Watching my FD lens get cleaned - Priceless

[craig_depolo]

<p>I recently picked up a FD 50-300mm f4.5 for a great price, but learned upon reception of the lens that there was

quite a bit of mold and fungus on at least six elements, so not as good a deal as I thought. But this is

Canon's first super zoom and people usually have harsh words for this lens which strangely intrigued me, an admited

FD freak. Steve Swerigen of Camera Clinic rather quickly cleaned up the mold on the outside of the rear

element, so I decided to keep the lens and have a go at rescuing it. I assumed that the mold would clean

up , but the spider legs fungus on a single element face would remain. I was correct. Now I may

not know what I am talking about in distinquishing mold and fungus, so keep this in mind. The fuzzy hazy

stuff that cleans up I call mold, and in this case the two spider leg spots I call fungus (or fungus damage).<br>

Well today Steve took apart the lens and man what an experience. Steve had never worked on this

specific lens and there are no repair instructions, but he has great experience in lenses, particular Canon FD

lenses. This was a very well desinged lens with some features that made it robust, and it was

fun watching Steve discover these and point these out. The zoom mechanism was amazing - what a

piece of art. One thing about watching an experienced technician that I began to appreciate was the analysis

he would go through on every move, and the tricks he would use to make things come apart correctly. You

don't just unscrew a screw. You think about what happens when it comes out, does it need to be softed,

think about whether there is a reference mark that is need, and so on. I'll admit, there was a moment that I

looked down on his desk where little groups of screws, rings, tubes, groups of lenses, and the shell were all

systematically laid out, and I had lost track of what was what that I was hoping (praying?) that this will all go back

together and work right. I kept thinking of that time my friend and I rebuilt my volkswagon bus transmission

and installed the spider gear backwards; I had three speed backwards and one speed forwards. But Steve

was has no such reservations and really seemed to be having fun taking it apart and cleaning the elements.

What was left was minor - mostly that element with the two spider legs spots.<br>

Now here is the good news and an important FDer message. Steve says, lets see if that element is still

available, because CANON DOESN"T THROW AWAY ITS PARTS. It may run out, but it keep its stuff until it

runs out. Canon still appears to have the element for $29 and we ordered it. Now it still may not be a

done deal Steve says, accounting mistakes can happen, but he is optimistic that we will be receiving a replacement

element soon, and this part of the lens is particularly easy to get back into (I'd better pinch myself). Keep this

in mind if you have an issue with an element, you might be still able to replace it. Long live FD! Long

live Canon too!<br>

The lens is back together and really the only issue now is the element with the two spider spots, but these

probably would not seriously affect quality even if it does not get replaced. It was great watching the lens

doctor work and the skills and techniques and it was particularly exciting to see the quality and craftsmanship of

Canon FD lenses- man are they made well. Next step - shooting away when I get the chance.<br>

Cheers, Craig</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>I had a old Nikon mount Vivitar 70-210mm that I had got good service from, so when I got fungus (mold=fungus, there are just different kinds of fungus) I tried my local, usually very brave, repair person. He point blank refused to ever open up a zoom lens ever again, apparently having had a bad experience in trying to reassemble one. In any case, I soon found that I could buy one on eBay for less than the repair would have cost. In fact, that was my first eBay purchase, but that is another story.</p>

[Lou_Meluso]

<p>Nice story Craig. You get what you pay for. You are lucky Steve even let you watch, some techs get jumpy if someone is over the shoulder. Lacking the skill or temperment to work on cameras and lenses myself, as a classic camera user, my relationship with my camera tech is an important one.</p>

[murray_kelly]

<p>I would just love to get my Minolta 110 zoom apart, but after getting maybe 1 or 2 levels down i panicked and re-assembled it. Seems that zooms are something else again compared to 'normal lenses' and I would have really been interested to watch him do the job.<br>

Pity you didn't document it with you digicam ! :-)</p>

<p>Murray Kelly</p>

[awahlster]

<p>yes you are lucky Craig I have been friends with a local tech for almost 35 years and NOT ONCE in all that time with dozens and dozens of visits to his home and shop have I ever been in his work area!!!!</p>

[canonfduser]

<p>Craig, great story and thanks for sharing the experience. Could you provide contact information for Steve Swerigen of Camera Clinic? I have a 3rd party Tokina 90f2.5 macro that has oil on the barrel, not on the aperture blades but on the lens barrel. The lens works perfectly but after use I have to wipe the oil off and I know this is not normal and maybe he could disassemble it and clean it up.<br>

Mark</p>

[craig_depolo]

<p>I did document some of the disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly, but I used a T90, 300TL, and FD 50mm f3.5 MACRO lens, FD equipment, of course. It is really exciting to see how well engineered and machined this FD lens was. The only word I can think of is "solid construction". Steve had to take apart the compensator group of elements (third batch of elements back). These definitely are critical to reassemble exactly correctly, the tolerances must be about 1/100th of a millimeter. But watching Steve reassemble them, one element or group would screw in and snug up exactly where it should be - I kept being impressed with the way this lens was designed. Watching it zoom without the shell was poetry. I worked with the lens a bit today, great definition (no question it is an L-series lens) and the contrast is back! Steve can be reached at 775.824.2244 or <a href="mailto:steven40@aol.com">steven40@aol.com</a>. In my mind he is top in his field, and a true specialist in FD equipment (although he does work on that other stuff I understand). I'm going to the field for a bit, but when I get back I'll get my film processed and try to post some pictures of the experience.<br>

Cheers, Craig</p>