I recently got a very good deal on the rare SMC-M type II 28mm lens (this is
the one in an M mount, but with the front the same as the A version of the
lens). It was in one of those very dark curio shops that we have on Church
Sreet in Toronto, and I didn't notice until I got home that the lens was
unusually dusty inside.
I got to thinking about it, and figured I couldn't do any harm by taking off
the black plastic housing at the back, which is held to the lens mount by
just 3 tiny screws.
Once I did this, I found that the lens element group on the back was already
a bit loose. (On this model, it is just threaded into the lens body. On
some other lenses, there are retaining rings for which you would need an
optical spanner.) I just unscrewed it, and this exposed the back of the
diphragm. By setting it to f/2.8, I was able to reach in and clean the
element right under the diaphragm. (If there had been oil on the diaphragm,
I could have cleaned that also.)
Most of the dust turned out to be just on the inside element of the group
that I had unscrewed from the back.
The whole thing took under 10 minutes, and for once I ended up with a better
lens than I started with.
Of course, I will never, ever again take the lens mount off an A or F lens.
Tiny pieces pop out that I could never get back in a thousand years of
trying... but that's another story.
A photo of the inside of the lens can be seen at
http://www.pbase.com/image/9865873
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