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Cooltouch
Tinkerer
Username: Cooltouch
Post Number: 32
Registered: 01-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 12:03 pm: | 
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I just acquired a Vivitar S1 24-48mm zoom, and discovered to my dismay that the aperture iris was stuck open. Not such a big deal, I hoped, and opened up the back of the lens. Fortunately getting to the iris blades and their actuating mechanism was relatively easy. Unfortunately, in the process, one extremely tiny spring, and another average small screw vanished into the 13th dimension, leaving not a trace of their former existence in this universe.
I can get by without the spring, I suspect, since it is used to engage a locking mechanism for Canon breechlock, which is meant to keep the breecklock ring locked open until mounted. But the screw is one of three that holds down the aperture ring assembly, and plays a more essential role. It's phillips head, with about a 4mm long shank and about 1mm in diameter. Fine thread of course.
I did do a search for this, and got a hit from four years ago, where the most useful reply was to buy an old Japanese transistor radio/tape deck, etc, and dismantle it with the hopes of finding a screw of a similar size. If all else fails, that's what I'll try to do, but I don't have any suitable donor items at the moment.
So if you know of a good source for this sort of thing, I'd appreciate it if you could pass it along. I'm not having much luck with Google. |
Glenn
Tinkerer
Username: Glenn
Post Number: 698
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 01:48 pm: |
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Find your local repairman and buy him a drink in exchange for a rummage in the 'bits' box! Alternatively look out for a cheap scrap lens or camera as a donor. Whilst the scrap radio is an OK idea, I find that scrap lenses or cameras are the best source - unless you want to go down the expensive Micro-Tools route. |
Chiccolini
Tinkerer
Username: Chiccolini
Post Number: 57
Registered: 06-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 04:17 pm: |
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Run a magnet around the table or the floor and the parts may show up. They didn't disappeared inside the lens did they? |
Cooltouch
Tinkerer
Username: Cooltouch
Post Number: 33
Registered: 01-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 05:22 pm: |
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Hehe. Actually, inside the lens is indeed where the screw went. I thought at first that's where it had gone, but after repeated smacks of the lens against my palm and nothing showing up, I assumed incorrectly that it had gone somewhere else. Tried it again about an hour later, and the screw appeared in my hand. As for the spring, I turned the chore over to my eagle-eyed daughter. I've had her search for tiny things that I've managed to drop in the past, and so far she has an unblemished track record. Well, she came through again, and found that little bugger. Found it right where I'd been looking too. She's really good at this sort of thing.
So, all's right with the world once more. |
R_a_feldman
Tinkerer
Username: R_a_feldman
Post Number: 11
Registered: 11-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 12:20 pm: |
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A good source for small screws (both metric and english) is www.walthers.com, the big model railroad vendor. If you have a local hobby shop, they probably are already getting items from Walthers and could put what you need on their next order, if they don't already have it in stock. |
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