Metal balls

[miran]

I keep losing them. You know, the ones usually used for click stops on aperture rings. Where to find replacements other than from busted donor lenses? I found some ballbearing balls on ebay in different sizes, e.g. this: http://www.ebay.de/itm/381344341316?var=650543117490. Is this what I need? Any other advice?

[Lloydy]

Micro Tools have various sizes, I think 1.5mm is the common size.

http://www.micro-tools.de/index.php?lang=1&cl=search&searchfieldname=71893b2e3195e0c345023a4aecde4195&71893b2e3195e0c345023a4aecde4195=ball+bearings






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[miran]

Many thanks! I've ordered from micro tools before, I don't know why I didn't think of them myself. I think I'll order a pack or two in each size and see which fits. And they should last a while. Btw, most recently I lost a ball from a Minolta MD lens and it must be tiny. I have another late MD lens (produced by third party supplier I think) that I keep for parts and its ball was far too big, I couldn't use that. So there's not one common size, even in the same brand from the same era.

[Lloydy]

Some of the old Canon Breechlock mounts have a load of balls inside them, I think they're 1.5mm as well. So a dead Canon lens can be a good source of balls.

[cooltouch]

On the lenses I've dismantled the balls used for the aperture click stops are usually closer to 1mm than 1.5mm. And I've lost a few. Guess I should visit Microtools as well.

[miran]

Just a quick follow up. 1.2mm turned out to fit best. 1mm would probably work too, but I thought 1.2mm was better. 1.5mm and bigger were obviously too big.

So if anyone needs to replace aperture ring balls in Minolta MD lenses (in my case it was 100mm/2.5), the correct size is between 1mm and 1.2mm.

[VLR]

[Gardener]

Get a digital caliper. It is dead useful and absolutely takes the guessing out of issues like that. Just do not, for the love of god, use it as a spanner.