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Lens service Zeiss or Kyocera

edwardkaraa

Well-Known Member
Hi All,

I have a Makro Planar 100mm f/2.8 lens which needs cleaning because it has too much dust inside. Since there is no more Contax service where I live, I have contacted both Zeiss and Kyocera asking for the length of service and cost. They both requested to send them the lens first and refused to give me any idea about the time and cost. The problem is I do use this lens regularly for jewelry product shots and I can't have it away for a long period.

I would like to ask any members who have already sent their lenses to be serviced at Zeiss (Germany) or Kyocera (Japan) to give me an idea about how long did it take and how much did it cost. Your replies are greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.
Edward
 
Hi Edward,

without shipping time included, calculate at least with 2 weeks. Do not send it before christmas, because of vacations of the employees, if it is not absolutley urgent. I would send it in in February, so you can be sure that any pipeline is alraedy "done" from christmas period.

Send it only to Zeiss, not to Kyocera. There you are sure that it is done well. The German Kyocera repair service is a nightmare and does nothing else then shipping it elsewhere...

Go to http://www.zeiss.com/c12567a8003b58b9/Contents-Frame/858dbbbbd2fb78a6c125711800592377 and look for the repair information & printaouts. Tell them that you are fullmember here at Contaxinfo.com and that I recommended that you send it to Zeiss for repair.
 
Hi
I would sent it to Oberkochen as well to Mr Bajerke.
Depending on where you live and how fast you need it back, make sure they donot use expensive UPS shipping...

maybe in the meantime you can take your close-ups with a Tamron SP 2.5/90 (E55 filter flavor) or newer macro lens which is around USD 200 off ebay.
cheers, rainer
 
Hello Dirk,

Many thanks for the very valuable info and advice.

Do you have any idea about how much should I expect to pay roughly for an internal dust cleaning? Is it in the 100, 200, 300 Euros range?

Thanks again. Edward
 
I have made a number of repairs of my lenses in Zeiss Oberkochen and a local shop in Tsimshatsui.

C-Y 28 2, damaged filter ring, whole lens sent to Zeiss. I must say I am very satisfied with the repair. The repair included cleaning of the internal elements and they looked much brighter. The lens was turned virtually to a new one. It was the most expensive costing me more than 330 Euro.

C-Y 100 2.8 MP, C-Y 85 1.2 they had debris in the internal elements. Opening the lenses for cleaning the internal elemnets are less demanding in specialized skills so this time I tried my trustworthy local shop. I am satisfied with the cleaning and they costed me USD70 per lens.
 
Years ago I dropped my 28-85 while on holiday in Corfu.It was in its CCS soft padded case and the fall was from my not very high shoulder to a shop floor.
It was damaged and would no longer focus.
I sent it to Germany where it was repaired by Zeiss. It worked all right afterwards but I seem to remember it cost virtually as much as buying a new lens. I claimed on my holiday insurance.
John
 
My Planar 50 1,4 with a slightly scratched front element and sloppiness inside (as if something was loose), cost a total fo 400 Euro (roughly nearly the cost of a new lens). The new element cost around 116 euro. In 10 days I had it back from Oberkochen. In your case, just cleaning should be much cheaper.

Hope that helps.
 
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