veltliner1
Newbie
Hi All, my first post of RFF. Thank you for building such a great resource.
I have a brand new 21mm Voigtlander 21mm purchased from Adorama and there is a grey lubricant visible at both close focus and when the rear elements are extended at infinity. It is very thick and not coming off but I have never seen such a thing and concerned that I have a sample that was over lubricated and that eventually this will make it to my shutter curtain or the blades.
Is this normal?
Picture attached, thank you in advance for any comments.
I have a brand new 21mm Voigtlander 21mm purchased from Adorama and there is a grey lubricant visible at both close focus and when the rear elements are extended at infinity. It is very thick and not coming off but I have never seen such a thing and concerned that I have a sample that was over lubricated and that eventually this will make it to my shutter curtain or the blades.
Is this normal?
Picture attached, thank you in advance for any comments.
Attachments
Disaster_Area
Gadget Monger
It's hard to tell from those photos as there's a lot of reflections... are you talking about the vertical line just to the left of center or the little dot at the top of that line near the edge? Either way, if this is a brand new lens and you have to chance to exchange it for a sample you consider perfect, why not? Better safe than sorry, and you'll just kick yourself later if you don't.
Sparrow
Veteran
There is nothing visible on mine, the lubricant is either clear or deeper within the threads
Disaster_Area
Gadget Monger
Ahhh... now I see what you mean, the threads are kinda out of focus, so I thought you meant it was on the lens. Yeah, that definitely seems like excessive lube... again, better safe than sorry.
Don't know what kind of lube they use, but with that much, I'd be afraid of it getting runny in really hot weather and dripping into the camera body. When I re-lube a lens I use what lube I can gather on the head of a VERY small screwdriver... that looks like it was put on with a butter knife
Don't know what kind of lube they use, but with that much, I'd be afraid of it getting runny in really hot weather and dripping into the camera body. When I re-lube a lens I use what lube I can gather on the head of a VERY small screwdriver... that looks like it was put on with a butter knife
veltliner1
Newbie
Disaster_Area
Gadget Monger
in that case, it would get some foam tipped makeup swabs (don't use Q-Tips, they can leave fibers) and wipe up whatever excess lube you can... you don't need to see it in order for it to work. Wipe what you can see, twist the focus a couple of times, wipe, repeat until you can't see anymore lube squishing up. You really only need microscopic levels of lube.
Disaster_Area
Gadget Monger
To confirm, I just checked all my CV lenses (15, 25, 35, 50) and only on the 35 can I see a TINY bit of lube like you're seeing... nothing on the rest. Definitely a case of accidental overlubrication
veltliner1
Newbie
Thank you Gadget Monger, I appreciate the advice and will try to clean this up myself and keep an eye on it as the weather warms up.
boomguy57
Well-known
My brand new CV 21/4 is in the mail from Adorama...I will let you all know what I find.
Sparrow
Veteran
... that off-white stuff is a silicone based grease I wouldn't worry about it being affected too much by heat
veltliner1
Newbie
Great, I am relieved and appreciative. I wish I'd joined this forum sooner! Thank you all.
Corto
Well-known
Welcome to RFF, And your post title made me just about choke on my afternoon beer!
veltliner1
Newbie
Wow, now that you mention it, that does sound pretty sordid.