I was recently considering the purchase of a Schneider 210 APO lens when I noticed there was oil on the inner portion of the blades. I was surprised by this because these lenses haven't been in production very long.I bought a boxed new version of the mentioned lens but if anyone has any idea on the cause of this I would appreciate an explanation.

Thanks-Albert

-- Albert Martinez (martinez@unitekmiyachi.com), February 21, 2001

Answers

Albert: I have seen the same thing happen with lenses when they get too hot. I stupidly left my camera case in the trunk of my car a few years ago in the summer. All but one of my lenses had oil creep onto the shutter blades. The oil thins out when it gets too hot. I removed the lens cells and cleaned off the oil with a Q-Tip and nail polish remover. The shutter may have been worked on and too much oil applied. Either way, the oil can be removed, but it may take more than one cleaning to get it all off.

Regards,

-- Doug Paramore (dougmary@alaweb.com), February 21, 2001.

Oil, or any kind of moisture, on the shutter blades is baaaaaad! (for non-native speakers of American, that is schleeeeeeect!) It will cause them to stick and slow.

I can't imagine that a manufacturer or a repair person who knows that they're doing would have so much oil in the shutter that it would come out of the blades. Only the pins of the little gears should be oiled with the appropriate oil. That's not much.

If you get oil on the blades, it's probably not going to just dry off. You'll probably have to remove the lens cells and clean it in an appropriate solvent. Then you'll probably want to lubricate the shutter correctly. If you're not comfortable doing this, then it's a expensive CLA from a pro. Unless you're competent doing a CLA yourself, bypassing this lens was worth at least the cost of a pro CLA.

-- John H. Henderson (jhende03@harris.com), February 22, 2001.