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Nico
Tinkerer
Username: Nico
Post Number: 8
Registered: 07-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 - 09:14 pm: | 
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I'm new in the art of restoring...
Trying to make a canon Demi S look shiny and usable.
I need some orientation on the materials needed.
1º The rough black chorme parts, the top and the bottom covers are very unpainted and rusty (the green kind of rust). Which kind of paint do you recommend to paint them after cleaning?
2º The transparent plastic that covers the meter is really foggy, tried the toothpaste tip for a few minutes but... still the same
3º Well the lens... I know, I know, "put a roll and test it". But i wanna know how bad is it. It is not dirt, and pretty sure it is not fungus either, I've soaked the elements on vinegar for a couple of minutes and nothing, think those are scratches like a mass of tiny pits.
These are the front and the rear lenses respectively:
Should I toss it in the garbage? (It feels horrible just the sound of it...) |
Nico
Tinkerer
Username: Nico
Post Number: 9
Registered: 07-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 08:40 pm: |
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By the way, just today I've read some Rick Oleson's post regarding oxide on some lenses, that could be removed by a soft polishing agent. Can those tiny spots be oxide and not scratches? What would be worse, remove the coating that way or leave it as it is? |
Waynemel
Tinkerer
Username: Waynemel
Post Number: 114
Registered: 08-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 11:03 pm: |
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That lens looks pretty bad.
I say do whatever you can to try and improve it, because it doesn't look like it can get much worse! |
Barnum
Tinkerer
Username: Barnum
Post Number: 176
Registered: 10-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 30, 2010 - 01:02 pm: |
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Hi!
Forget it and buy another one. |
Nico
Tinkerer
Username: Nico
Post Number: 10
Registered: 07-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 30, 2010 - 05:46 pm: |
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Hi!
That is not an option!
It should be easy to buy another one for a few pennies in the first world, but here in Argentina, those cameras are very hard to find. Aaand a little expensive. I'll try to buy some one later on ebay, may be a EE17, but since I have this one, I feel I need to bring her to a new life and give her the love she deserves. The camera works completely fine indeed! But... Kinda' hard isn't it?
I wanted to remove the scratches on chrome either, but I've also read here (you're an amazing data base on this stuff, by the way) that its quite impossible.
I think I'll test it as it is and then try to remove the coating, to see what happens... |
Donyet
Tinkerer
Username: Donyet
Post Number: 44
Registered: 06-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 31, 2010 - 01:04 pm: |
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Nico,
That lens does look pretty bad. Try cleaning it with a microfiber cloth used for cleaning eyeglasses. It won't really help with the scratches but at least you would know you tried. I have heard of people polishing out scatches on glass, but have never tried it myself.
I guess the best thing to do is just run a test roll through it and see what happens.
Avoid shooting towards a light source and the photos may look okay. It could be your cloudy day camera.
Where in Argentina are you? I was born in Buenos Aires, but have never really lived in Argentina outside of my first two months of life.
Alex |
Nico
Tinkerer
Username: Nico
Post Number: 11
Registered: 07-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 31, 2010 - 01:44 pm: |
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Hi Donyet
I tried to clean it with almost everything, lens fluid, lighter fluid, spit, vinegar, breath, and always using lens cleaning tissues. Nothing worked.
There are some typical scratches, probably caused by bad cleaning by the previous stupid owner, but those pits are really annoying and have the most impact on the lens performance, I guess, cuz they will blur for sure. I don't have idea what could caused them!
So you're an argie too uh? I was born in Buenos Aires and live here since then ha! Actually, I'm not in Capital Federal but I'm pretty close, in Ramos Mejía, the west zone. It's an ugly city to take photographs by the way.
