Just ruined a lens

[shm]

I spent my Easter vacation at the beach, and one day I was so unfortunately to lose my balance in a dune (the sand gave way) and land on my side - of course the side where the camera was hanging.

Sand penetrated into the lens' zoom and focusing mechanism
I took the lens to the photo shop today in the hope that it could be sent in for cleaning (repair), but unfortunately they don't think it is possible and even if it was, it would cost almost as much as a new lens.

Needless to say I am very disappointed, and it couldn't get much worse as it is my favourite all-round lens; a Tokina 35-200.
A hard learned lesson indeed.

As the photo shop has deemed the lens dead, I will try to see if I can clean it by gently shaking/banging it and hopefully the sand will come out (not much hope I know) and if that doesn't work I might as well try taking it apart.
Taking it apart will end in disaster I know, but at least I will then get to see the inside of a lens - trying to get as much positive out of this as I can


If any of you gents have other ideas, I am all ears.

 

[djh]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune, Soren. I doubt that you will be able to salvage the lens, but I certainly hope that you can learn something and have some fun pulling it apart.

Good luck!

 

[Galengwath]

Sorry to hear that! I'm afraid I don't have any better suggestions, but if a professional repair shop says they probably can't fix it, then doing it yourself probably won't work. If you do take it apart, take lots of pictures for us. I'd love to see what its innards look like!

 

[celestino]

Soren, how unfortunate! Well, at least you got a nice tan, hopefully, and some great shots before that happened!

 

[BRuhling]

Sounds like a perfect opportunity to upgrade! How could all of you B&Bers have missed this silver lining in the cloud???

 

[Legion]

Sand is a killer. On a plus side, you can make some nice magnifying glasses out of the elements. I once made a really neat flat field loupe that covered a 6x6 neg, using a bunch of junk lenses and some bits and pieces from the workshop. Worked great.

 

[shm]

Well !

As expected the shaking didn't do anything, so I determined to take the lens apart.

There are a lot of components going into such a lens - especially numerous very small screws. I am now a big fan of magnetic screwdrivers

I was lucky that I didn't have to open the lens section, but could settle for the other parts.

Here is a photo just before re-assembly.

It was not too bad regarding the sand, but it was a good thing nonetheless to get it removed, it was stuck in the lubrication grease for the zoom and focusing system.
Taking it apart was actually quite easy, my concern was more if I could remember where all the things went.

Maybe a sign of my technical capabilities or maybe because it was after midnight, but I had to re-assemble the thing three times.
First time I was almost finished when I discovered I had four screws left, but not four holes.
Second time I had used some screws in the wrong place; they where a fraction longer than the right ones and ended up locking the zoom mechanism.
Third time was a charm

And I can happily say that the lens is functioning perfectly again. Camera and lens is communicating as they should.

One thing wonders me however; why the photo shop thought it would be too costly to get it repaired. I know the technicians hourly cost isn't cheap, but I spent about 3-3½ hours on this, and I am not a skilled technician and furthermore I had to re-assemble three times before I got it right, so a professional should be able to do it significantly faster.
I'm not complaining though, I saved my lens and I have always been quite curious as to how a lens looked inside, and now I know.

@Bill: I am close to have saved up for a new camera, but if I also had to get a new lens it would increase the total cost of about 50% (with the lens I was recommended). Those things are not cheap here in Denmark, our VAT is 25%, but of course it was in my mind. I did check out a lens when I was at the photo shop, but now I will let it rest and focus on the camera.

 

[Edcculus]

Glad to see you got it repaired! Maybe the shop didn't know the extent of where the sand got to. If it got to all the elements etc, it might have been a more complicated repair? Maybe they would have to send it out?

 

[djh]

Well !

As expected the shaking didn't do anything, so I determined to take the lens apart.

There are a lot of components going into such a lens - especially numerous very small screws. I am now a big fan of magnetic screwdrivers

I was lucky that I didn't have to open the lens section, but could settle for the other parts.

Here is a photo just before re-assembly.

It was not too bad regarding the sand, but it was a good thing nonetheless to get it removed, it was stuck in the lubrication grease for the zoom and focusing system.
Taking it apart was actually quite easy, my concern was more if I could remember where all the things went.

Maybe a sign of my technical capabilities or maybe because it was after midnight, but I had to re-assemble the thing three times.
First time I was almost finished when I discovered I had four screws left, but not four holes.
Second time I had used some screws in the wrong place; they where a fraction longer than the right ones and ended up locking the zoom mechanism.
Third time was a charm

And I can happily say that the lens is functioning perfectly again. Camera and lens is communicating as they should.

