I just obtained a Miranda DR to go along with a Miranda A I have, and unfortunately the lens' aperture mechanism is shot. Attempts to revive it proved futile.
So, I'm looking to see if anyone here might have a Miranda or Soligor branded lens with a PAD (pressure activated diaphragm) -- the little sidearm, similar to those on Exaktas, that presses the shutter button on the camera. This isn't my photo, but illustrates what I mean. Thank you!
The diaphragms in all of my PAD lenses required serious cleaning to work properly. One of them needs to be cleaned again after a pretty thorough cleaning just last year. Common problem. Watch ebay, the 50mm and 135mm PAD lenses come up often enough.
I have a couple of the other style...the pin connect on the opposite side. Did you remove the lens elements to clean the aperture? As already mentioned, those frequently need cleaning.
Jon
Jon, my skills at tinkering with lenses are few and far between. I wasn't able to remove the front element, but I was indeed able to remove the back element. Still, there's the question of the mechanism inside the PAD sidearm thingy, and I'm not able to get inside that, or the bulk of the lens body, to clean it all.
Terry, the entire front of the lens unscrews as a unit with all front elements included. Simply grab the front of the lens with your hand and unscrew it, it probably isn't even very tight. I'll get a photo if that would help. Once the front is unscrewed you have plenty of access to the diaphragm leaves, but it might take an hour or more of repeated wiping with lighter fluid to get them clean enough to work freely. Let the lens dry over night before screwing the front back on.
Thanks, Yashinoff. I'll try that tomorrow. I had merely tried using a couple of small screwdrivers as a spanner to try to take the front element out, but it was so tight I couldn't manage it.
You won't need to remove the trim ring etc. Just get a grip on the front of the barrel ahead of the aperture ring. That's one of the nicer things about these PAD lenses.
IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIIIIIIIIIVE! I was able to get the front element off just as you instructed, bathed both the fronts and backs of the aperture blades with lighter fluid, and lo and behold, even the PAD button is springing the leaves back to life again! Thanks, Yashinoff!
Oops, I spoke too soon. The lens is stopping down to the smallest aperture when the button is pressed, regardless of the f-stop set on the ring.
Last edited by Terry Christian; 01-03-2013 at 05:44 PM. Click to view previous post history.
I'll take a look at mine and see if I can figure out something that'd help. Checking simple things first though, are all the set screws around the aperture ring present, and does it click into stops?
Yes it does. One of the set screws is missing, but I've made sure the other two are tightened down well. In the meantime I hope it'll behave differently once the lighter fluid dries completely overnight.
A portion of the inner wall of the lens, just behind the front element, seems to have a mechanism that controls how much the lens is stopped down when the button is pressed. Presumably it is controlled by the aperture ring; but currently no such connection, if there is one, is functioning.
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