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verbatimium
Joined: 13 Nov 2013
Posts: 42
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 Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 2:26 pm Post subject: Canon FD Aperture Cleaning |
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verbatimium wrote:
I have a couple of Canon FD lenses that have some oil on the aperture blades (FD 50mm F1.4 SSC and FD 100mm F2.8 ). The oil is located on the tips of the aperture blades (the ends that are in the center when the aperture is closed). I can quite easily remove the aperture assembly from both lenses, and tried cleaning the blades with 70% ethanol (both the front and back side). I cleaned them to a point where I did not see any residual oil on either side, even after opening and closing the blades several times (so there was no more oil trapped in between the blades anymore, which would smear when opening/closing the blades).
After reassembling the lenses everything was great. The blades looked like new and had no trace of oil whatsoever. However, when I inspected the lenses the next day, I noticed that there was, once again, oil on the tips of the blades (although not as much as before). I am wondering where this oil is seeping from when the lenses are not in use? It is odd, because the blades looked clean when I reassembled the lens, even after opening and closing the aperture blades several times. If there was residual oil that was not cleaned off in between the blades, shouldn't I have seen it being smeared when opening/closing the blades?.
Note that the 50mm SSC lens is stored with the aperture wide open which made me think that the oil is coming from the outer rim of the aperture assembly. However, the 100mm lens is stored with the aperture is closed and the oil still seeped only onto the ends of the aperture blades. This tells me that the oil is not coming from the outer rim, but where is it coming from?
Does anyone have any success in cleaning Canon FD aperture blades to a point where the oil does not reappear? Any Tips? Also, would it be safe to give the entire aperture assembly a quick bath in 70% ethanol to possibly remove whatever oil that I do not see and cannot clean?
Last edited by verbatimium on Wed Sep 10, 2014 2:58 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Gerald
Joined: 25 Mar 2014
Posts: 1196
Location: Brazil
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| Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 2:52 pm Post subject: |
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Gerald wrote:
Oil contamination is caused by separation of oil from the grease in the focusing helicoid, and subsequent migration to the diaphragm blades. This is a grease which is appropriate to be used in lenses helicoids:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HELIMAX-XP-Camera-Telescope-Optical-Instrument-Focusing-Helicoid-Grease-w-PTFE-/271194713421?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f2476ed4d
Pay attention to the comment about oil migration. To permanently solve the problem of oil contamination, you have to replace the current lubricant for one that does not suffer from oil separation.
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If raindrops were perfect lenses, the rainbow did not exist. |
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Langstrum
Joined: 16 Feb 2014
Posts: 351
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| Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 2:56 pm Post subject: Re: Canon FD Aperture Cleaning |
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Langstrum wrote:
| verbatimium wrote: |
I have a couple of Canon FD lenses that have some oil on the aperture blades (FD 50mm F1.4 SSC and FD 100mm F2. . The oil is located on the tips of the aperture blades (the ends that are in the center when the aperture is closed). I can quite easily remove the aperture assembly from both lenses, and tried cleaning the blades with 70% ethanol (both the front and back side). I cleaned them to a point where I did not see any residual oil on either side, even after opening and closing the blades several times (so there was no more oil trapped in between the blades anymore, which would smear when opening/closing the blades).
After reassembling the lenses everything was great. The blades looked like new and had no trace of oil whatsoever. However, when I inspected the lenses the next day, I noticed that there was, once again, oil on the tips of the blades (although not as much as before). I am wondering where this oil is seeping from when the lenses are not in use? It is odd, because the blades looked clean when I reassembled the lens, even after opening and closing the aperture blades several times. If there was residual oil that was not cleaned off in between the blades, shouldn't I have seen it being smeared when opening/closing the blades?.
Note that the 50mm SSC lens is stored with the aperture wide open which made me think that the oil is coming from the outer rim of the aperture assembly. However, the 100mm lens is stored with the aperture is closed and the oil still seeped only onto the ends of the aperture blades. This tells me that the oil is not coming from the outer rim, but where is it coming from?
Does anyone have any success in cleaning Canon FD aperture blades to a point where the oil does not reappear? Any Tips? Also, would it be safe to give the entire aperture assembly a quick bath in 70% ethanol to possibly remove whatever oil that I do not see and cannot clean? |
I bought that lens with fungus for $15 and did the cleanup but I didn't see any oil on the blades and oily blades is not a common problem with this lens, I think. Maybe someone opened the lens before and lubed it with oil for easy rotation? Did you open the whole diaphragm and disassemble to get separated blade for cleaning?
