This Space for Rent

Grrr.

damnit

On the left, you see my 50mm f1.2 lens.

Most of it.

On the right, you see the lens hood for the lens, plus the front of the damned lens, which used to be held onto the rest of the lens by three tiny set-screws. Three tiny set-screws that managed to work their way loose (and, judging from the little rattling noises I hear when I cautiously shake the lens body, into the internals of the lens) when I was taking my evening constitutional out to Powell Butte and back.

Now that’s just a little bit annoying. Not only does this convert the lens hood into a device that falls off at the slightest provocation, but it leaves me with some tiny metal projectiles hurling around inside ready to chip the hideously expensive optics and irrevocably jam the focus when I least expect it (either of which would convert my lovely lovely US$300 lens into a very expensive Japanese-made paperweight.)

So. I’m going to need to build some sort of more heavily padded case when I want to take my Pentax out during a bike ride. And I’m going to have to either bite the bullet and send the 50mm out for repairs or see if I can find a way to extract the setscrews from the focus ring without hilarious (and by hilarious, I mean catastrophic) consequences.

Grrr. I say grr.

Update: After a bit of peeking in through the 1/64th inch slot between the focusing ring and the lens barrel, I spotted all three of the offending setscrews (which turn out not to be setscrews, but real honest to g*d “you screw them in to little holes in the side of the lens” screws) and managed to fish them out with the assistance of a pair of teeny needlenose pliers and a couple of pieces of spring steel (from a Japanese pull-saw blade that bound when being pushed back. Ooops.)) So now, even though the lens hood has become a device that is falling, at least I can still focus the lens without causing tiny projectiles to jam and/or chip the internal workings of the lens.

But I’m still going to need a padded Pentax caddy for my bicycle to discourage other parts of the lens and/or camera from working loose and messily disassembling on me.