Ever done a lens re-spray?

I know there's a strong argument not to do things like this and I know its really just cosmetic BUT... Has anyone ever tried a respray on a lens barrel which has lost alot of paint due to finger-wear over the years?

I am thinking maybe the best way is to mask off sections very thoroughly and use a black car paint or radiator paint spray very sparingly in several applications.
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IML

A camera is for life, not just for Christmas.

many years ago I completely "refubished" a Rolleiflex 2.8E. I removed the lens panel and resprayed the metal work with gloss black cellulose using an airbrush. After several coats I cut back with "Brasso" and gave a final clear lacquer coat, The camera looked like new.

providing that you cover the lens front element with an old UV filter and keep the rear lens cap in place and then carefully mask of the focussing and/or zoom rings with masking tape I can't see any problems. If you have engraved aperture and distance scales these can be refurbished by using a white "chinagraph" pencil and working it into the engravings, finally buffing off with a soft cloth.

I have a few scratches on the lens hood of my A*300 f4. I am thinking of filling the scratches with cellulose car body filler and respraying.

Just make sure that you remove all finger grease with meths before you start spraying.
dave

It's risky. Paint can cause problems with all of the working parts of the lens. Paint on glass is just one issue. Solvents in the paint can dissolve coatings or cause elements to fog or separate. Paint on the moving parts can gum them up. Paint or anything else on the aperture blades will glue them together.

Lenses are not very well sealed, especially from the rear. The better lenses are more shielded from the environment but you can see dust in every lens if you look for it. It might be tough to seal all the potential problem areas. Some lenses would be easier than others. Disassembly might help save the glass - the elements in some lenses can be removed in a minute - but leave the aperture more vulnerable.

I think you should consider a black Sharpie or duct tape. I would rather have a terrible looking but functional A* lens than a worthless several hundred dollar mistake.

Thanks for the replies - seems this is not a popular subject, I will proceed with extreme caution.
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IML

A camera is for life, not just for Christmas.

Be careful, and please report on your experience.

But I have been considering stripping a lens... I havent figured out a real good way to do that without taking off things i dont want too, so I have the same problem as you. Paint thinner makes me nervous for the lens coatings. It would be cool if you did a step by step tutorial on what you did, with pictures.
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Technical Info: Roseart U.S.A. Gold #2 pencil, Pentel High Polymer eraser, Academie sketch pad drawing paper. Drawn clumsily under relatively poor light.

http://www.geocities.com/wild_tiger_1

http://flickr.com/photos/selrahcharles/

that's what I did w/ my A50/2.8 macro lens:



There were quite abit of paint loss on the scale ring, so I just stripped the whole ring and made it a nice sliver band. I quite like it myself

Good luck,
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Frank
GMT+8hours

May I ask what technique you used to strip your lens? I picked at this one with a knife and a file, but that was a pretty slow process. I would like to do a more thorough job.



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Technical Info: Roseart U.S.A. Gold #2 pencil, Pentel High Polymer eraser, Academie sketch pad drawing paper. Drawn clumsily under relatively poor light.

http://www.geocities.com/wild_tiger_1

http://flickr.com/photos/selrahcharles/

I think it would be pretty risky, but I sure would like to see how powdercoating a lens would look. It would have to be completely dis-assembled and then re-assembled, but it would be a very durable finish.
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'This is more serious than I thought.....but it is still fun!
http://www.pbase.com/rupertdog Take a look- It's Free!

SelrahCharleS said:

May I ask what technique you used to strip your lens? I picked at
this one with a knife and a file, but that was a pretty slow
process. I would like to do a more thorough job.

http://static.flickr.com/71/227417793_c81b240624_o.jpg

Click to expand...

Well, actually most if not all A50/2.8 macro lenses have pretty weak painting on the scale ring, and I've seen plenty of them had paint loss problem on that ring. It's very easy to strip the paint of from that ring (but all the other part of the lens is quite okay w/ solid paint). I used a toothpick and covered w/ a couple layers of paper tissue to do the job, plus some finger nail scratches. Only took me a couple of minutes to get the whole thing done.

Here is what it looked like before the stipping:



It was ugly, but I got it cheap (around US$80) One of my favorite lenses. ..

Cheers,

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Frank
GMT+8hours