Duh

Darley · 11-21-2013, 06:17 PM

I was pleased to get my 'new' old Vivitar 55mm f2.8 Macro today - until I started noticing dark spots on my photos. Not seen those before, and it is an old bit of kit, so must be the lens, right? Sure enough, there was a great big speck of dust on the lens right where the spots appeared on the images. It's hard to see on this lens because the front element is buried about 2" down in the barrel. As if that wasn't bad enough I could see the offending particle was on the inside of the lens. Not to worry, I thought, I've dismantled lenses before - what can go wrong?

So I carefully removed all the screws from the rear of the lens (there's a lot of them) and even managed to spot the miniscule ball-bearing and spring as they flew out of the aperture control ring. Then I realized I needed a spanner, which I don't have. But an old screwdriver does fine as long as the nut isn't too tight - which it wasn't.

So I gleefully pulled the lens apart and spent 2 hours (I kid you not) carefully cleaning the elements, which were muckier than I thought but I guess it is an old lens and full of grease and oil and whatever. Then I carefully reassembled everything, being careful not to allow more dust inside, and after much fiddling with the stupid little spring and ball-bearing I got it all back together - about 4 hours in total but worth it to get rid of that spot from my photos.

Took some images and guess what ... no more spot! Great! Switched to Live View and took some more shots and guess what - damn spot was back again! Stupid thing was on the sensor all along and must have got moved around every time the mirror was raised, so for a few shots it disappeared then suddenly it came back. I guess with the length of time the mirror is up in LV when I'm trying to focus a lens with a DOF of about 2mm, dust has time to settle.

Anyway took me 30 seconds to remove it, which is quicker than tearing a lens apart. There's a moral here somewhere, such as don't use Live View too much in dusty areas (like anywhere inside my house) but if you do, check the sensor before you disassemble your lenses.

normhead · 11-21-2013, 07:21 PM

With all the time I spend on the forum, I don't have time for stuff like that, but anyway, good job.

Darley · 11-21-2013, 07:31 PM

Originally posted by normhead

With all the time I spend on the forum, I don't have time for stuff like that, but anyway, good job.

I don't have time for it either, I should be taking photos not worrying about specks of dust! But I just couldn't let it go ...

**TER-OR** · 11-22-2013, 06:48 AM

I think we've all been there - making more work for ourselves because we skip the obvious and simple...

sterretje · 11-22-2013, 08:49 AM

Nice (and familiar) story.

K57XR · 11-22-2013, 12:55 PM

One thing I hate about dismantling anything then reassembling back are the “left-over” parts that weren’t there before.

mrNewt · 11-22-2013, 12:57 PM

Funny story

... and yes, familiar

... you are NOT alone!

Darley · 11-22-2013, 05:08 PM

Originally posted by K57XR

One thing I hate about dismantling anything then reassembling back are the “left-over” parts that weren’t there before.

I think if it works fine without all the parts, obviously the original design was deeply flawed.

11-21-2013, 06:17 PM	#1
Darley Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 94	Duh I was pleased to get my 'new' old Vivitar 55mm f2.8 Macro today - until I started noticing dark spots on my photos. Not seen those before, and it is an old bit of kit, so must be the lens, right? Sure enough, there was a great big speck of dust on the lens right where the spots appeared on the images. It's hard to see on this lens because the front element is buried about 2" down in the barrel. As if that wasn't bad enough I could see the offending particle was on the inside of the lens. Not to worry, I thought, I've dismantled lenses before - what can go wrong? So I carefully removed all the screws from the rear of the lens (there's a lot of them) and even managed to spot the miniscule ball-bearing and spring as they flew out of the aperture control ring. Then I realized I needed a spanner, which I don't have. But an old screwdriver does fine as long as the nut isn't too tight - which it wasn't. So I gleefully pulled the lens apart and spent 2 hours (I kid you not) carefully cleaning the elements, which were muckier than I thought but I guess it is an old lens and full of grease and oil and whatever. Then I carefully reassembled everything, being careful not to allow more dust inside, and after much fiddling with the stupid little spring and ball-bearing I got it all back together - about 4 hours in total but worth it to get rid of that spot from my photos. Took some images and guess what ... no more spot! Great! Switched to Live View and took some more shots and guess what - damn spot was back again! Stupid thing was on the sensor all along and must have got moved around every time the mirror was raised, so for a few shots it disappeared then suddenly it came back. I guess with the length of time the mirror is up in LV when I'm trying to focus a lens with a DOF of about 2mm, dust has time to settle. Anyway took me 30 seconds to remove it, which is quicker than tearing a lens apart. There's a moral here somewhere, such as don't use Live View too much in dusty areas (like anywhere inside my house) but if you do, check the sensor before you disassemble your lenses.

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11-21-2013, 07:21 PM	#2
normhead Pentaxian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Near Algonquin Park Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 40,451	With all the time I spend on the forum, I don't have time for stuff like that, but anyway, good job.

11-21-2013, 07:31 PM	#3
Darley Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 94 Original Poster	Originally posted by normhead With all the time I spend on the forum, I don't have time for stuff like that, but anyway, good job. I don't have time for it either, I should be taking photos not worrying about specks of dust! But I just couldn't let it go ...

11-22-2013, 06:48 AM	#4
TER-OR Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Dundee, IL Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 6,699	I think we've all been there - making more work for ourselves because we skip the obvious and simple...

11-22-2013, 08:49 AM	#5
sterretje Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Roodepoort, South Africa Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,561	Nice (and familiar) story.

11-22-2013, 12:55 PM	#6
K57XR Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 830	One thing I hate about dismantling anything then reassembling back are the “left-over” parts that weren’t there before.

11-22-2013, 12:57 PM	#7
mrNewt Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: ON, RH Posts: 2,181	Funny story ... and yes, familiar ... you are NOT alone!

11-22-2013, 05:08 PM	#8
Darley Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 94 Original Poster	Originally posted by K57XR One thing I hate about dismantling anything then reassembling back are the “left-over” parts that weren’t there before. I think if it works fine without all the parts, obviously the original design was deeply flawed.