At Home Lens Cleaning
JonaBeth Russell
Registered Users Posts: 1,065 Major grins
After a couple months of daily use on the beach, my EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 lens had more internal trash than I could stand. The specs weren't showing on the images, but were very noticeable in video clips. Since each of my sessions includes short video work, I had to take action. Shipping from Maui to Canon and back is never a quick turnaround, nor is it the cheapest expense, so I opted for the DIY.
Here are a couple before shots. You can see the large particulates behind the front element:
The process overall was pretty easy, and took about 15 - 20 mins overall, and saved me a couple hundred bucks.
Here's the lens after cleaning:
In the end, this was a very simple process. Popped the outer trim bezel (little ring with print on it) with a toothpick., applied masking tape over the side of the barrel and onto the glass for indexing, removed the three tiny screws and voila...the front element dumped out into my hand.
From there, a little rocket blower work inside, a gentle cleaning of the inside of the glass, and put it all back together the way it came, lining up the masking tape for proper calibration. Used some loc-tite on the screws, pushed the bezel ring back onto the front element (has some sticky goo stuff from the factory) and went to work.
Here are a couple before shots. You can see the large particulates behind the front element:
The process overall was pretty easy, and took about 15 - 20 mins overall, and saved me a couple hundred bucks.
Here's the lens after cleaning:
In the end, this was a very simple process. Popped the outer trim bezel (little ring with print on it) with a toothpick., applied masking tape over the side of the barrel and onto the glass for indexing, removed the three tiny screws and voila...the front element dumped out into my hand.
From there, a little rocket blower work inside, a gentle cleaning of the inside of the glass, and put it all back together the way it came, lining up the masking tape for proper calibration. Used some loc-tite on the screws, pushed the bezel ring back onto the front element (has some sticky goo stuff from the factory) and went to work.
0
Comments
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
That's what you have insurance for.
You could provide a answer to your insurance co I learned from watching our elected officials.
"The dang thing just fell apart, and I have no idea why. I have no recollection of my doing any thing that could possibly cause this"
Or just bite the bullet and if unsuccessful just send it in to Canon for repair and pay for it out of your own pocket.
Sam