Ove the last week I’ve spent a fair amountof time kicking myself for the whole lens VS fire hydrant battle. I also spent a lot of time looking at and bidding on replacement lenses. I haven’t won a single auction. I decided at one point to take a look at what was actually wrong with the lens and see if I could fix it. The section of the lens, called the bayonet, that mounts the lens to the camera was cracked and the little flanges that the screws hold to the lens were stripped. I became convinced I could fix these with some glue.
First I tried to super glue the stripped out pieces back where they belong. It gave me 24 hours of use before they simply let go.
Then I tried hot glue, thinking that when I put the screw in it would forge the glue into the sides and hold it in with pressure. Think a friction fit rubber stopper where the pressure of the rubber when squished held the whole thing in place. It gave me 3 days of shooting before it slipped out.
Right now I’m on epoxy putty forced into the holes, pressed to fit, and holes drilled in after it’s cured. It’s the first of the repairs that has held everything exactly where it should be and feels solid.
(I also ordered a junk lens on eBay for parts. For $15 it seems like it’s a wise investment.)
Pictures later today.