_________________
Camera: Sony A7 mark III, A6300
AF Lenses:
Canon EF 50/1.8; EF 200/2.8 L, EF 200/1.8 L, EF 300/4 L Sony E mount SEL 50/1.8 OSS, SEL 16/2.8 Fuji X mount XF 35/1.4 R
MF Lenses: Peleng MC 8/3.5, 17/2.8 Samyang 14/T3.1, 35/T1.5, TS 24/3.5 ED, 85/T1.5, Polar 85/1.4 Auto Revuenon 28/2.8; MC 50/1.4 Vega11U 50/2.8 Carl Zeiss Tessar 50/2.8 (exakta mount) Auto Chinon 50/1.9 Zenitar ME1 50/1.7 Sears Auto Sears 55/1.4; Sears 135/2.8 Auto Yashinon DX 50/1.4; Tomioka 50/1.2 SMC Pentax 50/1.7; 50/1.4 Canon FD 50/1.4 S.S.C; 55/1.2 S.S.C; FD 50/1.2 L; FD 85/1.2 L; 85/1.2 S.S.C Aspherical; FD 80-200/4 L 300/2.8 S.S.C Fluorite FD 300/2.8 L FD 200/1.8 LCosina-S 50/1.2 Helios Helios 44 Chrome f/22, 44-2, 44-3, 44M-4, 44M-7 (58/2), Helios-40 85/1.5 Jupiter Jupiter-9 85/2; Jupiter-37A 135/3.5; Jupiter-21M 200/4 Nikon Ai 105/2.5 Tairs-3S 300/4.5
Voigtlander 15/4.5 Aspherical; Ultron 35/1.7
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verbatimium
Joined: 13 Nov 2013
Posts: 42
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| Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 3:05 pm Post subject: Re: Canon FD Aperture Cleaning |
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verbatimium wrote:
Gerald - I have a hard time believing that the oil is coming from the helicoid as the 100mm lens was stored with the aperture closed, and there is only oil on the tips of the blades that are closest to the center. If the oil is migrating from the helicoid, shouldn't I see oil along the length of the aperture blades?
Langstrum - What lens are you talking about? I only removed the entire aperture mechanism/assembly and cleaned the aperture blades. I did not take apart the the aperture assembly itself to separate the blades from each other. Is this something that is easily done, and is it easy to put it back together?? |
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Langstrum
Joined: 16 Feb 2014
Posts: 351
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| Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 3:12 pm Post subject: Re: Canon FD Aperture Cleaning |
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Langstrum wrote:
| verbatimium wrote: |
| Langstrum - What lens are you talking about? I only removed the entire aperture mechanism/assembly and cleaned the aperture blades. I did not take apart the the aperture assembly itself to separate the blades from each other. Is this something that is easily done, and is it easy to put it back together?? |
The FD 50mm F1.4 SSC. When I opened it, I didn't disassemble the diaphragm to separate the blades because they were clean. But I had experience with one Samyang 85mm f/1.4, the oil still can be trapped inside the diaphragm, near the joint of the blades, and they just came out slowly. I don't remember exactly, seems like disassembling the FD 50/1.4 SSC is not very easy, but once you can open it, you can reassemble them if you do it carefully.
I found this one, maybe helpful for you
http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-161.html
Maybe what you need is to unscrew to take out the round plate on the front side of the diaphragm, but be aware of the spring, it may become loose after you take it out, it happened to me.
