Help needed! 28-80 3.5-5.6 AFD Disassembly

[Englischdude]

Hi,

i picked up a very cheap nikon 28-80mm which seems to have some dirt inside which is appearing on the pictures. Anyone know of any disassembly instructions for cleaning such a lens?

Thanks in advance

 

[Marcel]

You might have better chances if you'd search for a "lens repair" forum... I'm not aware of many of our members that do that kind of work.

 

[fotojack]

That's best left to a professional. This is not something that we can recommend in here. Better to go to a web site or forum that would be able to tell you something definitive.

 

[Brian]

I found one site with manuals for download, will cost you for the download.

Download Nikon service manuals, repair manuals

from pictures of the lens, the front looks like it comes off with an optical spanner- will run $20~$30 on Ebay. You will need a set of fine screwdrivers. Then- you have to hope that Nikon did not use cement or annealing to get to all of the places in the lens. If the dirt is just under the front element, you might be in luck. I took apart a lot of junk lenses before learning to get them back together. Older lenses, manual focus, no electronics, were made to be serviceable. Most low-end Af lenses are not easy to service, were made to be disposable. Paying a pro shop to clean the lens will cost more than replacing it. You pay for the amount of time needed to repair the lens, not based on the cost of the lens.

RF lenses, easy to work on- general lens repair tools. Manual Focus SLR- need a general guide and general repair tools. AF lenses-best to have the factory repair manual and special tools made for the series of lens.

 

[Englischdude]

I found one site with manuals for download, will cost you for the download.

Download Nikon service manuals, repair manuals

from pictures of the lens, the front looks like it comes off with an optical spanner- will run $20~$30 on Ebay. You will need a set of fine screwdrivers. Then- you have to hope that Nikon did not use cement or annealing to get to all of the places in the lens. If the dirt is just under the front element, you might be in luck. I took apart a lot of junk lenses before learning to get them back together. Older lenses, manual focus, no electronics, were made to be serviceable. Most low-end Af lenses are not easy to service, were made to be disposable. Paying a pro shop to clean the lens will cost more than replacing it. You pay for the amount of time needed to repair the lens, not based on the cost of the lens.

RF lenses, easy to work on- general lens repair tools. Manual Focus SLR- need a general guide and general repair tools. AF lenses-best to have the factory repair manual and special tools made for the series of lens.

Brian, great info, many many thanks. I have now solved the problem. I took an old vernier caliper and was able to use this as a wrench to remove the front lens. The front lens came out, but seemed to be moulded into a plastic housing which contained another smaller lens... also not removable. Removing this front housing however gave me access to all the glass which I cleaned, it seems to have done the trick!

While we are on the subject of dirt........ the image in the viewfinder is quite dirty, due to contamination of the mirror. Any tips on cleaning the mirror? Everything I have read on the web has told me to leave this well alone.

 

[Brian]

Good job- and it is a great feeling to use a lens or camera that you repaired yourself.

With the view through the finder, first use a good blower like the Rocket Blower, to get as much dust off the bottom of the screen and mirror. If that is not good enough, and I have done this: gently breathe on the mirror to moisten it and very gently use a Q-Tip -barely touching, no pressure on it- to wipe the moisture off. These mirrors are front-coated and and will scratch very easily. But "Tickling it with a Q-Tip" has worked for me. I've done this for SLR mirrors and the semi-silvered beamsplitter of a rangefinder camera. Again- very gently cannot be emphasized enough.

http://www.adorama.com/GTRAB.html?gclid=CMCl1u3eh7wCFct9OgodBHcARw

This finder looked like a London Fog before cleaning the RF mirror under the window to the left and the beamsplitter to the right. You can see the corners in the VF that I did not get to. Be "GENTLE" otherwise the silvering will scratch and come off.

 

[Englischdude]

thanks, will see what I can find in order to do a gentle job. I have this kind of blower, however the dirt has not shifted. will do a little more research or wait for further tips before attempting cleaning the mirror.

 

[Marcel]

thanks, will see what I can find in order to do a gentle job. I have this kind of blower, however the dirt has not shifted. will do a little more research or wait for further tips before attempting cleaning the mirror.

I find that the dust on the mirror is not that apparent in the viewfinder. Dust on the mirror is not seen as "in focus" in the viewfinder. What you see is probably dust caught under the focusing screen.

 

[Englischdude]

what do you mean by "focusing screen" and what can I do about it?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Marcel]

what do you mean by "focusing screen" and what can I do about it?

Thanks for your help.

The focusing screen is above the mirror and you can "very delicately" clean it. You can use the rocket blower but instead of blowing on the mirror, you blow above it or, use a arctic brush to get the dust off the focusing screen.

 

[Brian]

Usually the problem is dirt on the focus screen, or even (with older cameras) the sides of the pentaprism or porro-prism desilvering. I've picked up some thrift store and Pawn shop rescues of SLR's left without a lens or body cap. The mirrors were dirty on those, but they did clean up.

 

[afrika]

how did you remove your lens, i have the same problem,
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