Zeiss Lens Service

All lenses need some time off.

MOHR Lens Service repairs, services and recalibrates ZEISS cinema lenses from a dedicated optical and CNC workshop in Solna, Stockholm, serving rental houses, owner-operators and cinematographers across Europe. As a ZEISS-certified technician, I am certified and trained up to and including the Supreme Primes and the Master Anamorphics, with full factory backup and access to genuine ZEISS spare parts. I bring particular depth to the older ZEISS glass, where I fabricate parts in-house when spares no longer exist, and I also carry out basic service on the newest mirrorless-era lenses such as the Nano Primes. All work is carried out by one person, start to finish, with nothing subcontracted out.

What I service on ZEISS lenses

  • Full CLA (clean, lubricate, adjust) on primes and zooms
  • Parfocal calibration and back-focus / flange depth correction
  • Focus and iris mechanism overhaul — smoothing, re-greasing, backlash removal
  • Optical cleaning, separation and haze assessment
  • Genuine ZEISS parts replacement, with full factory backup
  • Custom part fabrication for older lenses where spares no longer exist (CNC and lathe)

For how every lens is tested and verified — including projection testing, collimation, mount conversions and the work I don’t take on — see the Cine Service page.

ZEISS primes and anamorphics — up to Supreme Prime and Master Anamorphic

My certification and hands-on depth run up to and including the Supreme Primes and the Master Anamorphics — the most demanding lenses in the modern ZEISS lineup, and the ones rental fleets most often send out for full service. With factory backup and genuine parts, these are serviced to ZEISS specification, including eXtended Data calibration and mount changes between PL and LPL. The newest mirrorless-era lenses, such as the Nano Primes, I handle for basic service.

Case: ZEISS Vario-Sonnar 11–110 — bringing a Super 16 zoom back to life

This ZEISS 11–110 Super 16 zoom arrived in a sorry state: something was very loose inside the zoom, the iris wasn’t working, focus was extremely stiff, the front was loose, and with no mount fitted it was difficult even to test. Opening it up revealed a broken spring under the cam followers — one leg missing entirely — and as I took the rest of the zoom apart, two miniature bearings in the zoom group had worn away by about 95 percent, alongside a cracked eccentric holder for one of the bearings.

[BILD 1 — t.ex. den isärtagna zoomen / trasiga fjädern / slitna lagren]

The broken spring couldn’t be bought anywhere, so I worked out how to make one, sourced spring stock of exactly the right diameter, and fabricated the spring myself. The cracked eccentric part I redrew in CAD to exact dimensions and machined fresh on the lathe and mill, along with two new miniature bearings for the zoom group. With the new bearings fitted and calibrated to run tight but smooth, the zoom section went back together with the new spring under the cam followers.

[BILD 2 — t.ex. den nytillverkade fjädern / CAD-delen / svarvat]

The iris was a saga of its own. Its bearing was drowned in grease and could barely move; stripped and cleaned, it ran freely again, but the underlying mechanism still needed cleaning and a little modification. Even then it wouldn’t work assembled — so apart again, this time finding the blades themselves needed re-seating. Reassembled, it ran well but scraped faintly. After a long search, the cause turned out to be a spring leg protruding a few hundredths of a millimetre too far, catching on an adjacent metal part. A little modification fixed it, and the iris finally worked exactly as intended.

[BILD 3 — t.ex. färdig lins / projektortest]

I fitted the new mount and tested on the collimator — it needed shimming by exactly 0.1mm — then calibrated on the projector, where it passed with flying colours. Focus can still feel slightly firm, but only because the helicoid threads are so tight; I’ve used the thinnest ZEISS grease available to make it as smooth as possible. A beautiful lens in the end, ready for many more years of work.

Older ZEISS glass — Master Prime, Ultra Prime, Super Speed and the Standard cine lenses

The older ZEISS lenses are where mechanical experience matters most. The Standard Speed and Super Speed primes, the B-Speeds, and the early Distagon-based cine lenses were built in an era of different tolerances and materials, and bringing one back to spec is as much a mechanical job as an optical one. Where a worn or damaged part is no longer available, it is fabricated in-house on the CNC and lathe.

Why send a ZEISS to MOHR

  • ZEISS-certified, working solo — the person who quotes the job does the job
  • Full factory backup and access to genuine ZEISS spare parts
  • In-house CNC and lathe capability for older lenses where spares no longer exist
  • Projection testing, optical bench and vertical collimator for diagnosis and verification
  • Based in Stockholm, serving rental houses and owner-operators across Europe

To discuss a ZEISS service or get an estimate, get in touch via the Contact page.

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