Olympus Zuiko lens repair/service info

[oscroft]

Apologies if this has already been asked, but I'm new here and couldn't find anything. Does anyone know if there are any Olympus Zuiko lens service/repair manuals available online, or any guides on websites, anywhere? And if not, does anyone sell paper copies? The specific lenses I'm interested in are 50/1.8, 100/2.8 and 135/3.5 - I have one of each and they really could do with internal cleaning.

Alan

 

[frugal]

A good place to ask would be the Olympus mailing list. Info on joining can be found at www.zuikoholic.com.

 

[oscroft]

A good place to ask would be the Olympus mailing list. Info on joining can be found at www.zuikoholic.com

That's great, thanks.

Alan

 

[Jeffrey A. Steinberg]

Best to just send them to john at www.zuiko.com and have them done by the best around.

He does great work and I am a satisified customer. Unless you know what you are doing, opening a lens can be a one-way affair.

 

[oscroft]

Best to just send them to john at www.zuiko.com and have them done by the best around.

Thanks for the suggestion, but his prices are more than the lenses are worth (especially if I add postage from the UK).

Alan

 

[John Koehrer]

oscroft,
What's the problem with them?
I know a common problem is slow apertures, usually caused by migrating grease at the rear of the lens. That's usually an easy fix by removing the screws in the lens mount (3 or 4) and cleaning what looks like oil from the available surfaces. After cleaning with rubbing alcohol just make sure the thing is clean & dry before reassembling. I don't remember any particular timing for these lenses but digital snaps as you go along or notes/sketches etc. shouldn't be to difficult for most folks.

 

[oscroft]

What's the problem with them?

Both the 100 and the 135 have got slightly cloudy patches behind the front element (I got them both recently, 2nd hand from different people, so it's not caused by me storing them badly or anything like that). I don't have any results developed yet, so I don't know if the image is affected. The 50 (another 2nd hand one, it came with a camera) is very dirty with lots of dust and fungus spots on the elements, so I thought that one would be a good one to try cleaning first as practice, seeing as it's worthless anyway.

Alan

 

[John Koehrer]

Cloudy patches. Remove the front element. The decorator ring with the lens info will unscrew. It has spanner slots on it 180 degrees apart. You can use a large rubber stopper from the hardware store or take an old pair of needlenose pliers & grind the tips down to fit the slots.
Once the decorator ring is off you can see if there's another ring holding the front element. If there is you should already have the pliers to fit the slots.
Remove, clean & reassemble.
Wheee!

 

[oscroft]

Cloudy patches. Remove the front element. The decorator ring with the lens info will unscrew. It has spanner slots on it 180 degrees apart.

Oh yes, so it has - I hadn't noticed those slots. I think I might actually invest in a spanner wrench (I've also got some old cameras and lenses that would benefit from cleaning, so one would probably be worth having).

Many thanks,
Alan

 

[John Koehrer]

The nice thing about using pliers that are ground down is cost. A good spanner can be $50 or more. Old pliers---Priceless.

 

[oscroft]

The nice thing about using pliers that are ground down is cost. A good spanner can be $50 or more. Old pliers---Priceless.

Hmm, yes, that's a good point, spanners do seem to be a bit pricey. Maybe I'll dig out some old pliers and the grinding wheel

 

[frugal]

For the 50/1.8, you're right that it's probably not worth paying to fix. If you want to make an attempt on your own that's fine, you might also want to ask on the Olympus mailing list, odds are good that you can find somebody in the UK (there's a lot of UK subscribers) with a spare 50/1.8 they could let go of for a reasonable price. Or, you might want to step up to the 50/1.4. Depending on the characteristics and age of your 50/1.8 (there were several versions). That's what I did when my 1.8 died and I couldn't believe the difference. I think my 1.8 was an earlier version (don't remember the serial #) and I know my 1.4 is a later version (but probably not last), I swear I could shave with the thing it's so sharp!

 

[oscroft]

For the 50/1.8, you're right that it's probably not worth paying to fix. If you want to make an attempt on your own that's fine, you might also want to ask on the Olympus mailing list, odds are good that you can find somebody in the UK (there's a lot of UK subscribers) with a spare 50/1.8 they could let go of for a reasonable price. Or, you might want to step up to the 50/1.4. Depending on the characteristics and age of your 50/1.8 (there were several versions). That's what I did when my 1.8 died and I couldn't believe the difference. I think my 1.8 was an earlier version (don't remember the serial #) and I know my 1.4 is a later version (but probably not last), I swear I could shave with the thing it's so sharp!

Those suggestions make a lot of sense, thanks. But I actually already have two more 50mm lenses, a newish 1.8 and a 1.4 silvernose (I like the silvernose a lot - I get nice tonality with b&w with it), so my only reason for wanting to clean the dirty one is really just to practice before I attempt any important lenses.

Best,
Alan

 

[John Hermanson]

There are no repair manuals for this type of Zuiko lenses. They are quite simple mechanisms and any technician with experience should be able to take them apart and repair them without assistance. Camera body manuals are available but even those are not step-by-step tutorials, it is assumed that you already have lots of repair knowledge or experience. John, www.zuiko.com

 

[Hamster]

Lost of useful info here:

http://olympus.dementia.org/Hardware/

 

[John Hermanson]

There are 5 types of 50 1.8. The last 3 have sealed front groups, which cannot be taken apart. Also parts are not available. I've seen lots of these over the years, and when I was subcontracting for Olympus America, replacement of the front assembly (for even a filter ring dent) was a daily thing. John