One thing wonders me however; why the photo shop thought it would be too costly to get it repaired. I know the technicians hourly cost isn't cheap, but I spent about 3-3½ hours on this, and I am not a skilled technician and furthermore I had to re-assemble three times before I got it right, so a professional should be able to do it significantly faster.
I'm not complaining though, I saved my lens and I have always been quite curious as to how a lens looked inside, and now I know.

@Bill: I am close to have saved up for a new camera, but if I also had to get a new lens it would increase the total cost of about 50% (with the lens I was recommended). Those things are not cheap here in Denmark, our VAT is 25%, but of course it was in my mind. I did check out a lens when I was at the photo shop, but now I will let it rest and focus on the camera.

Dynamite!

 

[Legion]

Good work!

 

[BRuhling]

Good job, Søren!

But, which camera are you saving up to purchase?

 

[Galengwath]

Nice job on the repairs!

 

[Relentless]

I would have written it off as a lost cause after I took it apart. Of course I tend to use excessive force when I take things apart.
Nice job saving the lens!!!

 

[celestino]

Great work, Soren! Now, i can attempt to salvage a lens if anything happens to it in the future.
Enjoy it.

 

[Mick]

You are a very brave man... AND very talented.

Just amazing that you could disassemble and reassemble your lens.

I always end up wity a lot of extra parts every time I take something down. I no longer even try

Hummm.... I've got a compur 00 shutter on the desk next to me that is sluggish. Maybe...... naw don't think so....

 

[shm]

Good job, Søren!

But, which camera are you saving up to purchase?

Currently I have a Konica Minolta 7D, (the last Minolta before Sony took over), and since I have several lenses I'm going to stick with this system.
I haven't been too satisfied with the Sony range as they started with a couple of cheap DSLR's and the professional range.
In my opinion the cheap is too small to handle properly, and the professional is out of my financial range.
But within the last couple of years they have issued a mid-range line (Prosumer) which appeals to me, and I have been looking at the Alpha 65 or Alpha 77, and after having talked with the photo shop I am leaning more to the Alpha 77 as it is more resistant to humidity and dust - but of course it is also more expensive.
I am however closer than I thought, the prices must have dropped since I last checked them out, so I actually have the money for the Alpha 65 now, but I am more keen on the Alpha 77, so I think I will wait and go for that one.

You are a very brave man... AND very talented.

Just amazing that you could disassemble and reassemble your lens.

I always end up wity a lot of extra parts every time I take something down. I no longer even try

Hummm.... I've got a compur 00 shutter on the desk next to me that is sluggish. Maybe...... naw don't think so....

I ended up with a guide-spacer that helps keep the zoom "barrel" in place. I thought I had lost it, but it turned up when it was all assembled so I have saved it.
I didn't have the patience to take it all apart once again to fit it in. There is two of them, and the other is in place, so I am not afraid of problems, they don't take any pressure, they just guide a slot on either side of the barrel.

 

[Leslie145]

shm, you're an inspiration - you didn't take the shop's word for it & dispose of the lens (as 99% would have done), you rolled your sleeves up, did your best & fixed it yourself.

You certainly had a better outcome than a guy my wife (who works for Canon's technical side here in the UK) dealt with - a professional photographer doing coastal shots had one moment of inattention, the wind caught the tripod & took the tripod, camera & lens over, the lens hit a rock glass first, the impact of which opened the lens mount then the whole kit fell into the sea.

Impact damage + seawater = proper f***ed!

 

[shm]

At that point it was ruined, and thought I couldn't be worse off by trying to open it.

As Legion mentioned I could at least have ended up with some very nice magnifying glasses .

It actually wasn't as scary as I had thought.
However, it would have been nice with a video camera to document in which order all the parts where coming off. Especially the screws because they were all very small and not in the same dimensions.

 

[Edcculus]

Here is a pretty amusing thread at APUG about destroyed/damaged cameras and lenses. It was inspired by a member who's large format camera took a dive off a cliff into a river when the wind caught it as his back was turned.

http://www.apug.org/forums/forum47/117074-my_____-damaged-destroyed.html

 

[lister]

Excellent work SHM... good to see you were able to resurrect the lens...

All this talk of dropping things reminds me of a guy setting up a very extensive rig in Queenstown NZ and turned his back for several minutes to fish something out of his bag. One big gust of wind, a 20 metre drop onto rocks; personally I wouldn't have bothered climbing down to collect the pieces