_________________
Camera: Sony A7 mark III, A6300
AF Lenses:
Canon EF 50/1.8; EF 200/2.8 L, EF 200/1.8 L, EF 300/4 L Sony E mount SEL 50/1.8 OSS, SEL 16/2.8 Fuji X mount XF 35/1.4 R
MF Lenses: Peleng MC 8/3.5, 17/2.8 Samyang 14/T3.1, 35/T1.5, TS 24/3.5 ED, 85/T1.5, Polar 85/1.4 Auto Revuenon 28/2.8; MC 50/1.4 Vega11U 50/2.8 Carl Zeiss Tessar 50/2.8 (exakta mount) Auto Chinon 50/1.9 Zenitar ME1 50/1.7 Sears Auto Sears 55/1.4; Sears 135/2.8 Auto Yashinon DX 50/1.4; Tomioka 50/1.2 SMC Pentax 50/1.7; 50/1.4 Canon FD 50/1.4 S.S.C; 55/1.2 S.S.C; FD 50/1.2 L; FD 85/1.2 L; 85/1.2 S.S.C Aspherical; FD 80-200/4 L 300/2.8 S.S.C Fluorite FD 300/2.8 L FD 200/1.8 LCosina-S 50/1.2 Helios Helios 44 Chrome f/22, 44-2, 44-3, 44M-4, 44M-7 (58/2), Helios-40 85/1.5 Jupiter Jupiter-9 85/2; Jupiter-37A 135/3.5; Jupiter-21M 200/4 Nikon Ai 105/2.5 Tairs-3S 300/4.5
Voigtlander 15/4.5 Aspherical; Ultron 35/1.7
Last edited by Langstrum on Wed Sep 10, 2014 3:18 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Gerald
Joined: 25 Mar 2014
Posts: 1196
Location: Brazil
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| Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 3:17 pm Post subject: Re: Canon FD Aperture Cleaning |
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Gerald wrote:
| verbatimium wrote: |
| Gerald - I have a hard time believing that the oil is coming from the helicoid as the 100mm lens was stored with the aperture closed, and there is only oil on the tips of the blades that are closest to the center. If the oil is migrating from the helicoid, shouldn't I see oil along the length of the aperture blades? |
If the oil did not come from the helicoid, where did it come from?
Make no mistake, the phenomenon of capillarity is extremely insidious. The migration of oil reaches places you never imagined.
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If raindrops were perfect lenses, the rainbow did not exist. |
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sceptic
Joined: 01 Jun 2013
Posts: 255
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| Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 5:00 pm Post subject: |
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sceptic wrote:
Perhaps there's oil out of view, around the circumference of the aperture mechanism. I use petroleum-based solvents for cleaning oil from aperture blades (and other places). Ethanol will not dissolve oil as effectively as naphta/lighter fluid does. I usually drip it straight onto the blades and lit it seep into the surrounding mechanism while opening/closing the blades. Obviously I remove the lenses before doing this, so that all the dissolved oil drips straight through.
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Sony A7R and wildly varying flora of lenses |
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verbatimium
Joined: 13 Nov 2013
Posts: 42
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| Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 5:29 pm Post subject: |
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verbatimium wrote:
| sceptic wrote: |
| Perhaps there's oil out of view, around the circumference of the aperture mechanism. I use petroleum-based solvents for cleaning oil from aperture blades (and other places). Ethanol will not dissolve oil as effectively as naphta/lighter fluid does. I usually drip it straight onto the blades and lit it seep into the surrounding mechanism while opening/closing the blades. Obviously I remove the lenses before doing this, so that all the dissolved oil drips straight through. |
Thanks for the suggestion. Does the naptha stain the aperture blades at all? Also, if I get it into the actual mechanism around the circumference, will it hard the mechanism (can I just give the entire aperture assembly a bath in naptha and then take it out and let it dry off)? |
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verbatimium
Joined: 13 Nov 2013
Posts: 42
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| Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 8:09 pm Post subject: Re: Canon FD Aperture Cleaning |
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verbatimium wrote:
| Gerald wrote: |
| Make no mistake, the phenomenon of capillarity is extremely insidious. The migration of oil reaches places you never imagined. |
You are absolutely right of the capillary movement of the oil. I just did some a few tests and it is quite incredible how the oil moves around. Depending on how I store the lens (mount down vs mount up, aperture closed vs open) the oil migrates around the aperture blades within less than an hour. It is quite amazing and something I would have never thought of.
For example, when I stored the FD 50mm 1.4 SSC mount down with the aperture blades fully open, the oil ended up on the very tips of the aperture blades. However when I inverted the lens (mount up) and stored the lens with the aperture blades fully closed, the oil migrated to the bottom side of the aperture blades, and are not at the tips anymore but right in the middle of each leaf. This happened within a matter of less than an hour. The tips of the aperture blades are now completely clean with no trace of oil. |
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sceptic
Joined: 01 Jun 2013
Posts: 255
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| Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 9:13 pm Post subject: |
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sceptic wrote:
There can perhaps be staining, if not dried uniformly (and perhaps even then) if the solvent is let to "pool" and then dry. Just yesterday I soaked an aperture and it got stained (I was sloppy). You should perhaps try on a small spot first, to see if staining occurs.
Hardening of the mechanism is not something I have observed, rather the opposite. I believe some of the hardening comes from oil sticking to the mechanism, so cleaning it is a good idea (at least those I've cleaned). Finally, try and clean it while still intact; reassembling aperture blades is never a quick and fun excercise, ask me how I know this...
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Sony A7R and wildly varying flora of lenses |
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