Thanks for you're tips! |
Norman
Tinkerer
Username: Norman
Post Number: 33
Registered: 03-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 31, 2010 - 06:05 pm: |
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This may be a stupid suggestion but on the other hand it might give you a lens that could work. If you applied some black paint and then wiped it off leaving paint only in the pits and scratches you would have a reduced effective aperture but no interference from the damaged part of the lens. I could have been an argie! |
Nico
Tinkerer
Username: Nico
Post Number: 12
Registered: 07-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 31, 2010 - 07:55 pm: |
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Great advice Norman! I will do that if I need so. First I want to give it a chance. By the quantity of holes that it has I hope it to be better than take photos with the lens cap on.
Oh, so you live in the backyard! It's wierd, one forgets there are people living there. I salute you Gringo!
Thanks |
Norman
Tinkerer
Username: Norman
Post Number: 34
Registered: 03-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 31, 2010 - 08:25 pm: |
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It's not such a bad place if you can ignore the wind and the snow today. |
Nico
Tinkerer
Username: Nico
Post Number: 13
Registered: 07-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 31, 2010 - 09:19 pm: |
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I don't think it's bad, i think the opposite, I hate big cities. Snow and loneliness are a very perfect mixture for making landscapes also. I wish i were in some place like that now. But i have to repair my camera first! |
Nico
Tinkerer
Username: Nico
Post Number: 16
Registered: 07-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 12, 2010 - 10:20 am: |
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What about the other questions regarding paint and plastic window? |
Glenn
Tinkerer
Username: Glenn
Post Number: 825
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 14, 2010 - 07:03 am: |
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Tooth paste is not ideal for initial clean up of transparent plastics - you need something with a bit more 'bite' (pardon choice of word) so try an auto chrome polish such as Solvol Autosol. You should note that apart from Acrylics it is impossible to get complete transparency on re- polished plastic windows. This is due to the soft composition of most none acrylic plastics.
A slight hazing or even 'frosting' will not cause noticeable exposure errors, so just go for a good cosmetic look.
As for paint - I use acrylic based automotive paints in small spray cans, finding that a 'Satin Black' always gives a nice overall effect if one is completely refinishing a camera. It is more tricky if one is only repainting blemishes, but as you are doing a complete repaint there is no paint match problem. |
Greyscale
Tinkerer
Username: Greyscale
Post Number: 12
Registered: 07-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 14, 2010 - 07:56 am: |
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Try rottenstone (available where they sell woodworking products) for the initial cleanup of the plastic, it is an extremely fine abrasive used for polishing fine wood finishes, much finer "grit" than chrome polish. Then do the final cleanup using toothpaste. |
Nico
Tinkerer
Username: Nico
Post Number: 18
Registered: 07-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 14, 2010 - 09:17 am: |
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Thank you guys, I'm going to search for those things but have to google them first in order to find equivalents or something alike. I'm pretty sure we don't have any of those in the market but there must be generic alternatives.
If you can specify their generic name, I wil very pleased.
I have something called BRILLAMETAL (metalshine) designed for chrome, aluminium and other metals polishing. Think I will try that first for the plastic.
Thank you again for you're help. |
Nico
Tinkerer
Username: Nico
Post Number: 19
Registered: 07-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 14, 2010 - 11:08 am: |
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Also, Glenn, will that acrylic paint work for a mate finish black? Thats how it suppose to be.
Thanks |
Greyscale
Tinkerer
Username: Greyscale
Post Number: 13
Registered: 07-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 14, 2010 - 11:28 am: |
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Nico, if the paint is too glossy, rubbing it with #0000 steel wool should take the shine down to a nice satiny finish. |
Nico
Tinkerer
Username: Nico
Post Number: 20
Registered: 07-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 19, 2010 - 08:28 am: |
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Ok, the metal polishing paste worked like a charm. It wasn't necessary to use the toothpaste. I can now watch the needle swinging like jazz.
Thanks for the tips. I'll proceed with painting just before reassembling.
By the way, while I was cleaning the shutter system I realized that the last element of the rear group seems to be coated. Having the glass in the given condition I think I can remove that coating in order to analyze the result. Is it any need for the last element to be coated?
Can it really improve the final photo or... why is it there? It is not enough with the front element coated?
Thank you |
