lens dirt

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lens dirt

Post by Guest »

I am curious to know how significant lens dirt is and is it easy to open a lens and clean it out?
Guest-
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Joined: Thu May 15, 2003 7:34 am

Post by Guest- »

So how significant is it?
BolexPlusX
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Location: Long Island, New York

Post by BolexPlusX »

Well, it depends.

Most lens "dirt" is just skin oils and so on on the outer surface of the front lens element, and you can simply wipe them off.

The inner elements generally don't get dirty, since they are pretty isolated from the outside world.

What the inner lens elements do get is fungus, and since it is a living organism it can grow until it renders the lens opaque and destroys it.

Generally speaking it has the apearance of a spiderweb, is this what you are seeing?

Also, the typical Super-8 lens has a lot of elements and little bits and pieces that rarely go back together the way thay come apart. (Especially for folks like me who aren't camera repair technicians.)
Guest-
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Post by Guest- »

No,
They are actually 16mm camera lenses. And what I am seeing looks like dirt and not the trademark spiderweb fungus pattern. I guess after so many years the antireflective coatings inside of the lens can flake away and leave little particles that float around inside of the lens.
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BK
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Post by BK »

Leave the job to a professional. I took one lens apart recently, it seems like a simple 13mm wide angle for a 16mm camera but still haven't figured out how to put it back together again, inside it's more like a jigsaw puzzle.

Those specks inside the lenses are usually of paint that they coat the inside of the barrel with, and they peel off over time. They won't show up unless you use a very small aperture, it all depends how many specks there is of course and whether they are at the front or middle or back of the lens. If it is at the middle or the rear of the lens elements it won't show up as much.

Bill
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Post by Guest- »

BK,
I should have listened to you because now I have gone and done it! I Took it apart, damaged the threads and had to relegate it to file #13. Well, you live and learn. It was a 1" lens for a 16mm movie camera. It's o.k. because I have a c-mount adapter with a 28mm wide angle 35mm camera lens that I can use in it's place. It's quality is going to be much better, I'm sure.The only problem is that the diameter of the lens is so much wider than the 16mm versions that it gets in the way of the viewfinder objective.
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BK
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Post by BK »

Oh well never mind. Maybe you'll come across another lens for your 16mm camera.

Bill
dantheman
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Post by dantheman »

I have almost exactly this problem: they look like small flecks of black paint.

Can anyone recommend someone who can fix this (preferably in London)?

By the way, the cameras are a Nizo professional and a nizo 6080.

Cheers,
Daniel
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