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Pete Ganzel | all galleries >> Tinkering >> Dissasembly and Repair of Minolta Maxxum AF 50mm f/1.7 and f/1.4 Lenses > Crutch Tip.jpg
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19-OCT-2004

Crutch Tip.jpg

Turn lens over. Using a 1-1/2 inch rubber crutch tip pressed into trim ring while holding firmly, turn ring counter clockwise to loosen. Remove front trim ring.

Minolta DiMAGE 7
1/250s f/8.0 at 41.8mm iso100 with Flash full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Maarten Visser 11-Feb-2014 10:54
Thanks for tip about the freeze can. I had a very stubborn ring. Even with a piece of rubber, I had a lot of friction force, but it did not move and I was afraid to dama the housing. But the freeze did it.
David 17-Sep-2012 17:51
Thank you so, so much for this guide on how to open the Minolta 50mm lens, my focus got stiff towards infinity and after reading this I managed to open the front loosen the screws a 1/4 turn & now it is back to normal, thank you again! :)
Guest 12-Jan-2012 19:36
it's amazing what a wonderful tool a crutch could be:) I was lucky to have one home.
Pete Ganzel08-Feb-2011 03:26
No actually the best way is the friction tool used by Minolta.

It is a cup shaped rubber with a handle...not much different than a crutch tip of the right size.

Pete
Guest 07-Feb-2011 14:38
i found the best way to unscrew it. just wear a hand gloves. The one that doctor's use. It should give you enough friction to unscrew it with both your thumb. :)
Musiator 06-Dec-2010 09:55
I have an early f/1.4 and it's taken me months to work out how to get the trim ring off. The problem is that there is very little area to grip onto and I found the crutch tip to be useless and I tried every other suggestion on this site. The other issue is that the lens protrudes out very close to the the part of the trim ring you want to remove so the fear of damage is great. In the end I used an Industar 50-2 pancake lens! I cut a disc of rubber from a bicycle inner tube to fit perfectly over the trim ring and the rear of the Industar lens is the perfect size on the rear to push against the rubber and a good size to grip and twist. Just be careful not to damage the glass/coating of the Minolta lens.
Guest 12-Dec-2008 00:06
If you do not have a crutch tip, you can try to use a rubber bath tub drain plug. Make sure you get one that is the appropriate size. Use your palm to press the drain plug against the front ring, and then turn clockrise.
Guest 13-Mar-2007 04:30
Hi Peter,

I'm taking apart 50mm f1.4 to clean it, but i can't figure out how to take the front ring (one with spec markings on it- Minolta Maxxum 50mm etc) off. I've tried to put some electric tape on a similarly sized round object and unscrew it using the friction provided by electric tape - it didn't work (i've put quite a bit of pressure and force to ensure proper friction force). I've tried to use rubber gloves and rotate it with my fingers - didn't work.

Any ideas on what else can i try? The rim is on this lens is smaller (e.i. the lens/glass is larger, with thinner metal ring), and i'm afraid i'm not doing something right or the ring is seriously stuck.

Johnyp from Dyxum
Guest 24-Feb-2007 01:37
Didn't have either a crutch tip or cold spray, so I shoved a roll of electrical tape (1.5" diameter, tape is almost over) into it and loosened it.
Arto Rantala 02-Aug-2006 18:45
I didn't have a crutch tip so I sprayed the trim ring edge (avoiding the glass) with cold spray and it came off with almost zero force.