Disassembly of the Maxxum 70-210 f/4 Beercan Lens Photo Gallery by Pete Ganzel at pbase.com

Disassembly of the Maxxum 70-210 f/4 Beercan Lens

Disassembly of the Maxxum 70-210 f/4 Lens

See scans for specific part numbers and exploded view line drawings for more clarity on specific details.

See Sub galleries at bottom of page for more detail on specific repairs.

ROM Contact Screw3018.jpg	Toothpick Spring 2905.jpg	Rear Trim Ring Screws3017.jpg	ROM Contacts3013.jpg	Bad Solder.jpg
Rear Trim Ring3016.jpg	Lens Mount Screw3020.jpg	Aperture Actuator Rod3009.jpg	Aperture Actuator 3010.jpg	Rear Group3008.jpg
Rear Group Cell3007.jpg	Iris Pin3002.jpg	Zoom Ring Tape2655.jpg	LowerZoomRing2656.jpg	Encoder Screw 2659.jpg
Lower Half Screw 2658.jpg	Macro Pin Shims 2660.jpg	Front Half Screws 2662.jpg	Front Half 2663.jpg	Focus Cell Screw 2664.jpg
Focus Cell Guides 2665.jpg	Zoom Assembly 2667.jpg	Front Element 2668.jpg	Field Stop 2670.jpg	Pg1 Parts.jpg
Pg2 Parts.jpg	Pg3 Parts.jpg	Pg4 Parts.jpg	70-210-4 13.jpg	Zoom Elements.jpg
gallery: DIY Iris Repair of the Maxxum 70-210 f/4 Beercan	gallery: DIY 70-210 f/4 "Beercan" Focus Limiter Switch Maxxum Dynax	gallery: Minolta 70-210 f/4 "Beercan" front cell disassembly	75-300-4.5-5.6 20r	75-300-4.5-5.6 23r
7479.jpg	gallery: Beercan Internal Element Swap by lajson

comment |

Kevin		11-Jul-2017 02:25
Anyone know where to purchase small screws that hold the beer an zoom part to the lens? They all fell out and only one could be found. Now the zoom comes completely off! I can repair it with 3 more screws that I am having problems finding.

Aaron Moore		05-Mar-2017 14:55
Thanks so much for this info! I chucked the rom connector on mine, and for zoom ring tape I used brightly colored duct tape, and I wrapped more of this in the place of the grip, which I personally dislike (it smells like rubber). Thanks again! I now have a legit portrait lens, on the cheap!

Bostwickenator		25-Jan-2015 01:43
This was just a great help to me. Thanks so much for maintaining this. A decade later it is still useful for people :).

mycarto		31-May-2014 02:42
hello and thanks for all people who contributed in this album. may i ask where to buy a second-hand or brand new screw in the link below?

aloykatos		11-Mar-2014 18:01
Thanks for the great guide!! Thanks to it i was able to remove the lower zoom ring, and tighten the screws that hold the mount and encoder, because they came loose with the years holding the weight, and it was so wobbly that i was afraid it was going to break, let alone the irritation i got every time i tried to focus because of the vibrations and movement that was caused. Thanks a lot again, and keep up the good work.

evglrbnj@gmail.com		09-Nov-2013 13:15
I cannot thank you enough for the article post. Great.

Jessicakei		03-Sep-2013 03:51

Olof		01-Aug-2010 16:56
Hi Pete! I bought a Beercan last week, but the seller had forgotten to mention the loose metal casing and screws rattling around inside, by the focus cell. I was about to have him purchase it back when I found this guide. Just loosen the focus cell screws, gently pull it off and look inside. THREE of the four screws holding the casing around the front half of the lens were loose and lying around inside. The last one was barely in there. One of the loose screws had gotten stuck by the focus cell guides, wedged between the metal. The lens must have gotten some merciless beating sometime, because one of the holes in the flange that fastens the casing was a bit dented and torn. But now they screws are all fastened tightly and the lens feels like it's built like a tank! A serviceable tank :) The comment about making sure to mark the position of the front element saved me the headache of losing infinity focus too ;) Again, big thanks for this guide!

Nickolas		26-Feb-2010 04:26
I just received my Beercan in the mail yesterday and it work great. I did shot a roll of test film to make sure the lens operated correctly and it did. I was using manual focus at the time. When I tested the auto focus functions, it began to function until the front element started to fall off! I don't even know where to begin, how do I pop this thing back on?

MTaylor		20-May-2009 22:21
Hey Pete, I really wish I would have seen this page before I took mine apart. But, the real problem is the "front element" is very scratched. There were loose screws inside the lens rattling around. I'm guessing in later versions of this lens they used more loctite because many screws were loose and completely dislodged in mine. There is a few minor marks that may have been caused by grease on the screw threads deep inside where I'm not able to get to as well. I am not able to get the last lens out yet for cleaning. My question is, with the front scratched should I replace it? Would the scratches show up as fog/haze/etc. on my pictures? If I decide to replace it, where do I get it and how much do they cost? Any help is appreciated. Thanks so much for this page. Did you ever work for Minolta? mtaylor3141@gmail.com

Mountainhunter		04-Aug-2008 17:58
Hi, I just used your guide to dismantle the Beercan the mailman dropped off this morning. The seller forgot to mention the fungus throughout the lens. The lens is like new again. Anyway, a few hints forother people.Removing the rear group was hard. I saw there where two little gaps in the top of the group. I broke off a piece of cutterknife blade, and used that to turn it loose. Be carefull not to cut your fingers.. In my lens, there was fungus between the two floating elements as well. The DIY Iris repair gallery shows the way here, but instead of taking out the first floating element, I only took out the second element. It's just taking out the three screws in the long slots, instead of the ones in the short slots. That way you can get to the fungus, without having to perform tricks to put the element back. A pair of long beaked pliers, used in a considered manner do the trick, placing back the second floating element. Hope this helps someone.

