Cleaning the dust out of a Konica Big Mini Lens

By Hamish Gill

16 June, 2013

Post Categories:

Repairs & Cleaning

Post Tags:

Camera Repair Konica Big Mini
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I picked up a Konica Big Mini from a charity shop today for the very reasonable price of £5. Pleased!
It did have a very unsightly accumulation of dust in the lens, or at least behind what appears to be some sort of filter, or lens protector on front. I was a little concerned initially, but it turned out to be two screws and a very quick job.

Konica Big Mini

There are two screws, one either side of the extended lens.

Konica Big Mini

Unscrew these and pull the front part of the lens off. Bit of a blow and a wipe and all the nasty little bits of fluff were gone!

Konica Big Mini

Put it back together and I have a nice clean lens!

Konica Big Mini

Im looking forward to trying this camera out, I’ve read a lot of very positive opinions on it. I shall post my thoughts as soon as I have had a chance to run a film through it.

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About The Author

By Hamish Gill
I started taking photos at the age of 9. Since then I've taken photos for a hobby, sold cameras for a living, and for a little more than decade I've been a professional photographer and, of course, weekly contributor to 35mmc.
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Comments

Cleaning a Konica Big mini lens ... on Cleaning the dust out of a Konica Big Mini Lens

Comment posted: 16/06/2013

[...] I gave it a little bit of a clean. Konica Big Mini by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr have a looksee here Cleaning the dust out of a Konica Big Mini Lens im genuinely chuffed to have found one of these, it is supposed to be at very least on a par with [...]
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Konica Big Mini – Yeah, it’s not bad … on Cleaning the dust out of a Konica Big Mini Lens

Comment posted: 08/07/2013

[...] I did a little write up on cleaning the lens of this camera, so if you have bought one and its a little dusty in the lens, have a look here. [...]
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Urban Hafner on Cleaning the dust out of a Konica Big Mini Lens

Comment posted: 03/09/2013

Now that I have three of those I'm thinking of getting an IR gel and convert one into an IR camera. The gel would just go where the protective filter sits ...
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Hamish on Cleaning the dust out of a Konica Big Mini Lens

Comment posted: 03/09/2013

I'd like to see that! I suppose you might have issues with focus for closer work, but landscapes should be fine...?
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João Peixoto on Cleaning the dust out of a Konica Big Mini Lens

Comment posted: 20/05/2015

Hello there Hamish. I just bought one konica big mini BM201 for a good price and I had the very same problem. After reading your post I tried it myself. Everything went fine and it was clean once again but... Now the lens doesn't slide in and out so smoothly. Seems like the motor is being forced therefor making a strange slow working noise. Do you have any idea why this happened and if I can fix it? thanks...
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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 20/05/2015

Have you either tightened the screw to tight or left it too loose?

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João Peixoto replied:

Comment posted: 20/05/2015

Neither one or the other. I wonder if it can be the battery. I bought a new Panasonic Photo Power CR123A (Lithium 3V CR17345). The camera still marks it as full, but I don't know if testing the motor so many times made it slower...

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João Peixoto replied:

Comment posted: 20/05/2015

I tested now without the lens cap and it still is slow (not so much but still slower than before). So that must not be the problem :/

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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 20/05/2015

If it works, I wouldn't worry anyway ... As long as it takes pictures, that's al that really matters!

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hugo miguel on Cleaning the dust out of a Konica Big Mini Lens

Comment posted: 20/02/2018

Hello Hamish, i've got a konica A4, and the film doesn't wind, the camera works fine without film, everything works fine except this issue. Do you got any idea how to solve this problem?
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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 20/02/2018

You might want to try changing the battery in the data back

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hugo miguel replied:

Comment posted: 20/02/2018

Hi Hamish, I already found the problem, the problem is with the Film Sprocket, i will try to open and fix. Thanks

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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 20/02/2018

Cool, good luck!

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Craig Schroeder replied:

Comment posted: 20/02/2018

I had an A4 and got great results with it. Mine started to run automatically to the film end, shooting each frame non-stop. I was told that the electronics were wonky on these and winder-related issues were somewhat common. let us know how things turn out, please.

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Brett Chesterfield on Cleaning the dust out of a Konica Big Mini Lens

Comment posted: 10/11/2018

Hey Hamish,
Any idea where I could pick up a light seal kit for the Konica A4? Got a little rectangle light leak that is in the left of my landscape exposures and the top of my potrait exposures.
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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 10/11/2018

What colour is the leak?

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Brett replied:

Comment posted: 10/11/2018

White!

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Brett replied:

Comment posted: 10/11/2018

Its a soft white, that appears to come from the film canister side.

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Keiran on Cleaning the dust out of a Konica Big Mini Lens

Comment posted: 29/01/2019

Me too brett after taking the front off to clean the lens, i imagine we've damaged the light baffles by taking it apart.
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Brett replied:

Comment posted: 29/01/2019

Thats a shame Keiran! I have not taken mine apart, but its not a consistent light leak. So strange.

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