beercan with stuck aperture

[cwtbone]

Where can I get this lens repaired in the USA? Please don't suggest that I should do it myself since I am a total loser at fixing almost anything and don't own the tools for this kind of work. My local camera store either can't or won't work on it since they sell every make of DSLR except Sony. What do you think would be a reasonable fee fo this repair? C. W.

[Javelin]

if it's just oil on the blades then all it needs is a dissasemble and cleaning. where in the USA are you? there must have been a minolta dealer around that had a place to send them.

[cwtbone]

I live in Florence, Ms. just south of Jackson. We have one camera shop in this area and they won't work on any product that they don't carry. They sell Canon, Nikon, olympus, and Pentax. There are no other place locally and perhaps not in the whole state of Mississippi. I did call KEH and they quoted $110 which I thought was a little much to spend on a $150-$200 lens. C. W.

[Javelin]

well if it's in really good shape the lens might be worth spending the money on. the 150.00 ones are few and far between these days. the reason i say it's worth fixing is that this is pretty much the only thing that goes wrong with them the grease in the aperture unit is turning into oil, if everything else remains tight and they replace the lube then it should last a really long time. also right now Sony doesn't have another one in this range and I don't think the sigma and tamron versions (new ones) are as good as the beercan.

[cwtbone]

GREAT. How much would you charge to the job? C. W.

[cwtbone]

O hell, I thought I had my man. I bet you could do it though Sinolta if you wanted to spend the time on one of your own lens. It looks like a pain in the butt though. I have neither the patience, tools, or natural mechanical aptitude for this kind of work. I was hoping somebody knew someone who did this kind of work a little cheaper. I guess I'll send it to KEH and see what they can do. Fortunately I have a second beercan that I picked up cheap on Craigslist a few months ago. When it comes back I can pick the best one and sell the other on Ebay. C. W.

[Javelin]

Just the unltrasonic cleaner would cost you 50-60 bucks by itself. and how much is a couple hours labour worth... seems like 100 bucks or so isn't very much.

One interesting thing they show on the assembly drawing is theres 2 part numbers listed. and dyxum has another one.

they have 2555-100, 2555-600 and dyxum has 2555-110 I wonder if the last 3 digits are for the paint job and markings?

[cwtbone]

Who knows? I'm not going to find out. I can just see myself sitting there with a bunch of parts strewed all over the place and no way of making them fit back together. I've been there before and have no desire to go back. C. W.