Hi Folks
Time to chip in with my 2 cents' worth.
Ethyl alcohol is very hygroscopic. That means it absorbs water from
anywhere it can, and it also means that it is relatively expensive and not
easy to get the last few % water of of it thus yielding "absolute alcohol".
When I was a senior botany student and we made glass-covered microscope
slides, the task after staining whatever was on the slide, was to remove the
water from the tissue prior to sticking the glass cover-slip on. We did this by
soaking the prepared slides in little glass vats (4 x 4 inches or so) of ethyl
alcohol of ever increasing dryness.
Iso Propyl alcohol is available relatively easily in NZ in kits for cleaning
the
heads of tape-recorders and video-players. The volumes aren't great though.
I just broke the head off the little knob that tightens band to hold the
lenshood on my Zuiko 35~105. Drat. I've had that thing more than 12 years.
Those little screws are made from a brass / bronze metal that is VERY
brittle. The thing broke because I noticed a few weeks ago it had taken a
knock and was bent. So I straightened it. Big mistake. I could tell from the
way the resistance to straightening altered in the process that it had begun
to fracture, which it subsequently did during normal usage. They are
unavailable new as far as I know.
I have slipped a patch of sticky-sided foam under the stainless-steel band
which gives some pressure to hold it on; but I think in the long run I will
get
a cheap 55mm filter, take the glass out, and glue the hood onto that, thus
converting the hood into a screw-in job.
I realised recently that my only pet hate with OM gear is the stiff dark
pseudo-leather plastic camera straps. They are stiff, and get stiffer with age.
Thus they snag onto anything they pass by, because they are always
holding themselves out stiffly. I realised that OM has alternatives when I got
my OM4Ti which has a synthetic black woven cloth strap (& Olympus in
Blue) which is great to use.
I also did a temporary fix to the 4th screw (that will cut the lens recognition
button on an OM4T) on my Samyang 18-28. I unscrewed the offending
screw just enough to get it flush with the mounting ring surface. However, the
machined screw-head slots are themselves as sharp as the edges of the
offending screw-hole, so I really have to glue a plastic patch in there. Those
slots will also cut the plastic of the OM4T lens detection button.
Brian
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|