Markus H		15-Jun-2008 07:41
Hi Pete, a very nice site you have here ;-) I have a problem with my big beercan and have a question. The lens seems to be ok in a electronic way, it communicates with the camera and the zoom turns, but its not zooming (i hope you understand it, my english is not the best). Its zooming try (can you say that). What could be the problem, could it be that the zoom ring is too lose? Not fixed correctly. Thanks

Mike W.		17-Mar-2008 18:17
Hi....Great information. I have a Quantarar (Minolta mount) 28-80mm AF lens with a damaged bayanet mount. Is this mount available? If so where? Any ideas on how to repair this lower cost lens? Thanks.

Guest		20-Nov-2007 22:00
Brilliant series, enabled a complete novice to take apart a f4 70-210 and even put it back together again. My problem remains however. On turning the camera on or off the focusing drive pinions spin excessively & produce a racket as the slip over the teeth in the plastic cog. Do you have any idea what could be causing this & is there a way to fix it. Failing that is there an easy way to disable AF so I can at least use the lens (silently) on MF. Cheers Steve

David		18-Feb-2007 04:08
Great series. My 70-210 hunts when focussing - gets close to where it needs to be then hunts back and forth for ages never really finding the final focus. Any pointers on what to look for?

Pete Ganzel		04-Feb-2007 08:44
Hi Harris: The zoom ring just rides in grooves on the rear and middle sections so is really not screwed to anything. Pile dust seals provide a little "turning resistance" and the nap can be restored on these. If the ring just turns a little without "zooming", I would check for loose screws on the two tangs (part 2555-1378-01 on pg 2) that engage the zoom body. Any unsmoothness or "jerking" while zooming can usually be traced to broken or loose screws or bushings on the zoom body grooves. Pete

Serban Dumitrescu		18-Dec-2006 00:14
Excellent guides. Thank you! Do you know or can anybody tell me if the front element (group) can be further dismantled? My 70-210 f4 lens has fungus between the 2 elements from the front element group... Thank you, Serban

Pete Ganzel		19-Nov-2006 07:53
Hi Jim: This link shows how a focus limiter was added; http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1035&message=15577763 It's simply a screw that stops the lens front rotation that causes the focus motor to reverse. Pete

Jimmy Iremonger		19-Nov-2006 02:03
Hi, Matt mentiond something about retro fitting a focus limiter to this lens? Have you any tips, clues, websites or ideas on how to do this. Im going to be using this lens to photograph a wedding sone and could really do with it being a little more reliable with the focusing? Many thanks Jim

John L		09-Aug-2006 12:17
How nice it would of been to discover your excellent page before is dismantled my F4 beercan. Sigh. My lens has gummed up iris issues, before I owned it somebody freed it with lubricant and I'm paying the price. I've removed the front and back elements to get clear access to the iris, and I have been cleaning it with lighter fluid. I have managed to remove the majority of the lubricant and after cleaning its nice and snappy (also I needed to clean off the aperture actuator - but thats a different story). I have two problems remaining, (1) after a few days the iris gumms up again, I have no intention of restoring the optical elements until its been snappy for at least a week. And (2) my marker came off the focus cell screw and restoring the infinity focus will be fun. Any expert and time saving hints to help resolve these two issues would be much appreciated, I've looked on another few forums (they sent me here). John.

Pete Ganzel		29-Dec-2005 07:08
Dennis: See the exploded drawings of the 75-300 in it's own gallery. The rear group cell screws into the inner barrel just like the 70-200. I just wrapped some electrical tape around the cell for a better grip, after removing the rear portion of the lens barrel and mount for more "length" to grip.

Dennis		29-Dec-2005 01:15
Hi, Pete: I am following your guide to take apart my minolta 75-300mm 4.5-5.6 to hopefully clean up the oil that comes between those aperture (iris) blades. I am doing fine except when it comes to unscrew the rear group cell. From your pictures, it looks identical to the 75-300mm's so I assume it should be unscrewed the same way. I've tried all the strength I have and yet unable to loosen it. Do you know the way to unscrew the rear group cell on 75-300mm? Thanks! ~Dennis

Pete Ganzel		23-Dec-2005 20:23
Matt: An interesting idea. Though I find this lens focuses quick enough for me. I believe the way the Maxxum AF system works is that the focus distance is calculated from the AF sensors BEFORE the lens starts focusing. The number of turns of the drive connector required is fed back from the lens ROM and then a little adjustment is given as the lens moves. My guess is that the number of turns of the drive is critical to the amount moved by the lens helicoid and cannot be changed withoug tinkering with the information contained within the lens ROM. Pete

Guest		07-Nov-2005 22:12
Hi Pete, I just had my 70-210 apart for some minor tightning of the 4 screws that hold the lower half to the front half. The lens was starting to feel loose, and I knew if I let it go the whole lens would just fall apart, so I came to the one place where I knew I could find help. Anyway, I got to thinking...HS lenses have different gear ratios but are basically the same lens designs. The newer camera bodies have stronger motors with more torque to turn these higher gear ratios...Do you think a guy could find someone to replace the two gears found in image "lower half screw 2658.jpg" with two similar gears with a different ratio? The two there seem to be very close to 2:1, if you changed it to 1:1 or 1:2, that would cut the needed number of turns in half or by four...providing for much faster focusing. I've seen one guy add a focus limiter to this lens, which is another interesting idea... drop me an email if you get a chance, I'm not on pbase all that much...

click on thumbnails for full image

Type your message and click Add Comment

It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest. Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help	private comment