There is nothing quite like the look of vintage glass on modern digital video. If you adapt an old manual focus lens to a modern mirrorless camera, you instantly get rid of that clinical, overly sharp digital feeling. Instead, you get blooming highlights, organic contrast, beautiful lens flares, and a ton of unique character.

But almost immediately, every video shooter runs into the exact same problem: the aperture ring. In photography, the physical clicks on the aperture ring are amazing. They let you change exposure without taking your eye away from the viewfinder. You can literally count the clicks to know your f-stop. But in video? Those clicks are a nightmare.

If you try to adjust your exposure mid-shot with a clicked lens, the brightness of your video will abruptly jump in steps. It ruins the immersion of the scene. Real cinema lenses have smooth, stepless aperture rings, allowing the camera operator to perform smooth "iris pulls" when transitioning from a dark room to a bright window. The good news is that you don't have to spend five grand on a modern cinema lens to get this feature. You can actually modify your affordable vintage lenses to behave just like a high-end cine lens.

The Anatomy of the "Click"

Before we take anything apart, it helps to know what we are actually fighting against. In almost every vintage manual focus lens, the clicking sensation is created by an incredibly simple analog mechanism. There is a tiny steel ball bearing—usually no bigger than the tip of a ballpoint pen—sitting in a small hole under the aperture ring. A tiny spring pushes this ball bearing outward.

On the inside of the aperture ring itself, there are little grooves or divots spaced out at standard f-stop intervals. As you turn the ring, the spring-loaded ball bearing drops into those grooves. *Click.* That is literally it. De-clicking a lens is simply the process of opening the lens up, finding that tiny ball bearing, and permanently removing it.

A Quick Warning Before You Start

I need to be absolutely straight with you: opening up a camera lens can be stressful if you have never done it before. Lenses are packed with tiny, delicate parts that are very easy to lose or break. Your first de-click project should absolutely not be on a rare, expensive lens.

Do not attempt this on a pristine piece of glass until you have practiced on something cheaper. Buy a beat-up fifty-dollar lens that you wouldn't mind ruining and learn the ropes on that. Once you understand the mechanics, it actually becomes a really fun, rewarding afternoon project. Just take it slow, take photos with your phone at every single step so you know how to put things back together, and work over a clean, flat surface.

The Tools You Actually Need

You cannot just grab a standard screwdriver out of your kitchen drawer and start ripping into a vintage camera lens. You will strip the screw heads immediately, and then you will be completely stuck. You need a few specific things.

• JIS Screwdrivers: This is the most crucial part. Most vintage lenses were made in Japan. They do not use standard Phillips head screws; they use JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) screws. A common Phillips driver will easily strip a vintage JIS screw. Grab a precision set and you will save yourself so many tears.
• A Lens Spanner Wrench: You might not need this depending on the lens, but many rear elements are held in by spanner rings with tiny slots.
• Tweezers: To pull up springs and the tiny metal ball bearing.
• A Magnetic Mat: Highly recommended to keep track of the microscopic screws.
• Heavy Damping Grease: We will talk more about this below, but Nyogel 767A or a heavy helicoid grease is what gives the newly smooth ring a premium feel.

The General Process of De-Clicking a Lens

Every single lens family is built a little differently. A Canon FD lens is put together much differently than an Olympus OM lens or a classic M42 screw mount lens. Because of this, I cannot give you a universal manual that covers every screw. However, the exact same general philosophy applies to almost 95% of manual focus lenses.

Step 1: Removing the Mount

In most vintage lenses, the aperture ring is accessed by taking off the rear mount. You will usually find three to five tiny JIS screws on the back of the mount. Carefully unscrew these and lift the metal mount plate straight off. Watch out for any long aperture control levers that connect the mount to the internal iris blades.

Step 2: Lifting the Aperture Ring

Once the rear plate is off, you can usually see the internal mechanics. In many cases, the aperture ring itself will now just slide straight up and off the lens body. Do this very slowly. If you pull it too fast, the spring-loaded ball bearing will literally shoot across the room into your carpet, never to be seen again.

Step 3: Removing the Ball and Spring

Once you expose the underside of the aperture ring, look for the hole where the ball bearing sits. Grab your tweezers, pluck out the little steel ball, and then pull out the tiny coil spring beneath it. Put them in a little ziplock bag and tape it to the inside of your lens cap if you ever want to reverse the process in the future.

Step 4: The Secret Sauce (Adding Grease)

If you put the lens back together right now, it will be fully de-clicked. But you might notice a new problem: the aperture ring feels way too loose. Without the friction of the ball bearing, the ring easily slips. A light bump on your camera will accidentally bump your f-stop.

To make the lens feel like a true cinema lens, you need to add resistance. Take a heavy damping grease—many people swear by Nyogel 767A because it is notoriously thick and sticky—and apply a very thin layer underneath the aperture ring where the metal rubs against the lens barrel. This dampens the rotation, giving it a heavy, slow, buttery smooth glide when you turn it.

Step 5: Reassembly

Carefully slide the aperture ring back into place. Re-align the rear mount plate, ensuring any internal mechanical levers slot perfectly back into their little grooves. Screw the mount back down tight. Give the ring a turn. If you did it right, you now have completely smooth, silent, cinematic aperture control.

Which Lenses Should You Start With?

If you are looking to build a vintage cine set, M42 screw mount lenses and early Pentax Takumars are highly recommended for beginners. They are generally simpler mechanically inside compared to complex bajonet mounts. The legendary Helios 44-2 actually features a pre-set aperture ring that is inherently smooth right out of the box, making it a favorite for videographers who want no-fuss analog character.

On the flip side, I highly recommend avoiding Canon FD lenses for your first few de-clicking attempts. Older Canon FD lenses are notoriously complicated inside, often relying on a terrifying array of tiny spring-loaded strings, internal roller bearings, and complex interlocking mechanical arms. If you take the back off a Canon FD lens without knowing exactly what you are doing, putting it back together feels like solving a Rubik's Cube in the dark.

Ready to Start Your DIY Cine Journey?

Half the fun of shooting video with vintage lenses is the tactile relationship you build with your gear. Modifying the lenses yourself makes them genuinely yours. When you nail a beautiful, smooth exposure pull during a sunset shot with a lens you rebuilt with your own hands, it is an incredible feeling.

If you are hunting for a good, affordable lens to practice on, or you just want to pick up some beautiful old glass to start your cinema kit, we have you covered. Check out our latest stock and browse our manual focus lenses to find the perfect candidate to pair with your modern video setup. Grab your screwdrivers, set up a clean workspace, and enjoy the process of bringing classic analog glass into the modern video age.