I don't get how they could make an estimate of the costs: I haven't told them the exact problem of the lens!!??!! I don't have much trust in them...

Maybe I will send the lens to Plasman. Plansman assured that they will use only original materials.

Peter: what is the advantage of sending the lens not to plasman but to NCR directly?

Sander

 

[Guest]

Sander,

I have been personally at Contax/Kyocera Hamburg 2 months ago.
They cleaned the inside of my Contax G Planar 45 free of charge. I talked to some of the service staff and I would absolutely trust in them.

If you do not plan a trip to Hamburg, I would recommend to send them the lens and let them firstly do an estimate of cost. Telephonic diagnostics is erroneous.

Till

 

[Guest]

Hi Sander. I have phoned around a lot in the last two days.
Indeed none of those I spoke to are even willing to even consider giving a price for the repair, so I am as confused as you are about this 220 Euro cost quotation you received from Contax Hamburg.
I have the same experience as you: Zeiss do not repair the Contax G lenses, but forward these straight to Contax Hamburg.
Then I also phoned Contax Hamburg and they were not really friendly and willing to help, but eventually I got a knowledgeable technician on the phone: I can send it or bring it, but whichever way it will take me about 3 weeks before it gets back. Sending from Holland with insurance is a costly affair (some 20 Euro one way).
I phoned NCR in Amsterdam, they have experience with Contax, but not exactly with the kind of problem I have with the 21 mm lens as they have stopped repairing for Plasmans since several years ago and Plasmans have trained a local supplier to repair the Contax equipment with original parts.
For me, living in the eastern part of Holland, Hamburg is about as close as Tilburg in the south of Holland, where Plasmans is located. I have phoned Plasmans for a second time and I must say that they were the friendliest of the bunch and also knowledgeable; although they do not have an emergency repair facility (neither does Hamburg and NCR): they have advised me to bring the camera with the 21 mm lens together since for the adjustment of the lens to the body they may need my G2. I was surprised by this conclusion, but anyhow, if this guarantees the best repair then this is fine.
By the way in Hamburg they have seen several of the G lenses with my type of problem (and probably Sander's problem as well): they state that the main reason for the failure of the lens to lock is the adjustment of the rotating part of the bayonet versus the outer part of the bayonet (there are fragile parts inside which may have been bent or similar). They have, however, also several times found lose parts in the mechanism, blocking the locking mechanism. All in the entire repair cost can vary a lot.
In conclusion I will bring my lens to Plasmans and within a week I will have it back. Sander, you will have to make your own choice, I wish you luck.

 

[Guest]

Peter,

First I go away for my vacation (without the 28mm :-( and after that I will decide what to do with the lens. I would like to hear from your experience with Plasman after they repaired your lens!

Cheers,
Sander

 

[Guest]

Sander, I have fixed my problem of not being able to lock the 21 mm lens onto my G2. Guess what? It was very simple. There was a minute burr on the bayonet where the lock lever of the camera body is meant to enter into a square pit in the bayonet. Fortunately I was in the environment of Muenster in Germany, where the guys from Photo Koester took a look at my lens and have given me some advice that made me look twice so to say for very small irregularities. Their claim is that even 0.01 mm of dent or burr can make your lens fail to lock and this actually triggered my action. I have investigated my 21mm lens bayonet
with a 10 times magnifying glass and I discovered a little burr on the edge of the square shaped "pit" into which the pen of the camera
bayonet lever locks. It was much less than a hair in thickness and not even a 1 mm long.
I have taken it away with a very small screwdriver (making sure the minuscule piece was not falling into the lens as well). And that
simply FIXED IT. Very simple, it now fits as the best of my 4 lenses.
So where I cannot give you a better advice I think you need to take a
good look at all the meachnical partof the bayonet. Quite possibly it is only a very small dent or little edge that causes all the locking problems.
I have tried to upload a picture of what I mean (in the sense of what caused my problem) and hopefully this clarifies it sufficiently. I am not stating this is the only possible cause. It illustrates however how awfully critical the shape of the bayonet construction is.
If you are not really technical, I advise you to go to an official repair provider (we talked about the options before, my choice would still be Plasmans in Tilburg), it is tricky stuff altogether.

 

[Guest]

Peter, Great that you were able to fix the problem yourself! I also checked my lens, but I didn't find anything strange...

Thank you all for your input. I decided to bring the lens to Plasmans in The Netherlands after my holidays.

Sander

 

[Guest]

Sander, my story was quite elaborate because I could initially also not find anything funny and eventually decided to take a 10* magnifying glass to take a closer look and then I observed the very little burr. That was the reason. So before you take it away of repair: compare with the lens that still works OK and compare on all the possible places where the fitting should be perfect. For instance the place I indicate on my photo
In case you decide to repair by Plasmans, please share your experience on this site. You never know who may need your esperience in the future.

Peter