There's a lazy way to take care of lazy diaphragms that will give you at
least temporary reprieve. This assumes that there's oil on the
diaphragm rather than something sticky in the linkiage. Ideally, one
would remove both the front and rear glass for better access to front
and rear of the diaphragm but the 50 1.8 may have cement in the front
thread which might make removing the front glass difficult or impoasible.
In that case just remove the rear mount and unscrew the rear elements.
Then use a Q-tip or some other device that can transport a drop or two
at a time of Ronsonol lighter fluid (100% naptha). You can also use any
other form of pure naptha but the Ronsonol can is small and has a
convenient pouring spout.
Since the diaphragm will close set it to the closed position and use the
Q-tip or other (preferably lintless tool) to place a drop of two of
naptha on the blades. Be careful not to let the naptha drip onto the
front elements or you'll have to clean that up as well. Let the naptha
spread as much as it will and then start working the diahpragm manually.
After the naptha evaporates repeat. Then repeat again and again. The
naptha will evaporate and carry away a small bit of the oil. After
repeated application and hundreds of manual diaphragm activations it
will start to free up and eventually return to its old self.
Reassembele the rear lens elements, linkage and rear mount and hope that
the problem doesn't return for a long time. If the problem does return
just repeat.
Chuck Norcutt
Wayne Harridge wrote:
>>I knew the day would come, and it has. My Zuiko 50mm f1.8 is
>>getting old....the iris diaphragm is slowing up; taking about
>>a second to fully open from f1.8. Solutions: exercise it
>>like crazy; bin and replace it (only to find the same problem
>>months down the line); there's a magic cure I don't know
>>about?? I would hate to get rid of the lens; it is mint in
>>all other respects and isn't used for 'quick fire'
>>photography. Also, they're cheap and easy to come by, but I
>>like to wear my 'environmental' hat. And the consensus of
>>opinion among the group is....?
>>
>
>
> Get another one and retire the lazy one for "loupe duty". It'll probably
> cost you much more to repair the problem than the price of another one which
> is working well. Of course you could consider an upgrade - 50/1.4, 50/1.2,
> 50/2 Macro !
>
> ...Wayne
>
>
>
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