unitwell talisa gabriello
Kiliano Ratha
Luckily, camera repair has plenty in common with watch repair, both deal with precise, small hand-held tools. Going to the watch repair department of your DIY shop can also be fruitful. I grew up in a watchmaking family so the tools and skills are all familiar to me.
I highly recommend that you follow my advice as close as you possibly can because tools like screw drivers seem to be common across the board but in reality they come in different types. Using the wrong driver type can result in a stripped screw head.
These are the most-basic of tools but their essential. Never buy cheap ones, I made the mistake a long time ago and bought cheap-Chinese ones, they are flimsy and may harm your gear! I will show you which ones to buy.
These are called friction wrenches. These are basically just rubber stoppers that come in different diameters with a hollow core. These are used to twist open the metal or plastic front rings holding the front element with friction and torque. While I got these as a set and I strongly recommend that you do the same, you can also fashion some yourself by using the rubber stoppers that hardware stores sell to put on the feet or bases of chairs or metal pipes. Just make sure that the middle part will never touch anything.
This is a lens sucker. It sucks the glass while you remove or place them into their housings. Some elements that are positioned too-deep into the barrel like the case of longer lenses will require these to access and put them back. Make sure that the rubber part that come in contact with the glass is always clean. This is also a common watch repair tool to hold the crystal.
This is an alternative to a pipe-key. This can be easily made and can be used again with anything so long as they will fit. Read this article on how to make a pipe key alternative to begin making one.
This tool is very important for those who wish to repair earlier Nikons. This A/R ring opener is needed to remove the lock for the shutter button guard. I made an article on how to create and use an A/R ring opener.
Hydrogen Peroxide & Ammonia for killing fungus. Mix in equal parts. You can also add a strong vinegar to make it more potent. Read my post on how to remove fungus from your lens to find out more about this.
Hello Rick,
wonderful guides. Repairing old lenses is my hobby. Most of the steps in your repairs are the same as mine. Except the tools(mine are not good). I live in Europe and its hard to find any Vessel screwdrivers here. Also its hard to me to identify them in Ebay (especially the different shafts) . If you could help me and show me some items i will be happy.
Hi, Angel!
I cannot access ebay from my studio. If the one from ebay is the longest one (like what I use) then it should be fine but it can be straining to used a long driver for every screw. In my experience, the long one can also be used on the smallest JIS screw there is. also, you only need the length for the added torque which may not sound much but it means everything.
Hello, Angel. Those drivers are too small but they are useful for smaller screws only. The long ones like the one I showed you is the most important one. Using these little drivers to open up bayonet screws and other bigger screws will only ruin the screws head.
Hello, Angel. How are you? The lenses with crc needs to have a thinner grease used. You cannot use a thick grease on this lens because apart from the 3 helicoids you have a few more helicoids from the crc as well. All those will add up and you will get a hard turning lens. The usual grease that i am using is thin anyway. The first time i greased this, i used a thicker grease and it was difficult to turn. Ric
Hi Richard, I am trying to find Micro screw extractor for screws of 1mm but cannot find any. What is the size of the one in the picture? Were you able to get those super small sizes?
Thanks and best regards,
I really enjoy your site. Great job!
You mention that you are not sure if the tiny screws that hold the front element assembly to the front barrel can be bought.
Could they be these ones? -screw.com/(sus)cone_point.htm
The set of screwdrivers are necessary because they have different sizes suitable for the other screws in the lens. You can be sure if it is JIS by going to a remote control hobby shop and buying it there.
Hello, Carlos!
The screws are not sold online in small quantities. My screws were bought by the thousands from a factory. However, there are replacement screws being sold on the net and all you need is the right specs like pitch and diameter.
I have also bought the above set of small vessel screwdrivers, but has isolated pieces. Once again from the same shop. Very faire price. They have arrived this afternoon and they are, indeed, VERY nice pieces of hardware.
Glad you liked it, Carlos!
Be careful,though. There are many fake VESSEL drivers coming out from China, the land of the fake merchandise!
As for the screws, yes you have to be careful if the head is JIS or not but most important is the pitch of the thread. If it is wrong then it will destroy your screw hole and you will need to re-tap it.
You can look for JapanHobbyTools in Amazon, they are my supplier for grease. I got some grease, the same ones that Nikon uses but they are not cheap so I use it carefully. Alternatively, you can use Super Lube if you like. Just make sure that you use fully synthetic grease and not petrol grease. Silicon and lithium based grease are the best. Ric.
Congratulations, Carlos!
Be sure you have th proper lens openers because these are VERY important. I have to make special ones sometimes. Remember, S10 grease is multipurpose grease for lenses 50mm and up or lenses with a long helicoid throw. S30 grease works best for lenses 35mm and shorter or lenses with a short helicoid throw. Ric.
I read articles on this site and I think your post is very important element and has great information. I need to get a complete set. This is a review of the best precision screwdriver set on the market. All the best.
Lastly, how do I know what helicoid grease I need for these lenses? The 28-70 is a behemoth, so based on your other article, I am guessing S-30? The 18-200 is not such a large lens, so I imagine the S-10 Might suffice. Are these assumptions correct?
The best blog ever for lenses care. I work with binoculars, telescopes and microscopes in my country, Colombia.
Really helpful all the recommendations
A big hug, and again thanks.
Luis Ocampo
Hi, thanks a lot for your work.
I need to remove a screw and I saw that this topic was already shared here in comment.
Can you help me to buy somewhere the right screw extractor please ?
thanks in advance for your help
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