As we approach the completion of work on the Vinten camera, I turned this week to servicing the lenses that came with it. All 3 of the lenses were in ok optical condition, but suffered from years of neglect. I began by removing the miles of tape wrapped around the lens controls and cleaning the tape residue off of everything. Once I could actually see the lenses, I began carefully disassembling and cleaning off all of the petrified grease in the focus and f-stop mechanisms. After several hours of cleaning, scrubbing, and polishing the internal works, the lenses were reassembled. The most interesting part of this process was how the lenses mount to the camera turret. Instead of a quick release, the lenses fit through the lens ports on the turret and are held in place at the back of the turret by threaded brass retaining rings. This can only be done when the turret is off the camera, and then the turret with the lenses mounted to it has to be remounted to the camera. A most unusual way to mount the lenses to the camera!
