This is a 17-55 that had the internal dust magnet syndrome Photo Gallery by Roger Cicala at pbase.com

This is a 17-55 that had the internal dust magnet syndrome

My experience with 18 of these wonderful lenses are that most attract no dust, but a few just seem to fill up with it. I've seen pet hair inside the lens several times. These are stock from Lensrentals.com so they're probably getting more use than most people's personal lenses would. Anyway, I got sick of sending them back to Canon for internal cleaning every few months so I thought I'd take a look myself. Excuse my less than stellar shots here: product photography is not my thing.

dusty1755IS.jpg	dusty1755ISview2.jpg	liftingseal.jpg	sealremoved.jpg
frontelementout.jpg	backtogether.jpg	shotwith.jpg

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Guest		09-Jun-2009 18:47
I just bought a used 17-55 the other day (basically mint cond), and literally as I was walking out the door after the transaction, I dropped the lens! The "protective" UV filter on the front shattered and there were tiny shards of filter glass all over the front element. As I was cleaning the front element, I noticed that a shocking amount of tiny shards made it inside the lens (it looked horrible), and I also noticed how poor the "seal" was -- the adhesive didn't really hold anything down except at three spots, and everywhere else it was basically loose (I think this is why this lens is a "dust magnet"). I thought about unscrewing the assembly to clean things out, but thought I'd better research more. I found this page and it gave me the confidence to open it up, and everything went flawlessly. I was able to blow all the shards out, and now you would never know there was anything inside the lens. No focusing/sharpness problems either. A big THANK YOU, for posting this -- It saved me ~125 bucks for a Canon cleaning, and being as I'm naturally inclined to tinkering/hacking, it was extremely satisfying to do it on my own.

Ross Fotheringham		08-Dec-2008 04:04
I used this for my Canon 28-135 IS. I haven't taken a test shot, but I'm happy to have the dust out from inside the lens and it seems to focus just fine! I sent the lens into Canon last time and it cost me $125 after shipping and cleaning costs. Thanks.

Guest		27-Oct-2008 14:46
I just did this and now the lens is sharper than before! Well if my test shots from a few weeks are anything to go by where f2.8 was quite a bit softer than f4.0. Now f2.8 is only a fraction softer than f4.0 and f5.6. I think I may have replaced the lens slightly out as there isn't a 100% snug position. If you rotate the top element anti-clockwise it rises until the fitting position clicks as if on a thread but there is nothing to stop rotating the lens further. Originally I had replaced the element completely out and the lens was very soft. I probably won't do this again as I don't think I'll get it in the perfect position next time. I now have a UV filter on there!

SM		16-Aug-2008 14:32
Great tutorial! It looks like it will be the same with 17-85 IS. What adhesive did you use to stick the cover back?

Guest		04-Feb-2008 18:17
What about sealing those slots before putting the front element seal back on?

Guest		04-Oct-2007 03:04
How many of the 18 lenses would you say have a real dust problem?

Jerry G.		09-Sep-2007 05:04
Very helpful sequence. After the seal is removed, how do you get the front element out? Do you remove those three screws? Is there any dust behind the second element? Thanks JerryG1

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