ARRI lens broken...fixable?

[Patrick Janka]

Apparently dragging my ARRI case over the stairs was not a good idea as one of my 650W lenses broke. B&H charges $70. It's basically split in half. Is there a way I can glue/fuse them together, and if so will it still function as normal, or will I have to plunk out the cash for a new one? Thanks.

[Bob Hart]

I regret the shards you have left may only be good for giving to a teenager to scratch graffiti on train windows.

You could try UV-cure optical cement if the crack is clean. Loctite made it as Loctite 358 Cat No. 35836 but that was about four years ago and things might have changed since.

The stuff takes some shifting in lenses if it has to be removed due to a bad repair job having been done but in lenses it is also bonding across a broader surface area than the narrower section across a cracked fresnel. I nearly tried it with a 650watt fresnel broken in three pieces but elected not to take chances.

The behaviour of the glass might change. The lens fragments may fly if there are already broken pieces able to break even smaller and pass through the wire mesh.

By the time you buy in the Loctite and pay shipping on it, the replacement lens may be cost competitive.

[Martin Catt]

UV cure glue doesn't hold up well at all to heat. That's how you "unstick" a watch crystal that is secured with UV glue. And as lights tend to get hot, it's just a matter of time before the bond line separates and the pieces go their separate (and hot) ways. Do you REALLY need one more thing to worry about at a shoot?

UV glue would be for EMERGENCY use only, like if you were in deepest darkest Africa and had to get that once-in-a-lifetime shot.

Spring for the new lens, and either pack your heads a bit more carefully or quit playing gorilla with the luggage.

Martin