Link was dead by the time I read your post...so I have an excuse!

You weren't out on a walk were you?

[raymeedc]

Ah, the ones that get away. I've acquired some great camera & lens deals over the coarse of the past few months, but do I fully appreciate them? Not as completely as I should, as they are tempered always by those nagging regrets about the ones that got away.

[k100d]

It really is great to see some new names and faces in the dark side (film section) I must say.

it's been growing ... i like it
i've basically stopped reading the other sections now to be honest

[pbo]

I disassembled the lens. Good thing - aperture blades are in there! Bad thing - they are oily.
Here's a picture


The dark stuff on the blades is oil.
The shiny tab to the right controls the blades. When blades are closed and I move the tab a little bit and release it, it moves back fine. But when I open the aperture fully, the tab just doesn't go back even after I release it.
So right now I'm wondering what to do. Anybody got experience with this kinda situation? What if I try to carefully "wipe" the blades with some cloth, at least from one side?

[Blue]

. . .
I would also be quite mad if I missed that... I hate to miss things like that, but I can comfort you with that I have missed something much worse... perfect condition MZ-S for around 200 USD... Long ago but I'm still pissed about it...

My perfect condition MZ-3 got here today from KEH. That is as close to the holy grail of the MZ-s as my wallet will allow. If it were only built like my K2's. This is actually my first foray into the world of Pentax AF cameras after slumming sometime with a C. 10s. I will say this thing will have a tall order to be the 10s. I shall see.

That it is a helluva an image btw. We know its all the equipment though. To bad you messed it up with a FE.


j/k

[jgredline]

it's been growing ... i like it
i've basically stopped reading the other sections now to be honest

Same here. It is rare for me to venture out of the Film and photo sharing sections because of all the adhomien attacks going on.

[Just1MoreDave]

So right now I'm wondering what to do. Anybody got experience with this kinda situation? What if I try to carefully "wipe" the blades with some cloth, at least from one side?

I have worked from one side of the blades if I can't figure out how to access the other side. If you are patient, I suspect removing those three screws in your photo allows you to get to each blade. Getting the blades back together can be a mechanical puzzle but it's easier to clean them thoroughly.

I use naptha and Q tips to clean them in place. The particular solvent doesn't matter, but it should dissolve the oil and evaporate quickly. Mineral spirits works too but evaporates slower than naptha. "Odorless" mineral spirits evaporates even slower. I don't think alcohol will work. Home Depot or Lowe's will have naptha in the paint department. Mine is labeled VM&P Naptha, which stands for Varnish Makers and Painters. So you can always use the rest for a batch of varnish. Q tips kind of suck and shed cotton threads everywhere, but I haven't found anything better. Soak one end in solvent, swab the solvent on the blades in a circular motion, move the aperture lever a few times to work the solvent in, then dry the blades with the other end. You'll have to repeat this several times with a new swab each time. The blades won't move properly until all the solvent evaporates off.

When the oil is gone and the blades work properly, swab down the interior surfaces around the blades too. Oil gets deposited here when it gets on the blades. I also make sure the interior lens elements are completely clean of deposited oil.

Is this the Filtermatic lens where the front comes off, or something newer? I have the Filtermatic in KA mount. I'd be interested if your exposures are correct, once you get it working.

[pbo]

Eh, I'm messing with blades right now... It's kinda ironic how usually, you'd think 15 blades in vintage german lenses looks awesome... Well, I'm messing with only six right now, and it's... not something I'd do on a daily basis I almost feel bad for the German repair people who'd have customers come in with broken lenses with gazillion-blade apertures, and they'd have to assemble/disassemble that. Oh well, I'm determined to make it work

By any chance, could you pour some of naptha in a small container or something and ship it to me? The only ones I could find on Internet are gallon-sized, and I really only need oil-remover for this one thing. I can compensate it for you, if you want

And yeah, it's the one that has a removable front. It's kinda like zenitar, just filter go into middle of the lens, as opposed to rear in zenitar.

[Steinback]

I've never tried cleaning aperture blades but shipping naptha isn't going to go over too well with your postal service - it's highly flammable and potentially explosive with the right air/fuel mix.

The solvents Dave mentioned should be available at pretty much any hardware store and if you know anybody that paints (houses, art, models, just about anything but watercolours) there's a good chance they have a bottle of naptha or mineral spirits around.

Just for fun here's the MSDS for VM&P Naptha: PETROLEUM ETHER

[Just1MoreDave]

I've never tried cleaning aperture blades but shipping naptha isn't going to go over too well with your postal service - it's highly flammable and potentially explosive with the right air/fuel mix.

Where I used to live, they built a power plant fueled by naptha. Some lighter fluid is naptha, but Wikipedia says it can be lots of other things too.

[Nesster]

Rossingnol? Comes in small containers, at the local hardware store.

[pbo]

Ergh, shoulda checked for the safety stuff first I actually cleaned the blades with with a cloth (realtively lint-free ), and they look okay now. I'm close to reassembling them