Cleaning the focus ring

A

Adrianb1983

Member
Today I noticed I have sand particles in the focus ring of my HVX (I still dont know when the sand got in there) so I searched the forum to see if anyone had the same problem. I found a topic where someone put a link to a page where they explain how to clean it yourself. THe topic and the page are these ones:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=113842&highlight=focus+ring

http://digitalislandmedia.com/hvx200_lens_repair.html

The topic is one year old, so I would like to know if anyone else recently went through this procedure and how suicidal it is.
 
i would also love an update on this, as i too, have sand, and have no idea how, when, or why =\
 
The Panasonic repair shop says it's not something that you can fix, that is must be sent to Germany for dissasembly, and that Germany then sends you another refurbished lens to swap for your old one. This whole procedure costs 500+€.
It seems hard to believe that it should be so difficult and so expensive.
 
wow! 500??!! Are you sure you have to change the whole lense? Im pretty sure you just have to clean it up if you still didnt affect the lense.
If I have to pay that much then I'd rather buy a lense adapter, keep the focus fixed in the right point for the adapter and dont ever touch it again. What do you guys think of that idea?
 
Germany? Really?

Germany? Really?

I didn't catch if your were here in the states or not. I had this happen to mycamera over the summer and I had it sent off and cfixed free of charge through the 1 year warranty. I'm not sure what you mean about it having to be sent to germany (unless you live in Eu.). I called panasonic and they told the the closest repair place they had to my home, which happened to be in georgia I think, and I mailed it to them on Monday and had it back on Friday. The whole lens assembly was replaced and all of the focus stuff cleaned. In all it cost me $120 to ship it overnight to georgia, that it. It was very painless and I am very happy with the way it turned out. I would be happy to answer any questions you all have about this.
 
If the camera is in it's 1-year warranty, we can change out the lens for you no problem. If it is outside the 1-year warranty, we have developed a unique cleaning method that includes replacing the grease with a new kind that will help condition the plastic after having the debris inside scoring the plastic every time the ring is turned from that point onward.

We are an Authorized Service Center for Panasonic and we do this repair on a regular basis because you really can't keep this from happening.

You can prevent it by using something like this:
http://www.spec-comm.com/store/index...roducts_id=613

Even this won't ensure that it will never happen, it will keep sand or other debris from blowing right into the lens rings.

If you are interested in sending in the camera, please fill out the repair order below:
http://www.spec-comm.com/repairorder.php

Since you would be a new customer, this needs to be signed and sent in with the camera and you will never have to do so again :
http://www.spec-comm.com/pdf/Payment_Obligation.pdf

You may also find the shipping instructions helpful:
http://www.spec-comm.com/shipping.php

We can get this sand problem solved for you in a jiffy!

Andrew Hoffman
Vice President
Specialized Communications Corp.
20940 Twin Springs Dr.
Smithsburg, MD 21783-1510 USA
800-359-1858 (US)
301-790-0103
Fax: 301-790-0173
andrewh@spec-comm.com
www.spec-comm.com

Please visit our new online store at ( http://www.spec-comm.com/store ). New products being added daily!
 
Hey Andrew,
Could you repost that first link, it seems to be dead. I'd be interested to see what you're talking about as I live in the desert.
Thanks,
Mike
 
Thats great spec-comm, but I'm not from the US :( . Its just not fair, you guys in the US always get the best (best prices, best service).
Today I went to the authorized dealer here in my country and they told me that it wasnt the camera's fault but the operator's, so the warranty wouldnt cover it :( . I asked them if they could just clean it up and they said that they couldnt because then they would also be removing the grease.
I just cant believe this. I have the camera for only 4 months and I just treated it like gold and I get this problem... when? why? I just dont know!!! I feel that if I get it fixed then Ill inevitably have the same problem in 4 months, and this leads me to this question: the camera still works well, so I was wondering, I have to change the whole lens, right? what if I just keep using it this way until It starts malfunctioning? will I be damaging something else apart from the lens (which I already have to replace)?
 
The only thing that you will be damaging is the lens. The more you use the rings with the contaminated grease, the more is will score the plastic surface on the lens assembly and the rings, making it a rough surface when the grease is replaced. If you are ok with waiting and then replacing the lens eventually, then that is up to you.

Andrew Hoffman
 
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