Mar 21, 2007, 01:06
When I was growing up, I was known as "The Destroyer" in my family, and not without good reason. Just a bit of background for this story - not long after I got my Nikon D50, the 18-55mm kit lens that came it took a knock when someone threw a ball at me, and since then, the zoom mechanism always "caught" when zooming, which made it unusable. Anyway, I took that as an opportunity to buy the excellent 18-70mm lens, and since then, the 18-55mm has been gathering dust in my drawer.
Last night I had an itch to tinker, so I took out the lens and decided to see what was wrong. Immediately, I saw that there was a plastic ring from inside the lens, that was loose and floating around inside. I thought to myself - the cost of repairs at a shop would probably be more than what it was worth anyway, so I might as well give the old DIY a shot. :|
So anyway, I took out my jeweller's screwdriver kit and opened up the back of the lens by unscrewing three small screws on the lens mount. That came off pretty easily and I took a peek inside. Yes, there was a floating plastic bit which I then extracted. I couldn't seem to fit it back on, so I decided to open the front as well, by removing the black ring (stuck on with glue), which revealed 3 more small screws underneath. Soon, I had the front element on the table. I figured out how to fit the plastic bit back on, and while then I tried to put everything back together again. Somehow in the process, I forgot how it all fit together, and I managed to break some of the delicately soldered wires where they joined to the electronics... oops. :/
Now, the lens is sitting in pieces in my drawer, and I don't know how to re-assemble it, with broken wires hanging out. :o In hindsight, maybe I should have taken some photos or drawn some diagrams to help me... I can't help but laugh. At least now I know what the inside of a lens looks like...
p.s. for the love of God, if you have an expensive lens, please don't follow my example - take it to a qualified service centre...
Last night I had an itch to tinker, so I took out the lens and decided to see what was wrong. Immediately, I saw that there was a plastic ring from inside the lens, that was loose and floating around inside. I thought to myself - the cost of repairs at a shop would probably be more than what it was worth anyway, so I might as well give the old DIY a shot. :|
So anyway, I took out my jeweller's screwdriver kit and opened up the back of the lens by unscrewing three small screws on the lens mount. That came off pretty easily and I took a peek inside. Yes, there was a floating plastic bit which I then extracted. I couldn't seem to fit it back on, so I decided to open the front as well, by removing the black ring (stuck on with glue), which revealed 3 more small screws underneath. Soon, I had the front element on the table. I figured out how to fit the plastic bit back on, and while then I tried to put everything back together again. Somehow in the process, I forgot how it all fit together, and I managed to break some of the delicately soldered wires where they joined to the electronics... oops. :/
Now, the lens is sitting in pieces in my drawer, and I don't know how to re-assemble it, with broken wires hanging out. :o In hindsight, maybe I should have taken some photos or drawn some diagrams to help me... I can't help but laugh. At least now I know what the inside of a lens looks like...
p.s. for the love of God, if you have an expensive lens, please don't follow my example - take it to a qualified service centre...
