Tool needed for repairing Minolta 50mm f1.7 oily aperture

Is it hard to repair Minolta 50mm f1.7 prime lens?

I remember the first time that I try to repair Minolta 50mm f1.7 lens due to oily aperture back in year 2008. It took me half an hour to disassemble it and 4 hours to reassemble it. Is it hard? Yes, it is hard when you do it the first time. At that time, I learn the repair from Pete Ganzel’s pbase photo sharing. I believe most of the people should able to follow what Pete sharing there. He is my Guru in repair lens, and I would like to take this opportunity to thanks you Pete. You are really a helpful guy!! He inspires me to proceed to my Minolta lens.

After my first Minolta 50mm lens repair, I have started to collect more Minolta 50mm lens as some of my Sony alpha friend need the same lens as well. I help them to source it. I started to source for the lens and I do found out that, If you buy the early phases of Minolta prime that mark with cross XX of Minolta 50mm lens, most of the lens will have oily aperture. It is due to the grease that use in the helicoids flow into the aperture blade.

Early version of Minolta 50mm f1.7 – Minolta Cross XX Version

Since then till now, I have repaired more than 10 Minolta 50mm lens due to oily aperture. I have greatly reduced the time needed to repair from 4.5 hours initially to half an hour for repairing oily aperture lens. Believe it or not.. It is true.  Is it hard? I would say NO. It is so simple!!

What is the tool needed for this repair?

Tools needed to repair Minolta 50mm oily aperture

To repair this lens, basically you needed these items. Yes , only 8 items.

1. IPA (Isopropyl alcohol) , use the lab grade IPA , which is 99.99% pure
2. Lint free cleaning paper, I would recommend Kimwipes for this job
3. Len ring rubber
4. Precision screw driver, I would recommend wiha precision screw driver. This tool deliver the quality that you need.
5. Lens pen
6. Marker pen
7. Secret weapon… I will review this tool to you when we use it later. It is a married guy killer weapon but wife best friend…. He he..
8. A Sony Alpha dSLR body for final buy off
9. Tweezers (not shown in the picture)

Additional advice!!

• Before you start to repair the lens, it is best that you can get an additional 50mm lens that you need to use it as reference or for baseline comparison. You know, the most difficult part in the repair process is reassembling it. Some time, you will be lost and going nowhere.  A functional lens will be good for reference. It really helps a lot when the puzzle does not mix and match together.
• Disassemble and place the part in properly order matter. It helps during re-assemble process. This is where the fun comes.

Final Verdict

Just try it!! Btw, it only cost USD < 100 if you fail to repair it. Based on my experience, the possibility of fail to repair is low. I will share on step by step guide in repairing Minolta 50mm len soon. If you interested to get the first hand details , just sign in to my newsletter !!