Lung of Minox 35-- Longevity II

MTC Photography · April 14, 2000

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<TD>The Lung of

Minox 35</TD>

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Remove the camera back of Minox GT-E, you will see there

is a light buffer (grey area )

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The function of this light buffer: to block the light from

leaking into the film plane through the gap surrounding the

lens barrel. It also protect the innards of the camera from dust.

When you pull down the from flap to extend the lens,

this light buffer slides forward; when you close the

front cover flap to retract the lens, this light buffer slides backwards.

Piston effect of the light buffer and the lung of

Minox 35 camera

There is a subtle point which I haven't seen anyone mentioned,

that is sliding light buffer has a side effect--

it acts also as a wind bellow-- in particular if

you open and shut the camera too quickly !

The area covered by the light buffer is approximately

24mm x 36mm, the range of movement of the sliding light buffer

is about 18mm. The air volume displacement associated with

the movement of this sliding light buffer is about

1.8 x 2.4 x 3.6 cm = 16 c.c.

Whenever you open the lens, the buffer moves forward,

sucking 16 cc of air from the back and pushing 16 cc of

air out to the front; when you close the camera, this 'piston' sucks

16 cc of air in through the gap surrounding the lens

In other words, Minox 35 camera

has a lung, it inhales and exhales.

If there is dust or lint on the lens barrel, and if you close

the camera quickly, you may suck the dust into

the innards the camera and trap the dust inside.

If the surrounding air

is clean, the camera inhales clean air , there is nothing to worry

about.

However, if the camera is covered by dust and lint,

you must clean it with a piece slight damp cloth before use. (It is not

a good idea to wipe the camera body with flannel or similar material,

otherwise the camera will be charged with static

electricity and attracts dust. ) If the surround air is dusty,

you must open/close your Minox 35 camera slowly in order not to inhale

dust into the lung of the camera.

There are reports about failed Minox cameras which are clogged by dust

in their innards. You wonder how the

dust get in ? One mechanism is dusty camera through this

"camera lung".

In general, it is a good idea to open and close a Minox 35 mm

camera slowly instead of quickly.

All camera with retractable lens has this air piston effect.

Some 35mm camera zoom lens, inparticular those 'one-touch' zoom lens,

also has this air mass piston effect-- that

is why you sometimes heard people asking "Why dust get

into my Nikon zoom lens ?"

The cure or all these is slow movement--- you know you cannot blow dust

away when you blow slowly.

I hope this analysis also contribute to longevity of Minox 35 camera, as dust clog is one of the causes of shutter failure

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thomas_wollstein · April 17, 2000

There may even be a further suggestion: Close quickly, as this might

blow out any lint trapped in the gaps. The air in the camera should be

more or less clean.

However, there needn't even be a flow-mechanical effect as mentioned

in your article to get the dust in there. Just sliding the barrel of

the lens in and out will, over time, present a way for dust to enter,

because something creeping in there from the outside is probably

statistically more likely than something getting out. So I would guess

that the best way to minimise this is to keep the barrel clean before

closing the camera.

BTW: By "light buffer" I assume you mean that little plastic cone

behind which the shutter control is hidden. This cone can be removed

quite easily by carefully prying it out with with a thin-bladed

screwdriver or a suitable pair of tweezers (careful not to poke in too

deeply, or you might hurt the innards). You needn't even loosen any

screws for this. You can then use a blower to remove any dust already

in there.

MTC Photography · April 17, 2000

For example of how to clean dust see

<a

href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=003HWR">Cleaning dust of Minox 35mm magnet </a>

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Lung of Minox 35-- Longevity II

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