Gutting an old Olympus Zuiko 50mm f1.8

[WhaleDaughter]

Yesterday I bought an Olympus OM-1n with a thoroughly fungus destroyed lens (I used this as a bargaining chip for the body, it wasn't a surprise).

I was wondering if it would be possible to take apart the lens, gut the insides, and then turn the remaining barrel into a pinhole lens. I know I can make a pinhole out of a body cap but I really don't want to do that, I'd rather try to salvage some sort of use out of this lens rather than chuck the whole thing. I've tried to look for a blog or video on how to gut a lens, but everything I've found so far has been how to clean/fix a lens so their main interest is having everything go back together and work properly. I want a lens-shaped shell when I'm done. Then I'll figure out how to install a fixed pinhole aperture.

The camera and lens are currently at the camera store for some body repair (I didn't have the body cap so I left the lens on to protect the mirror). I'm willing to just grab some tools and dive in, the lens is already junk there's nothing I can do to make it worse than worthless. I've looked at my same lens that is in pristine condition (and will not be used for experiementation) and it looks like I'll start from the mount end?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[dxqcanada]

OLYMPUS 50MM F1.8 EXPLODED PARTS DIAGRAM Service Manual free download, schematics, eeprom, repair info for electronics

 

[WhaleDaughter]

OLYMPUS 50MM F1.8 EXPLODED PARTS DIAGRAM Service Manual free download, schematics, eeprom, repair info for electronics

This looks fantastic! I'm excited to study this so I can get to things once I get the camera back from having new foam put in.

 

[Alexr25]

I was wondering if it would be possible to take apart the lens, gut the insides, and then turn the remaining barrel into a pinhole lens.

Wouldn't it be simpler to use a body cap??

 

[john.margetts]

Simpler to use a body cap but using an 'empty' lens with a lens cap moves the pinhole further away from the sensor which will change the angle of view - in effect it will turn it into a telephoto pinhole.

 

[WhaleDaughter]

I know I can make a pinhole out of a body cap but I really don't want to do that, I'd rather try to salvage some sort of use out of this lens rather than chuck the whole thing.

Also it wouldn't be as cool looking.

 

[WhaleDaughter]

Well, after some research, finding a video on disassembling this lens, and some practical experimentation I concluded that my original plan would not work. :-/

But I was able to take off the back part of the lens that attaches to the camera, and think I'll be able to insert a pinhole into this piece. But I've got some serious dissertation writing to get done before I get to play more.

 

[Olympian]

Don't see why it wouldn't work. There are several versions of the 50/1.8, but gutting it isn't that difficult. Does your lens have it's serial number on the front (on the Name Ring), or on the side of the lens mount? The former is mostly metal, while the latter is mostly plastic. Either way, you can fabricate a plate to install in place of the aperture mechanism. Perforate it with a pin hole and you're set!

But realize, fungus can often be cleaned. Remove and separate the affected lens elements (keep the "outside" surface of each glass element up on your work surface to replace them properly), rub a fingertip along the side of your nose to get it oily, then rub the affected surface of the glass vigorously with your finger (gross I know, but it works!) to "buff off" the fungus. Wipe the glass carefully with a tissue damp with acetone to remove the smears, and reassemble.