Found a weird trick for sticky aperture blades on old lenses

I had a Minolta 50mm f/1.7 that was stuck completely shut and tried alcohol baths and lighter fluid for weeks with no luck. Then I read somewhere to pop the whole lens element assembly in a ziplock with a silica gel packet for 72 hours. Has anyone else tried this drying method for lubricant haze on vintage glass?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_anthony1mo ago

Dude, I did the exact same thing with an old Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 that was gummed up and stuck at f/2.8. Three days in a bag with a few of those silica packs from shoe boxes did the trick better than any solvent I tried. Popped it out and the blades snapped open and closed smooth as butter after that. The moisture must be the real problem with that old grease, not just the stickiness itself.

fisher.adam1mo ago

@the_anthony just a heads up, silica pulls moisture out but that lens grease is old and dried, not wet.