Cleaning the Bigma (Sigma 50-500mm) Photo Gallery by Kevin Hayes at pbase.com

Cleaning the Bigma (Sigma 50-500mm)

I was quoted $225, sans shipping, by a Sigma service center to clean the lens elements in my Sigma 50-500mm lens. I decided not, and cleaned it myself. It involved the removal of six screws and... wait, that's it. Six screws out of the way, and the front element is removed, allowing you to clean out all the dust and debris that you decided you would just have to live with... Total time invested: 15 minutes. Difficulty scale 1-10: 1. Money saved: $220. (I had to buy a precision screw driver set... money well spent in my opinion!

dirty1.jpg	Bigmax6.jpg	clean5.jpg	clean3.jpg
clean2.jpg	clean4.jpg	clean1.jpg

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Guest		15-Dec-2011 21:37
i just cleaned mine i had 4 gaskets on it think i gotthem back in right order seems to work ok .make sure you have a good screwdriver the correct size,and narrow enough to get up aginst the lens body.the screws on mine were very tight but it is an easy job to do and save yourself some money.

Guest		17-Jul-2009 08:23
Excellent!! Well done, that man!

Guest		23-Jan-2009 00:03
OK,done !! Took about 15 minutes.Spotless.:)

headonz		22-Jan-2009 21:32
thank you thank you thank you !!! I have a market garden inside my bigma after one year of shooting motocross and surf.I thought I had devalued my lens by 2/3rds allready !! I was sure it could not be a big job but had ruined my binoclers trying the same thing.But thanks agian for showing how easy it realy is.

mike		28-Feb-2008 19:48
Kevin wrote "I had to buy a precision screw driver set". This is very important. Don't buy the $3 set that you see at the flea market. If they are 'Made in China' they are probably crap. (Can I say 'crap' in this forum?) Buy a decent set - made in USA or Japan. An electronics shop (Al Lasher in Berkeley, Ca. for example) is also a good source. You won't regret it. mike

Brooks Rownd		07-Feb-2008 10:49
Wow - wish my lenses opened up that easy so I could remove the dreaded lens fungus.

Guest		27-Jul-2007 10:32
Hi started to see if I could get the screws out, all ok but have mess up the first screw does any one know where I can gets so more from

martin0029		26-Jul-2007 16:27
O good I will try this

Guest		13-Feb-2007 05:18
Thanks for the tutorial. I always wondered what those screws were for...now my old Bigma doesn't look like it has a constellation growing inside! Very easy to do. I just used air, it's not perfect, but much better.

Kevin Hayes		31-Jan-2007 17:25
Seating the gasket and spacer is no trouble... in fact the whole process is very easy, once in place they don't have a lot of room to move around. I used a simple paint brush to sweep the surfaces clean (I didn't use any chemicals) and it has been perfect since. (I cleaned the lens nearly a year ago and haven't had to open it again) And just a word of caution u don't need to over tighten the screws... just get them snug ;) It's no fun to strip a screw... KJ

Martin Greenman		29-Jan-2007 08:39
I have alot of dust/(build debris?) inside lens elements, and think I need to get rid of this. Bit nervous but I guess I have no choice but to do this. Is the above effective? How easy is it to reseat the spacer/rubber gaskets and secure all the screws satis??

Guest		21-May-2006 17:52
When doing this, do make sure you are in an area where there is a minimum or no dust as in an area where the humidity keeps the dust down - as when in a dark room with negatives.

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