Disassembly – Fujinon XF 35mm F1.4 R lens

Fujinon XF 35mm F1.4 R is one of first three prime lens developed for Fujifilm X mount cameras. I personally think that this particular lens is a real Fuji gem among other XF lens.

I love the pictures from this glass, and like the mechanics. In this article I’m disassembling my Fuji XF 35mm F1.4 lens sample to expose the process just in case someone is looking for repair steps or needs to lubricate the focus or aperture ring.

I’m starting the disassembly from the front area. Inner ring with lens name can be unscrewed CCW to expose three black bolts under it.

Unscrew that three bolts and pull out front lens metal ring with filter thread. Now you can more easy repair the filter thread if this ring is bended from the fall hit.

I've also unscrewed three other bolts, though it is not possible to pull out the front glass module – there is small silver metal pin preventing the module to be rotated CCW. I can also see three spots of firm glue connections.

At this point you can also detach the front metal ring that is most likely glued on top. I’ve decided to skip this step because I have no real need of disassembling the lens helicoid. So I’m moving to the rear disassembly.

There is important trick to be done prior to the disassembly of the rear area. It will significantly help if you first attach the lens to any Fujifilm X camera, switch to manual focus mode and then focus to the most close distance so the front lens area extends. Right after that just disconnect the lens while camera is on – so the lens remains extended. You’ll see later why it’s required.

Simply unscrew 3 black bolts and pull out the inner plastic ring. Then unscrew four silver mount bolts and gently pull it up and rotate to he side releasing the lens contacts connector. It should remain attached to the mainboard.

Now unscrew four black metal bolts holding the outer ring with red square mark and “Made in Japan” sign. Remove the ring.

Gently unscrew three black bolts from the lens motherboard. Do not disconnect any ribbon cables until all three bolts are removed. One the motherboard is slightly elevated it’s much easier to disconnect the ribbons without damaging them.

Now it’s time to unscrew two black bolts holding the Autofocus Drive unit. If you performed manual focus extending step prior to th disassembly it is super easy to pull the unit out, otherwise it’s blocked by the rear lens module. Sometimes AF drive fails, so at this step you can replace it with new one.

There are three silver and three black bolts near aperture ring, unscrew them all, ten gently pull out the aperture ring assembly first. There is spring loaded small metal ball that will jump far away, so better do that holding the lens inside some box.

Now detach the second ring to get access to the focus ring. There is small electronic board with light passing sensors blocking focus ring removal. You have to unscrew single bolt holding that part, release part of the adhesive tape and pull out that part.

Now remove the focus ring. It’s lubricated on the edges so better put it on the side.

There is second focusing ring that is actually moving the lens focus. Ring rotation is performed by the Autofocus Drive module, you can try to move it manually. Don’t forget to extend the focus before assembling the lens.

At this step you can also pull out the small silver pin blocking the front glass module removal (shown near tweezers below).

You can also unscrew three black bolts around rer glass module to remove it for cleaning. I’m skipping that because there are no real need to clean this particular sample. So I’m starting assembling the lens back a this point by attaching the focus ring and securing the light sensors electronics.