Photography: How To Remove Dust And Fungus From Inside Of Your Lenses

How to get rid of that little bugger under your lens glass?
Image from Locky's English Playground

Yesterday I took out my Canon EOS 7D again and realised that there is a little white spider on the lens glass, upon further inspection and consulting my wife, it may very well some fungal actions happening from inside. This is a terrible news because the L lens costs HK$8000+ when I bought it AND its warranty has already expired. Thus my only option is DIM -- Do It Myself.

The internet is a marvellous place, after a quick search I found an excellent guide which taught me how to get the job done.

Cleaning my Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens

Here's what I have used
Image from Locky's English Playground

To begin with, I took out an inexpensive 32 in 1 screwdriver set with tweezers which I bought from Japanhome (highly recommended), a rubber air blower, lens cleaning cloth and the must have all-purpose Isopropyl alcohol (remember how it saved my seawater-damaged Galaxy S2)?

Makeup ring lift with finger and tweezers
Image from Locky's English Playground

First, I removed the makeup ring with the tips of my fingers easily. It is basically a simple sticker.

6 screws underneath
Image from Locky's English Playground

Hiding underneath are 6 small screws. Simply remove them.

Unscrewed and tweezers for the lifting
Image from Locky's English Playground

Then use your finger nails or tweezers to turn the front glass ring to one side.

glass removed with the little bugger now exposed
Image from Locky's English Playground

Turn the lens upside down and catch the front element with your other hand, and wah la! Here's the little fungal bugger!!! Kill it with a little alcohol and then use the lens cleaning cloth to wipe away any dust, and dry the glass with the rubber air blower before putting everything back into place.

Goodbye fungus, hello clean lens!
Image from Locky's English Playground

What I get now is a piece of beautifully clear glass!

L Lens revitalised!
Image from Locky's English Playground

Welcome back my revitalised L lens!!!


Cleaning my Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 Mk II

Fungus again!!!
Image from Locky's English Playground

After the success I had yesterday, I took a look at my Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 Mk II and I found yet another fungus under the glass! This time though, it is not the front element, but the back. After searching through YouTube, I found an excellent video and so I followed it closely.

2 microscrews on the side
Image from Locky's English Playground

First, I removed the 2 microscrews on the side, 

Turn the lens and off it comes
Image from Locky's English Playground

Then I push the contact down and use a tweezers pop the cap out. As for the rear element, hold onto the glass and turned anti-clockwise using a little force, soon enough it will come out in no time!

The feet of the lens are not regular and are of different angles
Image from Locky's English Playground

Do the fungal removal as clean as you want, 

rear lens in place waiting for the turn
Image from Locky's English Playground

When you do place the rear lens back into the socket, take note that the feet are spaced out unevenly and are of different sizes, meaning that there is only one way to fit the rear, don't rush.

Screws the contact back before placing back the cap
Image from Locky's English Playground

Before placing the cap back on, screw the contact back in place first using those two microscrews.

Clean and clear!
Image from Locky's English Playground

Pop the cap back on and there you have it!!!

Do check out the video I followed below! Great stuff!

If you also have a lens which you want to clean, you can also visit How to Do DIY Dust Cleaning Surgery on 6 Popular Canon and Nikon Lenses at PetaPixel to see if you can find the guide to cleaning your lenses, and as always, Google and YouTube are your friend.


Extra Time:

Sometimes, mistakes are not all that bad! That's because before I did all that I mentioned above, I actually watched the following video and I tried to follow.

Bummer 1
Image from Locky's English Playground

With my L lens, I actually unscrewed the the rear.

Bummer 2
Image from Locky's English Playground

I reached the part I even unscrewed the microscrews, got at least 3 sections of my lens loose before I got stuck because I couldn't remove the cap. It was then I realised I have to look elsewhere for another method. 

Lucky that I failed, if not, I would have removed everything part of the lens just to realise that all I had to do was to start from the front. Would have taken hours to put the whole thing back and be very lucky if it still works.

Another mistake I made today is that I found another YouTube video on dissembling the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 Mk II,

Bummer 3
Image from Locky's English Playground

and I got to the part as shown above, almost removing my buttons. 

Lucky that I stopped to think again! Had I not, I will probably break the lens.

The lesson learned here is that I should never look up the keyword "dissemble" and should go for "cleaning dust" instead.


Vocabulary:
bugger -- (n)[C] UK offensive a silly or annoying person:
revitalise -- (vb) [T] (UK usually revitalise) to give new life, energy, activity, or success to something:


Resources:
How to Do DIY Dust Cleaning Surgery on 6 Popular Canon and Nikon Lenses @ PetaPixel
http://petapixel.com/2013/05/16/a-few-easy-lens-dustings/

Technology: My First Galaxy S2 Surgery -- Sea Water Damage S2 Fixed!! @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/02/technology-my-first-galaxy-s2-surgery.html

Canon 24-105 USM L IS Reparatur / Repair / Disassembly @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRUTrNoDD1M

How to Disassemble the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15tUQhVMScc

Canon EF 50mm 1.8 Lens Cleaning without damage @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHFMzKpQwMc

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/bugger_1?q=bugger+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/revitalize?q=revitalised+