DIY lens repair

magicbastarder

have a bunch of lenses which fungus have gotten into - mainly 30+ year old OM zuiko lenses, manual focus. anyone ever tried taking apart lenses like this before, and is it really a job for the pros? would be mainly afraid of the aperture mechanism falling apart on me, i guess.

i've a 50mm 1.4 which is affected, and you can see a difference through the viewfinder between it and an unaffected 50mm f1.8; i obviously don't know if the fungus has etched the glass or not, or if the coating on them is banjaxed.

i'm annoyed with myself - i knew a few years ago that fungus had gotten into a couple of lenses but kept long-fingering getting something done about them and now about half a dozen are affected, including my 90mm f2 macro.

First suggestion - get it professionally cleaned if you want to use it again...

Second suggestion - Have a read of a detailed description of a tear-down and clean of an "old, manual, japanese lens" with fungus. Came across this a month or so ago while searching for cleaning tips for a zuiko lens (still love my OM-1) - there's a comment posted at the end where someone followed the details to clean an Olympus lens.

BeardySi

There are takedown videos on youtube - iirc the 50mm f1.4 is among them - it seems a reasonably easy job to get the the front and rear element glass

magicbastarder

cheers - much appreciated!

magicbastarder

also, interesting to read that storing your lenses in the dark can be one of the causal factors - these have been stored in a camera bag for over ten years.

DaireQuinlan

you need ...

1. a GOOD EXPENSIVE lens spanner or set of small/large ones. Do NOT cheap out on these.
2. Good set of micro screwdrivers, JIS.
3. Those soft rubber bung yokes to unscrew facing plates and such.

That's for disassembly. Then Hydrogen Peroxide etc for cleaning the elements.

I have too suffered from the occasional outbreak, I got an airtight box and dumped tons of silica gel into it which I replace occasionally, and stuck in a cheap hygrometer to keep track of where its at. I keep most lenses in there now when they're not in rotation on cameras, seems to have done the job.

Lime Tree Farm

Reuse silica gel. Spread them out on a baking tray, dry them on low heat until they change colour.

BeardySi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117887136#Comment_117887136

UV will inhibit the fungal growth but the dark in itself isn't really a cause. It's usually the conditions the bagged/boxed lenses are stored in will be the cause - attics/garages etc.

magicbastarder

I emailed one fairly well known camera repair outfit to ask did they have any rough guide was to how much a strip and clean might cost, got this somewhat brusque reply:

"Fungus eats the coating on lens and cleaning will not successfully restore a lens to factory condition.

 

Regards"

BeardySi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117898764#Comment_117898764

Or in other words, we can't be bothered dealing with it, please go away...

Depending on which elements are effected it can be a very simple job - I took on a Zuiko silvernose 50mm f1.4 last weekend. The outer elements are easily removed front and back with a lens spanner and some basic tools. Soaking the elements in a 50/50 mix of peroxide and ammonia cleaned them right up (do it outside if you don't want the house smelling of cat piss for a week!) - made a huge difference. Sadly the rear element was also rather scuffed so I've just gotten a later version 1.4 in far better condition and I'll be moving on the silvernose (still looks well through the viewfinder, haven't had the shots developed yet).

magicbastarder

Or in other words, we can't be bothered dealing with it, please go away...

yeah, it stinks of that. i have a couple of other bits and pieces needing work (hasselblad with a sticky shutter cock mechanism, OM1 with a very stiff shutter speed ring) so i'll be taking all that business elsewhere.

there's a chap i used a good few years ago called clive mcdonald out near raheny, might give him a shout.