Servicing Zeiss standard speed lenses

[Fabian Schreyer]

So I got a set (8, 16, 25, 50) of Zeiss standard speed lenses for my Arriflex 16 ST. They are in great condition, but I guess the grease for the focus movement needs to be renewed. Has anyone here ever done this? 

Also, does anyone know what kind of grease should be used? Maybe some kind of molybdenum (MoS2) grease? 

I would also appreciate any hints on how the focus mechanism has to be disassembled. I think it should not be that complicated/risky, as it just moves the whole lens assembly back and forth. 

[Dom Jaeger]

I wouldn’t recommend trying to do this yourself. Those lenses use a double helicoid focussing ring, with internal and external threads, that connect to the body and the mount. There are multiple thread starts, and each part needs to screw into the precise thread start for a precise number of turns in order to line up with the focus scale at infinity. There are other tricky bits that are easy to stuff up if you are not experienced in servicing cine lenses. I’ve had to rebuild too many Zeiss Super and Standard Speeds that were pulled apart by people who didn’t know what they were doing, and it can turn a 2 hr relube job into a five hr puzzle to solve. The greases are not molybdenum based, they generally use a synthetic hydrocarbon base and there are a variety of them available from Zeiss. I use one type for the helicoid, one for the guides and another for the iris ring.

If you do try and do it yourself, make sure to measure all gaps at infinity and precisely mark where threads come apart. Take lots of photos.

[Fabian Schreyer]

Thank you, Dom! That was the kind of professional insight that I was hoping for.

I will leave them untouched for now; if I should ever give it a try, I will post about my experience here.

[Fabian Schreyer]

I'd like to add one thing here: If anyone knows of any videos/pictures on the internet of someone taking apart a Zeiss Standard Speed MkI with ARRI Standard Mount, I would highly appreciate a link to that! 

But I suspect that there is nothing, as I have been googling about it quite some time.