Maintenance
For years, I ignored cinema lenses in favor of photographic lenses for whatever reason. Maybe it had to do with the fact my first real lenses were a couple of Sigma’s. At the time, they were cheaper and more prevalent than cinema lenses when I purchased them 2009-2012.
Recently, I noticed a slight difference in image quality shot on Rokinon’s lenses. To me, they were less “clinical” and produced A softer and “creamier” bokeh . It was something I studied for a while before pulling the trigger on a used set of primes. I bought the 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm, in hopes of replacing my photographic arsenal with a dedicated set more akin for video. Manual aperture with built in gears are one of the main reasons for investing in a set of cinema lenses.
A few weeks back, I noticed the 35mm focus ring became stuck, I did buy these used after all , so I wasn’t surprised. I had about 6 months of use at this point so I already got my moneys worth. Instead of purchasing another one, I decided to open it up assuming it was a simple fix like a lack of grease with minimal debris.
After carefully removing each element starting at the rear mount, I finally made it to the focus gear where I found a few bits of dirt and little to no grease left. After some cleaning and regreasing I was able to reassemble all the glass with no issue, it’s as good as new.