Lens Service Archive September 04, 2019 0 Comments

The Zeiss Super Speeds were a staple of the motion picture industry when they were first released. They underwent several mechanical design revisions and a few optical changes in order to improve their usability throughout the course of their production which resulted in the Mk I, II, and III versions. Duclos Lenses is proficient at fully servicing the complete line of Super Speeds. Below you'll find just a few of the specific services we offer for repairing and restoring Zeiss Super Speed primes.

With age and heavy use, it's not uncommon for Super Speeds to require a complete overhaul. This includes removing every individual element and group of elements and disassembling all of the mechanical components. Once fully disassembled, all of the old grease is removed and each component is thoroughly cleaned. After the cleaning phase, brand new genuine Zeiss grease is applied and all of the components are reassembled along with the optics which undergo a meticulous cleaning as well. Tuning and adjusting follows in order to achieve the highest image quality and accuracy possible. The details of each tuning procedure are highly specialized and can require specialty machines and tooling.

In addition to a general overhaul, there are specialty procedures that Duclos Lenses has pioneered that are now performed on a regular basis. We'll take a closer look at the general service as well as some of these specialty services in the images below. For questions, leave a comment at the bottom or contact our Service Department.

Complete OverhaulA before and after example. Note the "blacked out" metric focus scale modification done poorly compared to the correct method in the After photo. Also note the vibrancy of the repainted focus scale markings in the After photo - much easier to read on-set.

Focus LubricationHere we can see the original (left), deteriorated grease loaded with dust, dirt, and grime from regular use. As you can see in the After (right) photo, once the old dirty grease has been removed, the bare aluminum threads are spotless and clean. This is the only correct way to clean and re-lube the focus movement of the Super Speeds. Simply packing in more grease is a method that some service shops may attempt, but never works well in the end.

Re-Anodizing and Engraving PaintOver time, heavy use can take a toll on even the best anodizing. As you can see in Before (left) photo, the anodizing has begun to wear out - especially around the front ring and focus/iris gears. Duclos Lenses can strip and re-anodize most components of the Zeiss Super Speeds to give them a like-new finish. This can be a delicate process as it requires preserving the original engravings in order to properly re-fill once anodized. Looking at the After (right) photo, you can see the bright, vibrant engravings with brand new paint-fill against the deep black anodizing.

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